Hello, nervous little bird here

[Silverbird]

Age 45, expected retirement age either 62 or 67 (depending on how long I can stand it :notrust:). Went through the 2000-2002 fun and games with a very conservative approach. Good news: my biggest annual in TSP loss was 2 percent. Maybe not so good news: my TSP average annual growth rate per year is 7 percent.

I'd be less nervous, except the stock market seems to be on a bull ride. And this wee birdeen thinks she hears a cat ahead in the economic grass :worried: but isn't quite sure when to take flight. Last time I took off quite a bit too early and missed the climb.:embarrest: But I don't want to get surprised on the ground either and get my investments eaten. Tweet.

[Spaf]

Welcome there Silverbird!.....:)

[tsptalk]

Welcome Silverbird! Thanks for joining us!

[SkyPilot]

Welcome Silverbird,

Lot's of great places to perch here.

Watch, listen and learn...

Early Bird gets worm, Second mouse gets cheese!

[Frixxxx]

Welcome to the board. Just remember, you can't soar with eagles if you hang around with turkeys! Good luck with your investing!:cool:

[James48843]

Welcome-

Nice to have you here.

Hope all your investments grow with time.

Good luck, and happy investing!

[ATCJeff]

Welcome and there's never a dumb question. Good luck

[FUTURESTRADER]

Way ahead of the game with only a 2% annual loss. Most lost 20%-40%.
Have you checked out the L2030 or L2040 funds? They should be good in keeping your feathers from getting ruffled, and make better than an annual 7% until retirement. That's the party line anyway:). Good place to park it while you read up here.

[crhuss]

Hey Silverbird.

Welcome aboard. Don't feel like you are alone with those feelings. But if you dig a little deeper....the ebbchart followers have made 30% so far this year. That is only 5% less than you made from 2002 to 2007. And they did it in a little over 9 month. You didn't lose much-2% in any one year. Most of use lost a lot....I lost about 60% of my TSP balance by not paying attention. But I am now at twice the balance that I had pre-2002. Those who pay attention to this site will not lose much money....and should gain a lot of money. If you pay attention to the IFT posts by the top gainers each month and YTD, and emulate their systems (even the conservative ones), not your gut feelings, you will make 10-12% a year. Even if you don't follow it strickly, or subscribe to a pay-for-view site. But it will take a little time. I feel that it is worth it and I will never be a pay and hold investor again. You only make money for the other guy when you buy and hold. You have a lot of time before you retire. You can make a lot of money to be comfortable in your retirement.
I am retired now, and am doing very well with the gains I am making from the TSPtalk web site.......So, enjoy the ride.

[Show-me]

Welcome to the mb!!!

[EW_ret]

Welcome to our forums. You can join the Automated Tracker once you have 10 posts. Read the Automated Tracker Rules in my signature. Its still in testing by our members, but its working and tracking member fund transfers and allocations. Click Members Ranking (http://www.tsptalk.com/tracker/tsp_user_balance_all.php) to see the current rankings

[Minnow]

Welcome silverbird,

Lots of good info here... enjoy the reads and let's make some money!!!