In the comments section here.Missing L2010 fund is causing the error. We have taken the gadget offline until we can fix it.
http://www.google.com/ig/directory?t...pportfolio.xml
The TSP portfolio gadget hasn't been working for a couple of days. Anybody else use this? Is your working?
In the comments section here.Missing L2010 fund is causing the error. We have taken the gadget offline until we can fix it.
http://www.google.com/ig/directory?t...pportfolio.xml
Since nobody has written anything like this up, I thought I would give it a try.
How I use “My TSP Portfolio” in iGoogle.
You can start this for any day in the past or today. i.e. go back to your last IFT which is how I use it.
- I turn off the L funds as I don’t move in and out of them (personal choice).
- I track all the individual funds (G, F, C, S, and I).
- If starting from scratch, go to tsp.gov and grab your share amount(s) to the fourth decimal. While at tsp.gov you should also write down the share prices (again to the fourth decimal). Also write down the present total $ amount you have.
Now you can go old school or new school here. I use pen, paper, and a calculator, so that’s old school. If your still using charcoal... well that's one-room schoolhouse and I call you "Sir".
- Take your overall $ amount and divide that by the share price for each fund. Round up or down to the fourth decimal.
- Plug those share prices into “TSP Portfolio”. All the $ values should be equal or your math/typing was off.
You now have your starting baseline.
- From this you can see over a few days or weeks the $ amount gained or lost in each fund. It's a nice quick and dirty, but it is also accurate from my experience using it
What I do with the information.
- I use G fund as my +/- benchmark. G fund still makes money (about 0.01% a day). So this is an upward moving benchmark. This benchmark quickly answers a few questions.
1. Am I making money on my latest IFT or not.
2. How much have I made or lost on my current IFT.
3. How are the funds doing wrt each other.
4. If I'm down, how much do I need to make back to break even or above?
I update this every time I put money into the TSP and here is how.
- So say like this past payday I was in the S fund, I write down all the share prices for when the money went in.
- I divided those share prices into the dollar amount that went in on that payday.
- I open up TSP Portfolio and add the new shares to each current share amount (use calculator).
- I do this for each individual fund. In this example, S fund would have been done already on tsp.gov, so I just plug that in.
- This keeps me in reality for comparisons. My G fund benchmark is moving up as it would had I been parked in it. The other funds are too.
Here is a variation of this that I've used in the past.
- G fund treated as above.
- I reset the other funds to match my current (in this case) S fund value (calculator).
Now, going forward, I can evaluate the I fund, C fund, or F fund with a new artificial baseline against the S fund. This can help steer me toward answering those what if's. I can't change yesterday. But I can learn and maybe reevaluate the decisions for why I did or didn't move.
Splitting between funds...
At present, I personally change my allocation every time I do an IFT. There are arguments for and against this to be sure. At other times I’ve set my allocation differently as a hedge.
If you split funds you can still track things with this iGoogle gadget. You just have to decide how you want to view it. I found that keeping G fund at 100% value and adding up the others in my head was best. But if you are partially in G fund as well… well it’s your call at that point.
Hope this helps anyone who hasn’t used this yet. I would also be happy to hear how others use this.
And kudos to the creator of this gadget, btw.
Pete
Need an attainable goal? Try honesty.
Interesting way to use that tool.
I keep a few spreadsheets that show- woulda, coulda, shoulda....but then who can make 45% a year with two IFTs/month.
THIS IS WHERE I WOULD PUT SOMETHING TO REPRESENT MY THINKING, BUT THEN THEY SHOW UP!
Tracker = Check my position
So your total at the bottom is 5 times your actual balance. In other words...you use each fund to see what would have happened if you had IFT'd there in stead of where you actually did. Thats cool.
You can have more than one TSP gadget on your iGoogle page too. That way you could run multiple scenarios.
If you just want a quick and dirty comparison using % try Tom's TSP Return Calculator. Put your allocations and share prices in and it will compare your actual return with each of the funds. Its an excel spreadsheet so you can change the formulas to do split comparisons also. I.E. Your actual vs. 50% C & %0% I or any combination you like. You can even add the L funds if you keep up with the share prices. Just for fun!
http://www.tsptalk.com/utilities/tsptalk.xls
Scout how is it different from yours? I haven't updated mine for 2011. My moves have been minimal this year, so I can catch up when I feel the need. I used yours for previous years though. I've been trying to migrate to MAC software for finances. Been a PITA trying to find one that does what I want. Kind of burned out on reentering all the data over and over at the moment.
And Kevin I didn't know I could use more than one of them. I learned something new.
I mainly like the portfolio because I have it set as my homepage. So every time I open up a browser, I get a quick look. And on the rare occasion I get on the lowside at work, I can see it as well.
Need an attainable goal? Try honesty.
Lost, Haven't looked at the iGoogle gadget but mine is set up to do most of the math for you. Worked towards minimum input (share prices mostly). Some maintenance when you make IFTs and biweekly contributions. Have been trying to find a way to get the share prices updated automatically. Difficult with an Excel spreadsheet. No success yet. Good luck with the MAC software! I understand it is excellent with graphics, pics, etc. but not so much with financial spreadsheets, etc.
I think we should develop an app for that.
S&P500 (C Fund) (delayed) (Stockcharts.com Real-time) |
DWCPF (S Fund) (delayed) (Stockcharts.com Real-time) |
EFA (I Fund) (delayed) (Stockcharts.com Real-time) |
BND (F Fund) (delayed) (Stockcharts.com Real-time) |
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Yahoo Finance Realtime TSP Fund Tracking Index Quotes |
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