TSP.GOV

[Dix/65]

A question was asked" Should your Account Distribution ( G-50% C-50%) and your Contribution Allocation be the same?" When I asked everyone their positions we all had the same answer we left it all in the G-Fund to feel safe. We welcome your feed back. I've talked to them about TSP Center before now they can signup and see what it's all about and read the Forums and be better informed.

[Pockets]

I leave my allocation in the G and when I make the change I put all the money in whatever fund(s) I think will be the best. Till that time comes all new allocations stay safely in the G. I have no reasoning behind it besides the fact that it is one less thing to adjust as I make my allocation changes, but I could easily do it then too. I look forward to what others have to say about this as well.

[zacksedlak]

I move them both at the same time, the reason for this is that I allocate based on where I think will have the highest returns. If I didn't think I was going to get the highest return in the fund I am in, then why am I still in the fund to begin with.

[anomadtoo]

I was always told when you move, you move it all, including the contributions.

[hugehail]

If you have a large account balance (say over 300K) and you make regular IFTs then it doesnt matter in the least how your bi-weekly contributions are allocated. Any contribution will be very small compared to your balance. And since you frequently move your funds then it just doesnt matter. It matters more when you first start out and when you first start out you should be all in stock funds and contributions should also be all in stock funds. Additionally if you have a large balance and you are a buy and holder then keep your balance and contributions in the same funds.

[Jokerswild]

I leave my allocation in the G and when I make the change I put all the money in whatever fund(s) I think will be the best. Till that time comes all new allocations stay safely in the G. I have no reasoning behind it besides the fact that it is one less thing to adjust as I make my allocation changes, but I could easily do it then too. I look forward to what others have to say about this as well.

I also agree 100%. To make a allocation change, you truly have to stay on top of whatever fund you are going to move by the 1st of the month because that is the very first date you'll see the change to your TSP.gov account. However, IFTs are done by next business day(if done by noon) throughout the month.

In my opinion, always put your contributions to G through the year. This way, you guarantee right now that it'll just be sitting there collecting gains awaiting your next IFT. There have been several times where I placed my allocations to my seasonal mix and the day I had my allocation go through, the market turned against me and I lost a nice chunk of the money I just deposited.

If you are the type to just set it and forget it trader, you can match your IFT with your contribution. Same idea I feel you can do if you only make one IFT per month like Aitrus's seasonal mix discusses. However, if you are like me, moving in and out of funds through the month, I'd suggest just keep your contributions in G for safe keeping, it not only saves you time and effort in tsp.gov site but also prevents you from mismatching future IFTs on the respective pay date the following month. That can easily get mildly confusing to a younger investor causing them to lose money unnecessarily. Just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.

[mmmmmbeer]

I move all my contribution allocation and fund balance into the same fund during my seasonal IFT. It only makes sense like was stated above, if I'm going to go 100% confidence I'm giving all my money the best shot out there to gain a profit, then you might as well go full in.

Of course you could lose it all the next day like Joker said, but of course you could also gain with it over the next 1-30 days depending on which part of the month it's allocated.

[Roguejim]

Buy and holder here with 6 figures balance. Contributions match asset allocation (G-C-S) to keep percentages fairly consistent. Rebalance once year. You can keep your $$ "safe" in the G fund as inflation nibbles away at it. When the market takes a down turn, I lose money temporarily, but I am buying cheaper shares since I am still contributing, and waiting for the eventual upturn when I recoup any losses, and then some.

[searight]

I never put anything in G. To me is a guaranteed loss over time. Just take the time to put it in a mix that feels right to you. For me I have it in a mix of C, S, I, and F.

I agree with the folks that say in the long term it doesn't really matter. When you have $1M in your TSP you can expect it to move $10K up or down in a single day, so your contribution makes very little difference.

[Scorpio70]

I like to think that it is nice to have some dry powder for the black swan events. Like Sept 2015, I made $7500.00 in 2 days. A buddy of mine made $100K in those same 2 days.

[Roguejim]

I like to think that it is nice to have some dry powder for the black swan events. Like Sept 2015, I made $7500.00 in 2 days. A buddy of mine made $100K in those same 2 days.

So, are you saying you pulled some $$ from your G fund and put it in to stocks for those 2 days, made a few $$, then put your $$ back in to the G fund? Nice timing if I understand correctly.

[Scorpio70]

Yeah. Had a feeling it would drop. When it did we bought at the bottom, jumped out to G at the top.