Thread: The Latest Brilliance From FRTIB

Originally Posted by XL-entLady

Have any of you seen the latest that the FRTIB is doing on the website?

You must acknowledge the risk of investing in the F, C, S, or I Fund, or in any TSP Lifecycle Fund before making this transaction. Please read the following statement and then click the Acknowledge button:

The FRTIB has a lot in common with a flame about three feet high. They both really burn my butt!

Lady

There's always been qualifier verbiage about risk in TSP lit, so something's different this time, it would seem....

. Something tells me they're hearing from a lot of quarters about how great TSP is for retirement and how "the market always goes up (eventually)" happy talk-they do seem to put that part in very small print, don't they?, and "be right, sit tight" advice like the advice I bought into right about 1998 and rode with all the way through 2003, yeah right. They must be feeling a bit of that flame themselves right about now, Lady.

So I went into the FRTIB website to rebalance my husband's TSP account and the message I referred to below is gone.

So maybe it was some kind of dress rehearsal for the message to be placed on the website at some later date? I'm wondering if some of the Thrift Board members are worried about being held personally liable for members' TSP account losses? So they are thinking about putting the message on the website as a CYA?

I guess I should quit trying to figure out what they think. It makes me crazy. Uh-h-h... crazier.

Lady

C.Y.A

When they get rid of the buy and hold statement as being the best coarse of action, please let me know.

Its written as if i have the time to recover from a loss of 40% or more. Even the youngsters will need several years to recover from such a strategy.

Originally Posted by XL-entLady

Have any of you seen the latest that the FRTIB is doing on the website? I just went in to make a rebalancing IFT and had to click through the following message:

You must acknowledge the risk of investing in the F, C, S, or I Fund, or in any TSP Lifecycle Fund before making this transaction. Please read the following statement and then click the Acknowledge button:
Acknowledgement of Risk I understand that if I invest in the F, C, S, or I Fund, or in any TSP Lifecycle Fund, I am making this investment at my own risk. I also understand that I am not protected by either the U. S. Government or the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board against investment loss in the F, C, S, or I Fund, or any Lifecycle Fund (Wow! This goes against what the board has been preaching about investing the the "L" funds), and that neither the U. S. Government nor the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board guarantees a return on my investment.



What a crock! Ya know, Mr. Long, there would be a lot less risk if we could move at market speed and more than twice a month!

The FRTIB has a lot in common with a flame about three feet high. They both really burn my butt!

Lady

I agree with SB. The FRTIB is looking to CYA. It is understood that being in the stock market is a risk. It is also understood that you are in the market for the long haul. But with the market in such bad straights and Mr. Long giving his advice as the head honcho to people they have restricted from their accounts, they may be nervous. Add that they may not have a job when Oboma takes office. MMMMM!!!! (Personal law suites once they are not covered by the government).
I think by adding that disclaimer the board puts themselves in more jeopardy with the restrictions in place. Since the FRTIB is not a paid investment firm that is watching our personel accounts I think they put themselves in a tougher postion by having use acknowledge a disclaimer. I may be wrong but if I am paying someone to manage my money then I have the option of moving my money around anytime I feel like it. It may cost me a fee but I have that option. In my opinion if the board has that disclaimer then they need to remove the 12 noon time frame and the 2 IFT's and allow us to move our money up to 4PM with unrestricted IFT's (for a slight fee). With that disclaimer and our restrictions the risk is much greater if we stray out of the "G" fund into the market. It is almost like they are going to force us to sit in the "G" just to protect their behinds. RANT OFF!!!

Ok, so it's...don't run to G...don't take your money out....investing in anything except G is risky. Yeah Team Panic! Rah rah rah.

My thanks to our friend Nasa1974 for pointing out that the November 2008 FRTIB minutes were posted. There were several items in the Minutes that caught my interest. For example,

"During the month of October, there were 268,000 interfund transfers - the highest number of IFTs was in August 2007 with 271,447."

http://www.frtib.gov/pdf/minutes/2008Nov.pdf

So hamstringing us with 2 IFTs made SUCH a significant change in the overall numbers, didn't it! And for those of you who are familiar with the origin of the term "hamstring," yes, I used that word on purpose. The FRTIB has crippled us.

O great and powerful FRTIB, we beseech thee. Tithe us according to thy wishes, but give us our IFTs back so that we may watch our mites grow into sheckels.

Lady

Yeah, I agree with those who are saying that the FRTIB are trying to practice some CYA. My guess is that they are afraid that a significant number of people are going to file some sort of class action suit about why they lost so much money in their TSP accounts.

Originally Posted by Dr Faustus

Yeah, I agree with those who are saying that the FRTIB are trying to practice some CYA. My guess is that they are afraid that a significant number of people are going to file some sort of class action suit about why they lost so much money in their TSP accounts.

Where do I sign up?

Originally Posted by XL-entLady

Have any of you seen the latest that the FRTIB is doing on the website? I just went in to make a rebalancing IFT and had to click through the following message:

You must acknowledge the risk of investing in the F, C, S, or I Fund, or in any TSP Lifecycle Fund before making this transaction. Please read the following statement and then click the Acknowledge button:
Acknowledgement of Risk I understand that if I invest in the F, C, S, or I Fund, or in any TSP Lifecycle Fund, I am making this investment at my own risk. I also understand that I am not protected by either the U. S. Government or the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board against investment loss in the F, C, S, or I Fund, or any Lifecycle Fund, and that neither the U. S. Government nor the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board guarantees a return on my investment.


Lady

Hmm, you know what? I just realized they didn't make me sign any acknowledgement the other day when I decided to start pitching pennies into the stock pond (pun intended by the way) again from new contributions. Did they overlook something?

I don't know if everyone has seen this- but it is a message from Greg Long dated December 19, and is now on the TSP website:

Message from the Executive Director
December 19, 2008

Dear TSP Participants:

The volatile state of the economy has been in the headlines for longer than any of us would like.

For those of us who have been diligently setting aside money in our retirement accounts, the news can be particularly discouraging. But it’s important to keep in mind that stock market swings don’t lessen
our need to save for retirement. Accumulating sufficient retirement assets requires time, discipline, and a strategy that does not permit relatively short-term market movements to derail long-term investment
plans.

Regardless of what is happening in the markets, your investment allocation remains one of the single most important factors affecting the growth of your TSP account. In addition to having different degrees of tolerance for risk, participants have different time horizons for retirement. Some of you may be drawing from your TSP account now or in the near future, while others may have many years before you’ll need your money. The TSP offers excellent options no matter what your risk profile or where you
are on your retirement path.

Another key factor in the success of your retirement plan is the amount you contribute to your TSP account each year and the consistency with which you make your contributions. For 2009, the IRS has increased the maximum allowable annual contribution from $15,500 to $16,500. For those
participants age 50 and older, the maximum allowable “catch-up” contribution increases from $5,000 to $5,500.

Participants in the uniformed services who make contributions from pay that is subject to the Combat Zone Exclusion will be allowed to contribute up to $49,000 to their TSP in 2009 due to an increase in the annual additions limit.

If stock funds comprise any part of your TSP allocation, you can consider the increase in allowed contributions particularly good news. With many stocks currently trading at bargain prices, you now have the opportunity to buy low. When the market rebounds — which history has shown it inevitably does over the long term — you will be well positioned to benefit from the higher prices that will increase the value of your TSP account.

Always remember that markets will swing, sometimes wildly, over relatively short periods of time, but retirement planning demands a long-term focus.

Our retirement investments are, for most of us, the primary route we have to future financial security. An appropriate investment allocation along with consistent TSP contributions through all market environments will keep you on course.


Gregory T. Long
Executive Director

They're giving out investment advice now? I suppose that's part of 'other duties as required.'