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TSP Question
- Thread starter Fly Navy
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I'm going 30/30/40 C, S, I respectively. It's good for the long term since, if you check the returns off of the TSP website, the historical gains for those funds are greater than the other options. It is not recommended for the short term since there are some years when those funds actually lost value.
Suggestion:
Before contributing $0.01 to the TSP, I recommend maxing out a ROTH ira first. Having someone like USAA/fidelity/vanguard/et al take out set amounts on payday makes it just as easy as using the TSP, and the money comes back out tax-free. Right now, we don't NEED the tax break that TSP and traditional ira's offer. When we get up into higher pay/tax brackets, the tax benefit becomes more appealing.
edit: you probably knew that, just throwing it up there for other people that read the forums that may not know.
Before contributing $0.01 to the TSP, I recommend maxing out a ROTH ira first. Having someone like USAA/fidelity/vanguard/et al take out set amounts on payday makes it just as easy as using the TSP, and the money comes back out tax-free. Right now, we don't NEED the tax break that TSP and traditional ira's offer. When we get up into higher pay/tax brackets, the tax benefit becomes more appealing.
edit: you probably knew that, just throwing it up there for other people that read the forums that may not know.
damn, beat me to it.
I put 40% S (better returns than C last year; the next few years are supposed to be good for small cap stuff), 30%C and 30% I. I stopped contributing mid-2004 after I found that maxing the roth was a better route. Once I start maxxing it out, I will probably start contributing again.
I put 40% S (better returns than C last year; the next few years are supposed to be good for small cap stuff), 30%C and 30% I. I stopped contributing mid-2004 after I found that maxing the roth was a better route. Once I start maxxing it out, I will probably start contributing again.
I've got mine 65% C, 15% S, 10% I, 5% F and 5% G. I dont think ive ever met any two people with the same setups, so I can't really say whats a good idea. I figured I have almost 40yrs before I can touch my tsp money anyways so being more aggresive now won't hurt all that much in the long run. when choosing, I looked at the charts that go with the description of each one, and decided to put more money in funds that historically did the better when the investment worth was compared to inflation, but everyone has their own reasons for setting theirs up they way they do. I think its a good idea to put as much money in TSP as you feel you can spare. After all any type of savings is better then no savings (that and im the type of person who knows they will be tempted to spend their money when it isn't tied up.)
I would fully fund a Roth IRA then if you still have more money do TSP. I have 70% in the I fund and 30% in the S fund. The reason I use this allocation is because my Roth IRA does not have as much international and small cap companies as I would like. TSP helps me make my overall asset allocation the way I want it. Here are two good websites for TSP investment advice.
The first is run by money manager Paul Merriman. He also writes articles for CBS MarketWatch.
http://www.401khelp.com/tsp/
Here is the other website.
http://www.tsptalk.com/longer_term.html
The first is run by money manager Paul Merriman. He also writes articles for CBS MarketWatch.
http://www.401khelp.com/tsp/
Here is the other website.
http://www.tsptalk.com/longer_term.html
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