Thread: Newbie Question

For you who have been paying a lot more attention to your TSP accounts than I have, I would love to get some suggestions. I saw my investments bomb out with my 20% I 80% L1040 approach. I didn't keep my eyes on things over the summer and never checked in until this big uproar. So what to do now, ride it a bit and see if things improve for a couple of weeks to try to recoup some losses, or move to C50, G50 and wait it out for awhile. Any bright ideas for someone looking at some pretty huge losses.

Thanks for that advice.

Originally Posted by juliebeb

For you who have been paying a lot more attention to your TSP accounts than I have, I would love to get some suggestions. I saw my investments bomb out with my 20% I 80% L1040 approach. I didn't keep my eyes on things over the summer and never checked in until this big uproar. So what to do now, ride it a bit and see if things improve for a couple of weeks to try to recoup some losses, or move to C50, G50 and wait it out for awhile. Any bright ideas for someone looking at some pretty huge losses.

I would say FIRST you need to realize that THE PRESENT is a very unique situation and the Economic Conditions are honestly at RECORD LOWS. Ony by understanding this can you have any sense of HOPE. Do NOT - honestly DO NOT look at the Auto Tracker and let yourself get caught up with anyone else's account.

This is not the end - IT IS THE BEGINNING - and it's taken a very long time to get here. Everyone 'in control' did their best to hide it as long as they could - which delayed the whole ordeal and actually made it worse.

YOUR INVESTMENTS ARE FINE...and I can guarantee you that things will get a whole lot better - but it may take another year.

This would honestly be the best time to go largely stocks and nothing esle - because the PRICE is wonderful and you will more than make up whatever you lost by being fully invested.

Thanks. From then perspective, then, maybe I will get out of L2040 and get more into C or S since L1040 has some G and F. I guess the real problem with th L funds is that you really don't know how you are invested. My understaing is that they change their allocation from time to time and I am not sure where to track that.

Originally Posted by juliebeb

Thanks. From then perspective, then, maybe I will get out of L2040 and get more into C or S since L1040 has some G and F. I guess the real problem with th L funds is that you really don't know how you are invested. My understaing is that they change their allocation from time to time and I am not sure where to track that.

Juliebeb, Part of the reason I am responding is that I like your name. My 11 year old daughter's name is Julie.

You really need to do allot of homework. You can start slow and continue to increase your knowledge at your own pace.

#1 You need to watch the stock market on some channel. I watch CNBC

#2 Learn witch Fund that we have available to us equates to what. I.E.

S&P500, Russel2000, Bond yield, Safe Fund, or Overseas Funds.

#3 What is the news and how does it equate to our economy

I will say, I usually have at least 3 to 5 day outlook on whatever I'm going to do.

It's not easy Julie. You have to have a passion to do this. Good Luck..

Originally Posted by juliebeb

Thanks. From then perspective, then, maybe I will get out of L2040 and get more into C or S since L1040 has some G and F. I guess the real problem with th L funds is that you really don't know how you are invested. My understaing is that they change their allocation from time to time and I am not sure where to track that.

Hum...you put me in a difficult situation.

I'm not like the others - who are very quick to tell you how to shift your investments.

I more look at the overall picture and make adjustments as it seems most appropriate to me.

If you have plenty of years left, do not plan on drawing from your TSP account until you retire (and say that's at least 5 years off) then shifting to C,S, or I will have it's advantage.

Most everyone here looks at the Markets through a telescope and are frequently making changes - trying to grab a quick gain and then dash to safety. You're way better off striving to go the LONG RUN and planning for years to come. You may want to keep some in G and F for now - as it's possible we could go a bit lower.

Usually I tell people to follow their hearts - and if you honestly have a handle on what's happening in the ECONOMY then your heart will guide you pretty well.

The L funds follow the traditional buy and hold strategy for those who don't desire to or have the time to follow their account on a daily or at least weekly basis. "Spend your time before you spend your money". After the tech bubble burst, the market went on to lose 49% over the next two years. We are half way there now after the housing bubble burst, high in November.

On January 1, 2008 L 2040 fund was allocated as 8%G, 10%F, 41%C, 17% S and 24% I.

L 2040 is adjusted automatically on a regular basis so that the allocations will be the same as the L2030 allocations in 10 years. On January 1, 2008, L2030 was 19%G, 9%F, 37%C, 15% S and 20% I. If I have confused you with this second part (I'm a numbers geek), just look at the Jan 1 allocation as a general idea where your money is right now, slowly moving toward L2030.

Thanks. I didn't realize that the L funds were so cast in concrete. Somehow I understood that the fund managers would adjust them to correspond with market trends rather than act on a strict scale from L2040 to L2030. That is enlightening.

Juliebeb:

How the "L-funds" work: They are readjusted constantly to reflect a certain percentage in each investment fund.

The fund doesn't have a "active fund manager" to makes decisions on where to put the money- it's simply a constant automatic readjustment over time, with the money invested more heavily at the early part of the investment, and, in later years, moving more heavily into G and F for protection later on.

Here is the link to the "flash" movie of how it works:

http://tsp.gov/lifecycle/flash/index2040.html

Click on that, and then press "play", and you'll see how funds are reallocated over time.

I can see that the problem with the L funds is that they don't flex at all with the market climate. They seem to work best in a bull market.