Thread: Ready to make some money...

Welcome hockeyfreak! I see you met the gang.

Originally Posted by FUTURESTRADER

Actually, tspkey is showing a -2.15% ytd as of 9/12. not too shabby vs. the S&P 500. I tried them before the 2 ift rule, but got greedy and quit them. Am down ~-7.75% ytd myself and wishing i followed '2Easy' in the autotracker, but thats 20/20 hindsight, tho he has timed some pretty amazing ifts. I'm up 22% ytd selling S&P options, a fairly low risk 1.5 to 3.5%/month, averaging 2.25%, and only put 5% into TSP to get the matching. 7.5 years to retirement suggests the L2020 fund, -10.80%.

What do you mean "follow 2easy in the Autotracker"? I saw the forum for Member's accounts, is that what your talking about? Do you wait for them to post and if you agree or think it's a good move, follow it?

Also, what exactly is the rules now. I've never traded daily as some of you have. I'm allowed 2 IFT's per month, but can always transfer all to G anytime?

Originally Posted by Hockeyfreak

Also, what exactly is the rules now. I've never traded daily as some of you have. I'm allowed 2 IFT's per month, but can always transfer all to G anytime?

That is true for the most part. You can move your money twice in a one
month period, to any fund you want. (you can even move from one fund
to another). After your first two moves, you can only go back to the (G).

Only back to the (G) is not all together true. Each day a fund move up or
down, your portfolio percentages change. If you put 25% of your money
into the (C) Fund and lost -1.95% the following day, your portfolio %
in the (C) might look like this (23.54%). If you have your money spread
out in all funds, each fund affects the overall percentages. The reason
why "Only Back To The G Fund" isn't all together true at this point is
because your able to round up those percentages. For example;

Tomorrow, my portfolio might look like this; 75.98%(G) 24.02%(C)
Without anymore unrestricted IFT's left, I still can make a IFT like this;
75.00% (G) 25.00% (C)

In essense, I moved that .98% out of the (G) and put it in the (C).
This can only be done with percentage of less then < 1%. But I would
wait until your more comfortable with the 2 move limit before playing
with the < 1% percentages. Hope I was able to help and not make
you more confused about our abilities.

Originally Posted by squalebear

That is true for the most part. You can move your money twice in a one
month period, to any fund you want. (you can even move from one fund
to another). After your first two moves, you can only go back to the (G).

Only back to the (G) is not all together true. Each day a fund move up or
down, your portfolio percentages change. If you put 25% of your money
into the (C) Fund and lost -1.95% the following day, your portfolio %
in the (C) might look like this (23.54%). If you have your money spread
out in all funds, each fund affects the overall percentages. The reason
why "Only Back To The G Fund" isn't all together true at this point is
because your able to round up those percentages. For example;

Tomorrow, my portfolio might look like this; 75.98%(G) 24.02%(C)
Without anymore unrestricted IFT's left, I still can make a IFT like this;
75.00% (G) 25.00% (C)

In essense, I moved that .98% out of the (G) and put it in the (C).
This can only be done with percentage of less then < 1%. But I would
wait until your more comfortable with the 2 move limit before playing
with the < 1% percentages. Hope I was able to help and not make
you more confused about our abilities.

Dude, you're making my head hurt.

I think I get the what your saying, but I can say for now I'm not going to be looking at that .98% very closely, even though I understand it could add up to 100s or 1000s of $$. I'm just trying to rudder a little bit instead of just riding in the boat. I'm sure eventually I'll learn enough and get excited enough to do that, and open my own investment account.

I was reading some threads, like this one that talks about the premium services. What would be the difference between Thrifttrading.com, tspmax.com, and the premium services offered here? I don't mind paying a little for some guidance until I get my feet under me, but ThriftTrading.com seemed pretty outrageous. What's some good guidance for picking between the premium services? I wanted to go aggressive for a few years, but I think it seems like that's not going to happen, I'll just be happy to squeak above G fund.

Originally Posted by squalebear

That is true for the most part. You can move your money twice in a one
month period, to any fund you want. (you can even move from one fund
to another). After your first two moves, you can only go back to the (G).

Only back to the (G) is not all together true. Each day a fund move up or
down, your portfolio percentages change. If you put 25% of your money
into the (C) Fund and lost -1.95% the following day, your portfolio %
in the (C) might look like this (23.54%). If you have your money spread
out in all funds, each fund affects the overall percentages. The reason
why "Only Back To The G Fund" isn't all together true at this point is
because your able to round up those percentages. For example;

Tomorrow, my portfolio might look like this; 75.98%(G) 24.02%(C)
Without anymore unrestricted IFT's left, I still can make a IFT like this;
75.00% (G) 25.00% (C)

In essense, I moved that .98% out of the (G) and put it in the (C).
This can only be done with percentage of less then < 1%. But I would
wait until your more comfortable with the 2 move limit before playing
with the < 1% percentages. Hope I was able to help and not make
you more confused about our abilities.

Originally Posted by malyla

On tracking - I use Tom's spreadsheet. It's excellent for weekly, monthly, yearly tracking of your fund. The spreadsheet on the long term strategies I put together (refer to above posts) uses his spreadsheet with some modifications of course. GL

Would you be referring to the tsptalk08.xls spreadsheet under the calculators? I searched around and could find any other one you were talking about unless I missed it. I have all my statements since 2003, and I'm sure i have them in hardcopy somewhere since 91. What would be the best method of getting myself going on tracking? Entering all the data, or just pick a year and enter the balance, then start? Thanks for all your help.

Originally Posted by Hockeyfreak

Would you be referring to the tsptalk08.xls spreadsheet under the calculators? I searched around and could find any other one you were talking about unless I missed it. I have all my statements since 2003, and I'm sure i have them in hardcopy somewhere since 91. What would be the best method of getting myself going on tracking? Entering all the data, or just pick a year and enter the balance, then start? Thanks for all your help.

The tsptalk08.xls is the spreadsheet I started with. It took about 3 months for me to modify it for my purpose, but my spreadsheet is basically Tom's template. I did put another couple worksheets in to track share prices and my fund growth/contraction on a monthly bases. This was the hardest as I had to login to my tsp account and request balance for the first of every month since I began my account. I used the paper trail I had to account for all my contributions and then I downloaded the daily share prices and the monthly returns to track that as well. I may be able to put a template of this spreadsheet together, but I can't promise anything as work is taking up most of my time. GL

Originally Posted by Hockeyfreak

What do you mean "follow 2easy in the Autotracker"? I saw the forum for Member's accounts, is that what your talking about? Do you wait for them to post and if you agree or think it's a good move, follow it?

yes..TSPTalk Automated Tracker, link on homepage, 2Easy up 13.63% YTD and still in G today. I don't know if you can log in to the tracker until you have 10 posts or maybe just can't join the tracker till you have 10. Check out the Autotracker Thread for the rules. Just watch what the leaders have done, are doing...just another strategy, but like most strategies, they get hot and cold.

Originally Posted by FUTURESTRADER

yes..TSPTalk Automated Tracker, link on homepage, 2Easy up 13.63% YTD and still in G today. I don't know if you can log in to the tracker until you have 10 posts or maybe just can't join the tracker till you have 10. Check out the Autotracker Thread for the rules. Just watch what the leaders have done, are doing...just another strategy, but like most strategies, they get hot and cold.

Well, I'm almost there. I'm in no hurry, I'm going to ride out the month where I'm at anyway. I'm hoping the 500 will gain back what it lost this week. I'll look at it when I get the posts and see what your talking about. Right now, I'm just going to get my history in either the spreadsheet or Quicken, and see how bad I've been doing.

Originally Posted by malyla

The tsptalk08.xls is the spreadsheet I started with. It took about 3 months for me to modify it for my purpose, but my spreadsheet is basically Tom's template. I did put another couple worksheets in to track share prices and my fund growth/contraction on a monthly bases. This was the hardest as I had to login to my tsp account and request balance for the first of every month since I began my account. I used the paper trail I had to account for all my contributions and then I downloaded the daily share prices and the monthly returns to track that as well. I may be able to put a template of this spreadsheet together, but I can't promise anything as work is taking up most of my time. GL

Thanks for the offer. If you get time, I'm sure I'll use it, but don't worry about it if it's a big deal.

One question I had was about my TSP loans (see first post as to why I have loans!). I know they only gather the interest that I'm paying myself on the loan, but how would I account for them in the spreadsheet, and are they included in my TSP balance shown on statements and on the website?

Thanks again for all the help and advice that you guys are giving.

Originally Posted by Hockeyfreak

One question I had was about my TSP loans (see first post as to why I have loans!). I know they only gather the interest that I'm paying myself on the loan, but how would I account for them in the spreadsheet, and are they included in my TSP balance shown on statements and on the website?

Hockey, I have a spreadsheet and just account for the money that is actually in my account. ie Reduce the original balance when the loan is taken out. As I pay it back I add it back to my balances. Same as your bi-weekly contributions. That may be a little overly-simplistic but it works for me. For example if you normally put in $ 500 bi-weekly and you split it 5 ways evenly between the TSP funds(20% each) and you pay yourself back $ 500 on the TSP loan I would split it the same way. Over time, as you pay back more than you borrowed ( The interest -G fund rate) it will be added back into your account. Good luck! Hang in there better times are ahead!