TSP- How have you allocated your investments?

[Anonymous]

I have been in a lifecycle fund since I started my job five years ago. I rarely checked performance and just figured "they" were managing it better than I could. My husband and I just reviewed retirement accounts and it turns out that he has almost 12K more in his account than I do in mine, even though I contribute 10% more money than he does. I guess I should start paying attention!

How do you decide which funds to use? I'm at a loss.

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Life cycle.

[Anonymous]

lifecycle

[Anonymous]

which fund was your husband using?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:which fund was your husband using?

Sorry for the confusion. He is in a private 401K. He said that he monitors the funds and makes adjustments two or three times per year.

[Anonymous]

you should find an asset allocation you are comfortable with (or use the lifecycle fund if you are not comfortable with picking one) and then stick with it.

it is very easy for someone to have better returns over any given time period. stocks have been doing well so someone who is heavy in stocks will do better now. when stocks drop (which they almostly certainly will sometime in the next 10-15 years) people who are heavy in stocks will have big losses.

it is very dangerous to "market time"-- i.e. try to guess when stocks will do better than bonds, or int'l better than domestic, etc.

The average investor ends up taking a large hit on their retirement savings because they buy high and sell low trying to follow performance instead of sticking with a plan.

[Anonymous]

Why doesn't DH help you monitor and rebalance?

[Anonymous]

50/50 between C and S fund.

[Anonymous]

I have done well with a combo of C, I, and S.

I wanted to be slightly more aggressive than the lifecyle funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have done well with a combo of C, I, and S.

I wanted to be slightly more aggressive than the lifecyle funds.

I did too, so I chose a later year lifecycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have done well with a combo of C, I, and S.

I wanted to be slightly more aggressive than the lifecyle funds.

I did too, so I chose a later year lifecycle.

Ditto. I'd like to retire in 2040 but picked the later fund.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:50/50 between C and S fund.

+1
I'm 40 years old.

[Anonymous]

I invested in the "right" L fund but I am more aggressive with other investments.

[Anonymous]

60/20/20
C/S/I

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:60/20/20
C/S/I

Your allocation is looking good when stock market hit record high every day. I does not look too good when the stock market hit the bottom like 2008 and 2009.