TSP Investment Mix

An overview of The Thrift Savings Plan Investment Mix

When trying to decide to invest in a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) you should obviously look into where your contributions to the fund will be places. This kind of asset allocation is the most important factor. It is the single thing that will determine the sum of money that will go towards your retirement. Under a TSP account, you will be given the same basic structure of a 401(k). Your investment mix will depend heavily on which type of TSP funds you decide to invest in. The federal government, who sponsors the thrift savings plan retirement plan, offers 10 different funds that thrift savings plan account holders can invest in. On the individual funds front, one deals specifically with government plans and the other four track certain market indexes. Eligible employees can invest in any or all of the funds, including lifecycle funds.

The TSP Lifecycle Funds series was introduced in 2005. Its purpose is to allow account holders the ease of automatic reallocation of their assets. This occurs as an employee ages. The monies are moved from more risky stock fund like C, I, or S thrift savings investment funds over to less risky income funds such as the F and G thrift savings investment funds as retirement age comes closer. This has an appeal for employees of the federal government or uniformed services that are uninterested in asset management or lack the time and expertise to manage their assets effectively over the years.