Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community  

Go Back   Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community > The Academy > Tilted Life


 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 11-21-2005, 11:08 PM   #1 (permalink)
Crazy
 
Location: Meeshagain
Thift Savings Plan - Any advice?

Hi everyone. I am in the Navy and they pitch us TSP pretty hard. Is it really a good plan? Rigt now I'm an E-1, I
ll be an E-2 quite soon. I am currently investing 10% of my pay into the TSP. Is this good?

Also, how should I invest the money? Right now I have 40% going into the G fund and 60 % in the S fund. I was thinking about putting some in the I fund and/or some in the C fund.

I was looking into the L funds too but I'm not too sure. Can someone who knows what they are talking about give me some good advice?
emphant is offline  
Old 11-27-2005, 10:35 PM   #2 (permalink)
Existentialist
 
forseti-6's Avatar
 
Location: New York City
Hey there. I've been using the TSP for quite a while now. If you go to the website www.tsp.gov you can take a look at the historic returns. Personally for someone who doesn't have a whole lot of time to research different stocks and such, I think the TSP is an excellent plan.

The reason why the TSP is pushed hard towards junior enlisted is because it's never too early to start saving for your future. Look at it this way, you are taking out 10% pretax from your salary and putting it towards your future. It will grow. It is better than putting it in the bank and earning very little interest. If you decide to put in your 20 or serve out your enlistment, you will be a step ahead already.

10% is a good start, and of course if you can afford to put more in, do it! If not, it's not that bad. I don't know how the Navy's deployment schedule is, but if you get deployed, use that as an excuse to contribute a little bit more!

Personally I like to put my money in a little more risky (but higher possible return) funds. I currently have my distribution as 30% C, 40% I and 40% S. I'm basically basing this off of how the market has done in the last couple years. Putting it all in C is also a safe bet. I would stay out of the F and G fund for now, as that's mainly for those who want a steady return but little risky - i.e. someone close to retirement.

I'm not sure what the L fund is. Is that a new addition? PM if you have any specific questions.
__________________
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss
forseti-6 is offline  
Old 11-28-2005, 02:15 PM   #3 (permalink)
<3 TFP
 
xepherys's Avatar
 
Location: 17TLH2445607250
TSP is pretty decent for military personnel. It doesn't touch a private company's 401(k) offerings, usually, but it's something to start with. Also, even being the the Army National Guard, I've never used TSP. However, being young I suggest applying more money (as mentioned by forseti) into higher risk, higher yield options.
xepherys is offline  
Old 12-05-2005, 10:17 AM   #4 (permalink)
Upright
 
Location: Norfolk, VA
I work for the navy, and have had the TSP for a couple of years. I've heard that if you exceed the percentage that the navy matches, you aren't benefitting. You should max out your contribution at whatever they match, then put whatever else you want to save into something else. I think I've heard the Roth IRA thrown around as a option. You'd have to ask someone a little better acquainted with that. I don't really have extra money to invest right now.
rthmchgs is offline  
Old 12-08-2005, 06:01 PM   #5 (permalink)
Existentialist
 
forseti-6's Avatar
 
Location: New York City
Quote:
Originally Posted by rthmchgs
I work for the navy, and have had the TSP for a couple of years. I've heard that if you exceed the percentage that the navy matches, you aren't benefitting. You should max out your contribution at whatever they match, then put whatever else you want to save into something else. I think I've heard the Roth IRA thrown around as a option. You'd have to ask someone a little better acquainted with that. I don't really have extra money to invest right now.
Unfortunately active duty doesn't get any matching
__________________
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss
forseti-6 is offline  
Old 12-17-2005, 10:15 AM   #6 (permalink)
Tilted
 
Location: Colorado
A little bit more about your plans might help. Four and out or whether you plan to make it a career. I was Navy for awhile but I never got into TSP but it compared up fairly well with the ROTH IRA I already had.

As an aside if you happen to be planning on getting out and going to college pay the extra 600 for the GI Bill kicker. Ask your yeoman about the details and he'll be able to set the paperwork up for you. It's very worth it as that extra 600 raises your GI Bill benefits by 300 a month for the entire duration you draw them. You can do it anytime in your enlistment so you have time if you happen to be tight right now. I remember all too well how poor I felt as an E-2.
__________________
"People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them." -George Bernard Shaw
Sgoilear is offline  
 

Tags
advice, plan, savings, thift

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 09:23 PM.

Tilted Forum Project

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0 PL2
© 2002-2012 Tilted Forum Project

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360