S fund equivalent?

[mmurray]

Retired in '05 with FERS after 28 yrs. and have been happy with the TSP performance in general. As others have mentioned, like the idea that my TSP investment has a low administrative fee, I don't have to think about it too much ,and generally have done well shifting from I fund to G, then back to S during the last 5 yrs and have missed most of the losses in the market by accomplishing this admittedly simple procedure. Obviously an unsophisticated investor and for simpletons like myself basic works best for my profile. Question is, have kinda come up empty trying to find a low administrative fee fund on the outside of TSP that mimic's the TSP's "S" fund. Previously used an EAFE index fund that closely tracked the "I", but a bit wary of pushing more funds that direction, so reason the "S" fund looks attractive (albeit once the debt ceiling has been raised). So the question for all you sophisticated ex-Federal guys/gals out there is, "Are you aware of a non-TSP fund that comes very close to tracking the performance of the S with similar stock allocation, and weighting, and of course with the low administrative fee? According to the S Fund information sheet, BlackRock Institutional Trust administers the fund, but when you call them and they have no earthly idea of what investment instrument might best follow the S. I'm all eye's and ears and thanks in advance for any advice you bright folks may be able to provide this neophyte.

[Sarah]

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[west]

If you would be so kind, could you explain your shifting from the I fund to the G, then S fund. It sound interesting, especially if you have had success in the past. Thank you.

[mmurray]

Reply to West: Basically had funds split between F & G until late '03, then went 100% into "I" leaving it there until March '08 where then moved into "G" 100% until July '09 where I then shifted to 100% "S" fund. I know these were very minor moves over a long periods and have not worked up the total gain but this minor movement works well for me. Because I liked the idea of low adm. fees and indexing, after retirement found an EAFE mutal fund that very closely mimic'ed the I fund and invested additional dollars there(since I could no longer invest in the TSP after retirement).

[Jahbulon]

You could consider working out a system where you buy the TNA in an uptrend and the TZA in a down trend.....which would keep you moving forward in an up and down environment.

[Sarah]

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[crondanet5]

TNA and TZA can turn on a dime. You can buy it and watch it drop a dollar before you could even enter a stop-loss order. And both have gotten very pricey in my book. I think you could do better following F but study it well to avoid buying high. Go for a dime or twenty-cent rise and SELL. Then after things settle, do it again. F is an interesting stock because you can buy a thousand shares and nobody notices. And you can sell it fairly easily too if it is moving up. Study the stock movement hard though to decide if it is a stock for you. Disclosure: Not a broker, not rich, and no F position at this time.

[flight23]

Be *very* careful with TZA... it loses money, fast. The general trend of the stock market is up and TZA thus has an overall trend of down, compounded by the expenses and leverage cost.

TNA on the other hand has an overall upward trend although the 3x is not quite correct because of the leverage cost and management fees. I have stopped using TZA except for intraday trades occasionally. I still use TNA to catch rebounds for a couple of days at a time.

[htsteinke]

For all you USAA members these are the funds i follow and usually mirror with my TSP:

G= GNMA Trust (USGNX)
F= Income Fund (USAIX)
C= S&P 500 Index Fund Member Shares (USSPX)
S= Small Cap Stock Fund (USCAX)
I= International Fund (USIFX)

Hope this helps

[crondanet5]

Quite frankly I'm disappointed with the USAA fund offerings. I keep a weekly log book of the Friday afternoon closing prices of their Aggresive, Emerging, Growth, International, Precious Metals and World funds. Over the years they have not done as well as one would expect. I suggest you do some historical research on them with a hypothetical one-time investment of $100,000 and see how well it does for you. Example: Aggressive Fund. On 4/4/8 the share price was $34.12. On 4/8/11 the share price was $35. I've tried to figure out how to leapfrog from one fund to another without much success. If you have an idea how to do it I'd appreciate hearing about it.

[htsteinke]

I started by opening a Roth IRA entirely invested in the aggressive fund. Then I decided to find the funds that closely mimicked the TSP fund (as listed above). I started by exchanging funds from an existing account to one of the funds I listed above. I continued to do this until I had something invested in all 5 funds (i.e. 80S, 5G, 5F, 5C, and 5I). Now this isn't five different IRA's...it is only one split 5 ways. Now that I have all 5 funds with something in then, I just trade the money back and forth as I see fit. So far, knock on wood, I have not been charged for commission on any of the trades and it has been over 1 year. I hope this is the "Leapfrogging" you were referring to.

[Sarah]

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[Jahbulon]

Sarah,

How come you don't compete in the Fantasy TSP game here?

[crondanet5]

Jahb, you really think that was an appropriate question from a Southern gentleman? Maybe she and Bill have an understanding about that. I did not participate for a year and a half myself. Concentrate on your own account. BTW, nice oil chart in today's post.

[Jahbulon]

I was just curious. I didn't see anything inappropriate about it.

I think that anyone that runs a site that discusses or critiques other paid investment advisors returns should expect that type of question. She has some really strong opinions, and imparts a lot of financial wisdom, so I was just wondering why she does not let everyone see how she is doing. The rest of us are out here naked for the world to see, so what is the big deal?

I’ve seen her take a few shot at some of the advisors and their returns, questioning the wisdom of paying for advice, so I was just curious. I am sure she would have a great following if she chose to do so. I have a measly 3% return for the year, but I will stand here and take my medicine. I know people have taken shots at you before. If anything it lets people know not to listen to anything I say. That is all. I guess I don’t understand why you would participate if you are not going to play.

No biggie either way.