New to the game, looking for advice

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polom319
Posts: 57
Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2017 12:15 pm

New to the game, looking for advice

Post by polom319 »

I have been in the system for about 2 years now, and was able to rollover some money into my TSP account. Right now I am 100% in the C Fund with all future Allocation also at 100% C Fund. Where can I get some information on how to maximize my return for the year? Are there different variations of allocations I can look at to maximize my investment?

Thanks for any help

cashworth
Posts: 122
Joined: Mon Jul 03, 2017 11:18 am

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by cashworth »

The best advice would be to read as many of the threads on this forum as possible. Some popular strategies around here are Seasonal strategies (either monthly or daily).
Check out the Seasonal Musings thread.

mhayes
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Sep 17, 2017 2:20 pm

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by mhayes »

This is well worth a read, so please take the time to read this.

Seasonal Musings 2017 thread

http://tspcenter.com/forums/viewtopic.p ... 759#p53759

Scorpio70
Posts: 432
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2015 11:49 am

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by Scorpio70 »

I do a modified seasonal plan, but I use my gut as a guide. I think the most important thing is to take in a lot of information on finance.


polom319
Posts: 57
Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2017 12:15 pm

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by polom319 »

skiehawk11 wrote:I'm 100 percent in the S fund, but I am also around 30 years away from retirement. I'm taking a page out of Bogle's playbook for my TSP.
What's Bogle's playbook, and I took am probably 30 years away from retirement. Just looking for options to maximize my return

polom319
Posts: 57
Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2017 12:15 pm

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by polom319 »

Scorpio70 wrote:I do a modified seasonal plan, but I use my gut as a guide. I think the most important thing is to take in a lot of information on finance.
Where are these modified seasonal plans?

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heckrules
Posts: 104
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2010 8:34 am

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by heckrules »

polom319 wrote:
Scorpio70 wrote:I do a modified seasonal plan, but I use my gut as a guide. I think the most important thing is to take in a lot of information on finance.
Where are these modified seasonal plans?
http://tspcalc.com/

Click on a seasonal plan number (for example: 12503) to get a breakdown of the plan & a calendar breakdown of how to use the IFTs.

skiehawk11
Posts: 2116
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 2:32 pm

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by skiehawk11 »

polom319 wrote:
skiehawk11 wrote:I'm 100 percent in the S fund, but I am also around 30 years away from retirement. I'm taking a page out of Bogle's playbook for my TSP.
What's Bogle's playbook, and I took am probably 30 years away from retirement. Just looking for options to maximize my return
polom319, Jack Bogle believes in holding the general market at all times essentially. This works perfectly with the TSP for a few reasons:

1. Time is on our side as young investors. We can spread our risk over time.

2. The fees in the TSP are extraordinarily low. This is perfect for consistently buying stock funds.

3. Jack Bogle believes that everything reverts to the mean which is why he advocates holding a total stock market fund. I differ slightly and find that Fama-French's discovery of factor investing helpful in determining what fund to choose (I chose the S Fund for this reason).

4. As federal employees, it would be helpful to view our pension and Social Security as the "bond" aspect of our retirement. If you're able to keep retirement costs within your pension + social security there is no need to sell stocks as you have no liquidity issues. Or, you can take x amount out a year to fund a vacation, trip, etc.

On a side note, I've learned it is best to work on increasing liquidity (cash reserves) and maintaining that as soon as possible. Take it slow, calculate monthly expenses and then start saving up to certain benchmarks:
1. 3-month;
2. 6-month;
3. 12-months;
4. 2 years

I personally do a balance. I want to ensure I can contribute at least 10 percent of my salary to the TSP. I then create a savings goal each year to make it the liquidity mark I want. Once, my liquidity has been met, I'll increase my TSP and/or Roth IRA contributions.

The caveat is this works best when you have time on your side. Everything is easier with time.

I also don't want to take away from seasonal investing. It is a timing strategy using historical trends.

Scorpio70
Posts: 432
Joined: Thu Dec 24, 2015 11:49 am

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by Scorpio70 »

The seasonal plan is the original one on the site. I follow it, but not strictly.


polom319
Posts: 57
Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2017 12:15 pm

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by polom319 »

Seasonal plan number 12503 seems pretty enticing based on the returns of course. So maybe I will jump on that plan this next coming month. I would like to do a little more research before I commit to a seasonal plan.

Any thoughts?

Travis1984
Posts: 102
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2015 1:24 pm

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by Travis1984 »

polom319 wrote:Seasonal plan number 12503 seems pretty enticing based on the returns of course. So maybe I will jump on that plan this next coming month. I would like to do a little more research before I commit to a seasonal plan.

Any thoughts?
With a standard deviation of 26, I don’t think that is where I’d be looking. Try 16198.
"Fear of loss is the path to the Dark Side."

Yoda

Vertigo
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2017 8:14 pm

Re: New to the game, looking for advice

Post by Vertigo »

Or maybe 16517.

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Fund Prices2024-03-28

FundPriceDayYTD
G $18.15 0.05% 1.05%
F $19.08 -0.06% -0.74%
C $82.21 0.11% 10.55%
S $82.43 0.30% 6.92%
I $42.57 -0.24% 5.95%
L2065 $16.38 0.02% 8.37%
L2060 $16.39 0.02% 8.38%
L2055 $16.39 0.02% 8.38%
L2050 $32.73 0.01% 6.95%
L2045 $14.91 0.02% 6.58%
L2040 $54.38 0.02% 6.22%
L2035 $14.34 0.02% 5.79%
L2030 $47.67 0.02% 5.38%
L2025 $13.15 0.03% 3.43%
Linc $25.61 0.03% 2.82%

Live Charts

Pending Allocations

Under development. For now, you may view Pending Allocations by going to "fantasy TSP" and selecting "Leaderboard sort" of "Pending Allocations".