only that you have to come up with either the faith or guts to follow the signals.
Printable View
If you are going to use a Premium Service to follow the IFTs religiously, pick one with a timeline you can follow. Sentiment Survey is one you follow weekly and be ready to IFT on Friday. IT's system requires daily reading and you have to be ready to IFT up to half an hour before the noon deadline. At least that is the way it used to work. IT can correct me if I'm wrong. That is too short a notice for folks like me who are still working. My time frame is more like LMBF which only requires you to check in at the end of each month for a potential IFT. But LMBF is not a premium service and you'd probably get better returns with the first two options. Just make sure the time required works for you.
My service doesn't require any reading at all, other than the fact that you need to be able to read the alert. I do post a daily commentary with market analysis in it if anyone wants to read it. Some like it, some might not. My system typically gives two buy signals each month, so I think it might help one decide if they personally want to wait for the 2nd signal of a month or not. The email alerts are now sent out out with the signal in them, so one doesn't have to log into TSPtalk to see what the signal is anymore. You can also get the alerts sent to you in a text message. Time is an issue on trade days though, but one has at least 30 minutes to get to a computer, use their smartphone or make a phone call in order to enter the trade. Waiting until the next day usually isn't an issue when volatility is low, but it can be when it is high. Most people find it workable, but if your in combat or a surgeon, it might not work for you.
Anyway, good luck with your decision Boomer! Doing something is better than nothing! Well, depending on the service I guess. I know some that are constantly sitting in the G fund waiting for that next big pullback..........
200 dollars is not a lot of money when you think about the minimum start-up time it takes to figure out what the hell you're doing. Factor in the learning cost (the process where you lose money making newbie mistakes) and the services pay for themselves. IT & Coolhand are well established here at TSP talk, both have extensive knowledge of the TSP funds and how they correlate with the markets.
premium services aren't just buy/sell signals and/or allocation recommendations. They also provide opportunities to pick the brains and learn from people who know what they are doing.
I actually categorize my premium fees as 'Education Tuition' as opposed to 'Financial Advisor' on Mint.com :laugh:
If you want to just buy it and leave it, rebalancing when needed, the 20% each has a respectable historic return. It's more like the often preached asset allocation of 60% stocks, 40% bonds.
Do what you feel comfortable with. It's your money.
Thanks for all of your input. I have to make a decision soon. The G Fund isn't cutting it for much longer.
Mine is free! but I'm just barley beating the G fund this year!
But seriously, you have to be comfortable with the risk of being in stocks. If you will lose sleep worrying (been there) then just leave it in G fund. Trying to catch up now is probably not the best idea. But, you should be at least 50% in stocks. Maybe start with that. Buy in slowly over the next few weeks or months. You can buy 2 times a month. We are close to a short term top IMO so I would wait or buy in slowly.
But really it's you individual choice depending on your needs and risk tolerance. Personally, I don't like following others because if I lose money I want it to be me losing it. Not someone else.
Good point. No system works all the time so you have to expect subpar performance in some years. That becomes crucial the closer you get to retirement because you don't have the time to make up a loss. So check out a system's historical returns, not just last years.
And for the record, clester is already retired and I have confidence in his system as well. :)