Don't be discouraged if it's taking awhile.
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:49 am
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.
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.
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.
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.