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Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:49 am
by mmmmmbeer
Just some food for thought for ya'll who are feeling discouraged.

I started TSP in the fall of 2003. I was told to leave it in the G and not mess with it. Put in at least 5% and never look at it again. For so long I had no clue what I was doing, and was scared to look at it or mess with it too much.

3rd Quarter of 2003: Started TSP

3rd Quarter of 2009: $50,000

2nd Quarter of 2012: $100,000

4th Quarter of 2014: $150,000

3rd Quarter of 2016: $200,000

3rd Quarter of 2017: $275,000

2nd Quarter of 2018: $300,000

1st Quarter of 2019: $350,000

~ It took me 6 years to get to $50k.

~ It took me 9 years to get to $100k.

~ It took me 13 years to get to $200k.

~ But then.... only 15 years to get to $300k.

It was somewhere in the 3rd or 4th year I think someone told me to do some particular split. So I did... and lost -38% in 2008. :shock: :cry: :D

Then like the uninformed... freaked out back into the G for a year or two.

After that I think I went back to the 60, 20, 20 split...

Also in those 15 odd years I went from a GS 07 to a GS 14 with LEAP.

Usually waffling somewhere between 5-10%... in 2016... I found Seasonal Strategies.

It was in 2016 I really started researching the TSP and found the websites we all use now. Learning what SHOULD have been taught to me at the beginning, but wasn't. I try to help as many folks as I can now just so it won't take you as long as my journey did.

I guess the moral of the story is.... don't feel discouraged if it takes you a bit to get the ball rolling. But realize once it ball gets rolling, it picks up steam pretty quickly!

The base you have now will take off. Quite honestly now... the contributions I put in ever 2 weeks are very paltry in comparison to how much I gain or lose in one day. Get that base under you and you'll be amazed how quickly things progress.

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 10:22 am
by greengrass
Great story, thanks for sharing!

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 10:45 am
by anomadtoo
thanks for sharing! I'm 14 years in, and although not doing as well your balance, I just started in 2017 to seriously look at this and the seasonals/daily's. I like using the Ballpark Estimator annually to see if I'm still on track.

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 10:46 am
by jlozano042
BZ brother - great story.

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:18 am
by OkieTSPer
Thanks for the story mbeer.

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2019 4:24 am
by cswift01
mmmmmbeer wrote:Just some food for thought for ya'll who are feeling discouraged.

I started TSP in the fall of 2003. I was told to leave it in the G and not mess with it. Put in at least 5% and never look at it again. For so long I had no clue what I was doing, and was scared to look at it or mess with it too much.

3rd Quarter of 2003: Started TSP

3rd Quarter of 2009: $50,000

2nd Quarter of 2012: $100,000

4th Quarter of 2014: $150,000

3rd Quarter of 2016: $200,000

3rd Quarter of 2017: $275,000

2nd Quarter of 2018: $300,000

1st Quarter of 2019: $350,000

~ It took me 6 years to get to $50k.

~ It took me 9 years to get to $100k.

~ It took me 13 years to get to $200k.

~ But then.... only 15 years to get to $300k.

It was somewhere in the 3rd or 4th year I think someone told me to do some particular split. So I did... and lost -38% in 2008. :shock: :cry: :D

Then like the uninformed... freaked out back into the G for a year or two.

After that I think I went back to the 60, 20, 20 split...

Also in those 15 odd years I went from a GS 07 to a GS 14 with LEAP.

Usually waffling somewhere between 5-10%... in 2016... I found Seasonal Strategies.

It was in 2016 I really started researching the TSP and found the websites we all use now. Learning what SHOULD have been taught to me at the beginning, but wasn't. I try to help as many folks as I can now just so it won't take you as long as my journey did.

I guess the moral of the story is.... don't feel discouraged if it takes you a bit to get the ball rolling. But realize once it ball gets rolling, it picks up steam pretty quickly!

The base you have now will take off. Quite honestly now... the contributions I put in ever 2 weeks are very paltry in comparison to how much I gain or lose in one day. Get that base under you and you'll be amazed how quickly things progress.
Looks like we joined pretty much the same time. Kudos on getting a good deal ahead of me. I wasn't really serious until the beginning of 2017, so nice going on that too.

Best,

Me

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2019 1:25 pm
by raym0826
Good job. For your grade you should've had more than 500K tsp balance. I know a gs7 with 15 year service who has the same stated balance.

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2019 3:06 pm
by mmmmmbeer
raym0826 wrote:Good job. For your grade you should've had more than 500K tsp balance. I know a gs7 with 15 year service who has the same stated balance.
Thanks Captain Obvious... that was the whole point. What an asinine observation.

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2019 6:34 pm
by raym0826
[quote="mmmmmbeer"][quote="raym0826"]Good job. For your grade you should've had more than 500K tsp balance. I know a gs7 with 15 year service who has the same stated balance.[/quote]

Thanks Captain Obvious... that was the whole point. What an asinine observation.[/quote]

Discouraged much?
Or
Bitter much? :D

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2019 8:32 pm
by mmmmmbeer
raym0826 wrote:
mmmmmbeer wrote:
raym0826 wrote:Good job. For your grade you should've had more than 500K tsp balance. I know a gs7 with 15 year service who has the same stated balance.
Thanks Captain Obvious... that was the whole point. What an asinine observation.
Discouraged much?
Or
Bitter much? :D
:lol:

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:22 am
by cosmokrame
Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.

Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.

Compound interest is the greatest mathematical discovery of all time.

Albert Einstein

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:24 am
by jlozano042
raym0826 wrote: Discouraged much?
Or
Bitter much? :D
Image

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 3:18 pm
by bamablue
cosmokrame wrote:Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.

Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.

Compound interest is the greatest mathematical discovery of all time.

Albert Einstein
If you doubt this, consider this question: Would you rather have one penny and double it every day for one month; or would you rather have Three Million Dollars?



(Does the fact that that penny will total to more than $5M change your mind?)

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 5:38 pm
by raym0826
[quote="jlozano042"][quote="raym0826"]
Discouraged much?
Or
Bitter much? :D[/quote]

[img]https://media0.giphy.com/media/RGFL2W7ZJvoM8/giphy.gif[/img][/quote]

@ss kisser :lol:

Re: Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.

Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2019 8:10 pm
by Ericdelee
Great post.
Are there anymore detailed like this