Thread: Kave's Account Talk

Originally Posted by kave

nnuut thanks! and I like ya'll as well! I will be here I'm just off the yo-yo ride man!!! When/If the DW & I rv through BP Ga, I'll be lookin you up and I will buy the KOLD BEERZ!!!

Come on that would be fun.

Okay folks, kave is looking for fund advice. I decided to be specific about what 'ADVICE" I asked for because if it's anything here like it is elsewhere in my world I get more ADVICE about crap I'd just soon do without!!!


So here I am with a pending retirement date of December 31, 2016. I am currently in the L-2020 fund and my TSP balance is above what I need to retain my current salary in retirement. I don't have to tell you folks that the market has been on an up swing lately and I can't keep from looking in my rear view mirror thinking this SOB gonna fall.

So here's my question: Given my specific circumstance, if you were me would you be IN or OUT of the market for the near future?

Thanks in advance,
Kave

The market is in a strange place right now, fundamentals look bad and the economy is slow, yet the market keeps climbing (see my thread re. FOMO and TINA). From what I've read, the market keeps climbing without the fundamentals to support it could lead to a bubble and they tend to pop. Sounds like you got a pretty good nest egg, you may consider safety in the G-fund until after the next election; I suspect all the hocus pocus keeping the market afloat will somehow go away when the dems loose the WH (conspiracy theory). Do you plan to put it all into an annuity? If so, unless you're nimble and on top of all the goings on daily, move to safety. Just my thoughts.

Originally Posted by Whipsaw

Do you plan to put it all into an annuity?

Whip, I do not plan to put it into an annuity. From what I've digested regarding that option is that the owner loses control of the nest egg any gains above the annuity return goes to investor of the annuitants $. An annuity return is what I've based my retirement on (taking the conservative approach). Yeah there's a guaranteed income stream but, you lose all control of the investment. I plan to make a withdrawal to pay off a small mortgage balance, keep the remaining balance in TSP more than likely the Income fund and set the cruise control. Similar to an annuity but I don't want to be sitting completely out of the game should we experience an event similar to 2008 where there was a sh*t pot load of coin was made within a few years of the crash.Thanks for your insight and words of wisdom!

If I was that close to retirement, I think I would make sure the bulk of my money was safely in the G Fund and maybe just keep a little play money out. I think if the market were to crash, that you'd have plenty of time to get back in and reap the rewards. IMHO

I retired 2 years ago this coming May and I was fully invested until yesterday. I have not and never intended to draw from my tsp ,so I thought I had time for things to come back around if we did drop. By the way I stay fully invested during the drop in 2008 and made it all back and then some. The reason I moved out yesterday 65 F 15 C 15 S and 5 I was I have been hearing the same rumblings as everyone else and my financial advisor recommended that 65% go to bonds especially in this election year. Before changing I checked my balance and was surprised to see that my account was up 14000 in 2 years that's all gains since no longer able to contribute since retiring. It had me thinking twice about changing but I did anyway. At the time I retired I didn't see any reason to jump n run out of stocks when momentum was still climbing,this election year thingy adds a different factor. Long story short everyone's situation is different and you need to look at the whole picture. I'm pretty much a buy and hold so we will see how long I hold this position. I along with others have posted on the retirement thread with tidbits of advice check it out. Good luck and hang tite your time is near.

Originally Posted by GUCHI

I retired 2 years ago this coming May and I was fully invested until yesterday. I have not and never intended to draw from my tsp ,so I thought I had time for things to come back around if we did drop. By the way I stay fully invested during the drop in 2008 and made it all back and then some. The reason I moved out yesterday 65 F 15 C 15 S and 5 I was I have been hearing the same rumblings as everyone else and my financial advisor recommended that 65% go to bonds especially in this election year. Before changing I checked my balance and was surprised to see that my account was up 14000 in 2 years that's all gains since no longer able to contribute since retiring. It had me thinking twice about changing but I did anyway. At the time I retired I didn't see any reason to jump n run out of stocks when momentum was still climbing,this election year thingy adds a different factor. Long story short everyone's situation is different and you need to look at the whole picture. I'm pretty much a buy and hold so we will see how long I hold this position. I along with others have posted on the retirement thread with tidbits of advice check it out. Good luck and hang tite your time is near.

Completely agree with you. If I did not depend on my TSP for income, I would stay invested as well. Sorry, I forgot to mention that.

If you are depending on your TSP in retirement you may want to set aside a bucket of money in the G Fund and still play with the rest.

For example, if you want to set aside 5 years worth of income just determine what percentage of the total that amounts to. That then becomes your permanent bucket of money in the G Fund. The rest you move around like you do now. You probably want to recomputed your bucket percentage regularly as your balance goes up and down.

I chose to take a lifetime withdrawal on the TSP in retirement. The withdrawal can then go into a brokerage account for more aggressive trading while only needing to make about 3.5% per year in the TSP to maintain the balance if you choose to be conservative. This withdrawal will also automatically adjust the amount of my minimum withdrawal at 70 1/2. This option also allows a onetime switch to monthly amounts if circumstances change.

Congratulations short timer! I have been retired three years on the 30th of April and it has been good. I decided that I wanted to keep watching the market and even though I am conservative I try to be in at least 25% C and up to 60% C & S when things are positive. This has allowed me to stay positive over the G fund and I have been able to make what I withdraw monthly most of the time. So I wouldn't be in 100% right now but then again April is one of the best months of the year and it is followed by May which some say is a good time to go away till the later part of September. May is followed by June which might give us a Fed rate increase and the BREXIT. The rest of the summer could give us a Chinese devaluation and other currency, debt, oil, and commodity manipulation wars and lots of other stuff.

So I would plan on having a good safe reserve but being flexible and watching the market so you continue to earn and jump to safety as slides and corrections occur.

I have considered moving everything to Vanguard but I am comfortable with the TSP and I have more research to do before trying to fix something that isn't broken.

If you can afford to not make money from your investments for the rest of your life and you don't want to deal with it, that is OK but you should think about that now because you will probably be even more cautious after December and your retired. I know I had a few moments of realization and learned a few big lessons but things work out once you have a plan.

Best of luck and congratulations again!

Folks, I really appreciate your counsel. I just checked the Tracker and I'm sitting my returns are YTD 4.58% & MTD 1.28%. I'm extremely pleased with those returns especially with the market fluctuations and NO STRESS ;swear. I'm going to make a move to the L-Income Fund for the foreseeable future which places about 75% in the G Fund.


Thanks again to all!