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By Mike Miles

‘Bucket’ strategy for TSP

December 14th, 2012 | Uncategorized

Q. I am interested in seeing if the Thrift Savings Plan can be managed on a bucket type of withdrawal strategy. I realize it would take an act of Congress to get the rules changed. Can you identify the member of Congress whose pet project is the TSP?

A. No, but you can use a “bucket” strategy in the TSP now. Just allocate your account the way you’d like, take your withdrawal and then rebalance your account. The “bucket” strategy is just another way to look at an asset allocation strategy. Even if you use “buckets” for your money, there is always an underlying asset allocation being implemented.

Tags: allocation, rebalancing funds, TSP, withdrawal

International Fund vs. G fund

June 4th, 2012 | Uncategorized

Q. I have about 10 percent of my TSP invested in the International Fund and about 90 percent invested in the G fund. I do not want to take payments for the International Fund because it is down so much. Can I just take payments from the G fund and wait until the International Fund recovers, or do I have to take a proportional amount form each fund?

A. Any distributions will come from your investment funds proportionally. You may rebalance after the withdrawal is made, however.

Tags: G fund, invest, rebalancing funds, TSP, withdrawal

Rebalance of funds in TSP

June 15th, 2011 | Uncategorized

Q: I recently read an article by Mike Miles regarding rebalancing the distribution of funds in your TSP. I’m currently in the L Fund 2020. With being in the L Fund, do I need to consider rebalancing my distributions or is this done automatically for me just by being in this type of fund?

A: The L Funds are automatically rebalanced daily to an ever-changing allocation. That is not the same as rebalancing your account regularly to an allocation selected to best meet your needs. I suggest you research the L Funds, and anything else in which your life savings is invested, to be sure that you clearly understand how they work and the risk they pose.

Tags: L Fund, rebalancing funds, TSP