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Thread: TSP in the Early Days

  1. #25

    Default Re: TSP in the Early Days

    Excellent topic!

    I also didn't know any CSRS'ers that it made sense to switch to FERS, provided they could work a few quarters after retirement doing something where they paid into SocSec.

    I was in the military early '90s and didn't know anything about TSP. Was it even available to active duty back then?

    In 1997/8 I was finishing up school and one of the GS11s where I interned said he made $40k just in his TSP that year!
    I was blown away and convinced that TSP was the way to go.
    I've never matched his performance. May 1998, my first boss told me that I should put in 5% the first day I was eligible (I think you had to wait a few months or maybe even a year then) or I was leaving "money on the table." He was great with poker metaphors. I give similar advice to all new hires these days.

    It'd be interesting to see a timeline. I'm surprised that the G-fund was such a steady good performer in the 1980s.

    Seems that S & I funds came out much later than youse-guys are remembering. I'm thinking maybe 2000 or so.
    Looking it up....
    OK, maybe Mid-2001 if my deductive reasoning skills are awake.

    https://www.tsp.gov/investmentfunds/...lReturns.shtml
    * The returns shown reflect the actual performance of the S and I Funds for May 2001 and subsequent months. For the first four months of 2001 and for prior years, the returns shown for the S and I Funds reflect the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Completion TSM Index and EAFE Index (without deduction of any administrative expenses, trading costs, or investment management fees), respectively.
    C-fund was super lucrative from '95-'99. (click on the Individual Funds Tab https://www.tsp.gov/investmentfunds/...lReturns.shtml ).

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  3. #26

    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Highland, CA
    Posts
    64

    Default Re: TSP in the Early Days

    Quote Originally Posted by Rogue View Post
    I was in the military early '90s and didn't know anything about TSP. Was it even available to active duty back then?
    Seems that S & I funds came out much later than youse-guys are remembering. I'm thinking maybe 2000 or so.
    Looking it up....
    OK, maybe Mid-2001 if my deductive reasoning skills are awake.

    https://www.tsp.gov/investmentfunds/...lReturns.shtml
    http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=44767

    According to the link above, the military TSP didn't become available until 10/9/2001. This makes sense because I hired on in 2000 and I know it wasn't available to the military when I got hired. I remember it becoming available to them after I had already started my civil service career. I do also remember the S and I Funds coming not too long after I hired on, so 2001 does indeed sound accurate for those options as well.
    70C/30S as of 12/15/2014

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  5. #27

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    The Woodlands, TX
    Posts
    292

    Default

    What a flashback... been trying to remember my start with the guvmint and tsp. Aug 1987. GS-5 and perdiem. I signed the paper and being at the near bottom put down the minimum 1%. 3 months later made GS-7 but moved to an area with a high cost of living so left it alone. 2 years later made GS-9 so I upped it to 3%. Another year later GS-11 so again upped it... to 5% and full matching.. finally. Of course it was in the G Fund.

    The jump to GS-12 I was all in with the full 10% and that increased as I eventually made GS-14 in 1992. This is when I started educating myself on investing.... I put money away for a down payment on a house and had a little to invest. Long term advice was to be in equities so moved 100% in to the C Fund and let it ride for years.

    It took the gov't a few years to catch on to the internet but when tsp.gov arrived with unlimited transfers... it was a free for all for a while. TSPTalk followed which did wonders for giving everyone direction. Eventually that was the downfall of daily transfers as the volume scared the TSP Board.

    Retired now and taking a monthly payment under 72t rules. I have a healthy balance and still monthy transfer following LMBF strategy. It has it ups and downs but has performed well. But as I get older I need to be more conservative with it.

    All in all the TSP has been great and TSPTalk has been a phenomenal learning tool.


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