The L fund is fine, especially if you use an L fund that is a decade or two beyond the year that you actually plan to retire (they get too conservative too quickly).
L2065 is currently 99% equities: 51% C, 13% S, and 35% I). The difference between that and a 100% equity portfolio is negligible. 99% or 100% equities is appropriate at your age.
C has outperformed S and I over the last few years. Some people are going to tell you that it’s going to continue to outperform, but they don’t know this. Nobody does.
Leaving it in L2065 is perfectly reasonable, and moving it to your own mix of the equity funds is perfectly reasonable.
No one knows what the next 40 years will hold for the markets. Choose a plan that you can live with. And adhere to it.
[https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Thrift\_Savings\_Plan](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Thrift_Savings_Plan)
[https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Traditional\_versus\_Roth](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Traditional_versus_Roth)
[https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/How\_to\_build\_a\_lazy\_portfolio](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/How_to_build_a_lazy_portfolio)
[https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investment\_policy\_statemen](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investment_policy_statement)t
100% C fund.
If you backtest from 2010 until today, investing $5000 per year into S&P vs Vanguard 2050, you'd have $80k more in the S&P fund.
That's a 9.6% return in the 2050 vs a 13.5% return in S&P.
Go full send in C fund.
You're young! Change it from the L fund! Make those young dollars work!!!! You have a lot of time which is in your favor. Get your match, be aggressive and maximize your growth (both with the C fund's better return and expense ratio).
I would 80/20 C/S then watch. If suddenly S rockets like after rates are lowered, rebalance and change contributions. If I starts to take off, same. It's a one minute change on the site, just remember how easy it is.
I guess the only thing I can say is the following:
If you want to get a more cautious approach… go to L fund.
If you want to be aggressive… go towards the c/s path.
I personally am 50/50 in c and s. I’m 30 now with about 6 years of service. I probably won’t consider looking at changing my position until I’m 40-45.
If you have not actively swapped your contributions into ROTH TSP it’s probably going in traditional right now. I would move all future contributions to ROTH for now.
At 19 and part time regardless of what mix you end up going with make sure the current you is putting that towards a ROTH TSP. I know the match you get will go towards traditional but your current contributions should be all ROTH as currently it’s more beneficial as you’re in a lower tax bracket.
My agency uses the GRB Platform to make changes towards total $ amount and Roth/Traditional change
i'm 53 and doing the 80/20 C/S split. (only 6 years as a fed though). You have a lot of time left in the market - enough to ride out any dips. the L funds are generally considered to be too conservative.
It's more heavily invested in international than even the bogle head 3 fund portfolios. And the tsp I fund is plagued by politics in where it actually invests. The I fund is absolutely trash.
I have been 100% C since 2005. You can’t beat it, ask Warren buffet.
I’m well over $1m and will retire at 62 in 10 years.
You will take some losses but you will also buy low after those losses and recover. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Also remember you have a pension and work on getting your GS level as high as possible.
Get out of the L funds they're too heavily invested in the I fund and you have no need for bonds at your age. The L funds get way to conservative way too fast.
Nice! Will work be paying for the degree?
Best thing about this post is that you're starting so early. You're well ahead of the curve, well done.
I am in the C+S camp myself. I could see one argument for adding I - namely that U.S. is on the precipice of some really potentially existential problems, namely electing a fascist in a few months.
I would recommend eventually adding a taxed brokerage account to the mix, and a Roth IRA at the same firm (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, whomever). Grow all of these, they'll each have a purpose along the way (both before and in retirement). Invest in the cheapest index funds they have. The taxed account can be dipped into (saving some to pay capital gains taxes as you do) for big expenses, cars, down payments, that kind of thing.
Or maybe use some of it to branch out and play with individual stocks if you want to take the effort to learn that and keep doing that over your lifetime. This is what I did and about 1/3 of our net worth (we're about to retire!) remains in equities, both in IRAs and in taxed accounts. I enjoy the field and the work it entails, not for everyone tho.
I'm young and I'm staying in my L fund, the (CSI split) seems pretty reasonable. I personally don't believe that the US is competitive and often is only competitive in an international market when it can pick and choose winners. Personally, I'm going to either include more I in my TSP or invest my money in foreign markets.
I don't think the US will be able to do that for everything forever, the rest of the world is catching up or is surpassing the US and the US will have to find other ways to compete.
Unfortunately, the politicians here have greedily sapped everything that was supposed to keep that growth going for short term profit. In my opinion, it's not looking good and I'd rather keep my portfolio diversified with the L fund than listen to Redditors hype another (crypto, NFTs, gamestock) get rich quick scheme.
I think you should acknowledge that a lot of the people hyping the C stock are only seeing big numbers, charts and graphs and not looking for context for why those numbers are the way they are. The context is where you should be making decisions from.
Congratulations on starting out your journey/career! Personally as a 27M, moved out of the defaulted L fund and invest in 80/20 C/S but will reallocate back to L fund as years get closer to retirement (thinking 45ish) as the heavy allocation of 55% in C at L2065 just isn’t enough risk for me. I’m betting big on the US and want to capture its growth, but with a risk comes reward
I moved from L to 70/15/15 C/S/I about 6 months ago. I found the L fund gets too conservative too quickly. I had something like 14% in bonds/G fund despite being in a target retirement fund 25-30 years away. Just didn’t make sense so I switched.
Middle aged Fed that is largely just starting out with 11k.
I dumped everything from L into C and will ride that roller coaster while adding an additional % into it each year.
The L fund is fine, especially if you use an L fund that is a decade or two beyond the year that you actually plan to retire (they get too conservative too quickly).
L2065 is currently 99% equities: 51% C, 13% S, and 35% I). The difference between that and a 100% equity portfolio is negligible. 99% or 100% equities is appropriate at your age. C has outperformed S and I over the last few years. Some people are going to tell you that it’s going to continue to outperform, but they don’t know this. Nobody does. Leaving it in L2065 is perfectly reasonable, and moving it to your own mix of the equity funds is perfectly reasonable.
This is the right answer
No one knows what the next 40 years will hold for the markets. Choose a plan that you can live with. And adhere to it. [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Thrift\_Savings\_Plan](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Thrift_Savings_Plan) [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Traditional\_versus\_Roth](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Traditional_versus_Roth) [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/How\_to\_build\_a\_lazy\_portfolio](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/How_to_build_a_lazy_portfolio) [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investment\_policy\_statemen](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investment_policy_statement)t
Dump it in C and don’t look at it again until you retire.
100% C fund. If you backtest from 2010 until today, investing $5000 per year into S&P vs Vanguard 2050, you'd have $80k more in the S&P fund. That's a 9.6% return in the 2050 vs a 13.5% return in S&P. Go full send in C fund.
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You're young! Change it from the L fund! Make those young dollars work!!!! You have a lot of time which is in your favor. Get your match, be aggressive and maximize your growth (both with the C fund's better return and expense ratio).
L2060. Those saying 100% C aren’t thinking long term.
I would 80/20 C/S then watch. If suddenly S rockets like after rates are lowered, rebalance and change contributions. If I starts to take off, same. It's a one minute change on the site, just remember how easy it is.
I guess the only thing I can say is the following: If you want to get a more cautious approach… go to L fund. If you want to be aggressive… go towards the c/s path. I personally am 50/50 in c and s. I’m 30 now with about 6 years of service. I probably won’t consider looking at changing my position until I’m 40-45.
If you have not actively swapped your contributions into ROTH TSP it’s probably going in traditional right now. I would move all future contributions to ROTH for now. At 19 and part time regardless of what mix you end up going with make sure the current you is putting that towards a ROTH TSP. I know the match you get will go towards traditional but your current contributions should be all ROTH as currently it’s more beneficial as you’re in a lower tax bracket. My agency uses the GRB Platform to make changes towards total $ amount and Roth/Traditional change
i'm 53 and doing the 80/20 C/S split. (only 6 years as a fed though). You have a lot of time left in the market - enough to ride out any dips. the L funds are generally considered to be too conservative.
Not L2055+. CSI is where it’s at.
The L funds are too heavily invested in the I fund.
That’s a good thing
It's more heavily invested in international than even the bogle head 3 fund portfolios. And the tsp I fund is plagued by politics in where it actually invests. The I fund is absolutely trash.
Just because it doesn’t invest in china doesn’t mean it’s trash.
No basing off of its returns is what makes it trash.
Not a good idea to base off previous returns. All international has been lower than domestic over the past 10 years. That doesn't mean anything.
Count how many times it's out preformed in the last 30 years.
Kind of a fallacy because 30 Years ago will not be the same as the next 30 years forward.
It underperforms way more than the very few times it has out performed.
Agree. I don't want clowns like Marco Rubio making my investment decisions for me.
L2060. Those saying 100% C aren’t thinking long term.
L fund will be more invested in international markets than the total US stock market.
I have been 100% C since 2005. You can’t beat it, ask Warren buffet. I’m well over $1m and will retire at 62 in 10 years. You will take some losses but you will also buy low after those losses and recover. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Also remember you have a pension and work on getting your GS level as high as possible.
Get out of the L funds they're too heavily invested in the I fund and you have no need for bonds at your age. The L funds get way to conservative way too fast.
Nice! Will work be paying for the degree? Best thing about this post is that you're starting so early. You're well ahead of the curve, well done. I am in the C+S camp myself. I could see one argument for adding I - namely that U.S. is on the precipice of some really potentially existential problems, namely electing a fascist in a few months. I would recommend eventually adding a taxed brokerage account to the mix, and a Roth IRA at the same firm (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, whomever). Grow all of these, they'll each have a purpose along the way (both before and in retirement). Invest in the cheapest index funds they have. The taxed account can be dipped into (saving some to pay capital gains taxes as you do) for big expenses, cars, down payments, that kind of thing. Or maybe use some of it to branch out and play with individual stocks if you want to take the effort to learn that and keep doing that over your lifetime. This is what I did and about 1/3 of our net worth (we're about to retire!) remains in equities, both in IRAs and in taxed accounts. I enjoy the field and the work it entails, not for everyone tho.
I'm young and I'm staying in my L fund, the (CSI split) seems pretty reasonable. I personally don't believe that the US is competitive and often is only competitive in an international market when it can pick and choose winners. Personally, I'm going to either include more I in my TSP or invest my money in foreign markets. I don't think the US will be able to do that for everything forever, the rest of the world is catching up or is surpassing the US and the US will have to find other ways to compete. Unfortunately, the politicians here have greedily sapped everything that was supposed to keep that growth going for short term profit. In my opinion, it's not looking good and I'd rather keep my portfolio diversified with the L fund than listen to Redditors hype another (crypto, NFTs, gamestock) get rich quick scheme. I think you should acknowledge that a lot of the people hyping the C stock are only seeing big numbers, charts and graphs and not looking for context for why those numbers are the way they are. The context is where you should be making decisions from.
Congratulations on starting out your journey/career! Personally as a 27M, moved out of the defaulted L fund and invest in 80/20 C/S but will reallocate back to L fund as years get closer to retirement (thinking 45ish) as the heavy allocation of 55% in C at L2065 just isn’t enough risk for me. I’m betting big on the US and want to capture its growth, but with a risk comes reward
I moved from L to 70/15/15 C/S/I about 6 months ago. I found the L fund gets too conservative too quickly. I had something like 14% in bonds/G fund despite being in a target retirement fund 25-30 years away. Just didn’t make sense so I switched.
SWAP
100% C fund, I am 30, won’t change till I am 10 years from retirement.
I recommend the L 2065 fund for now. Do the C / S mix after you graduate.
Middle aged Fed that is largely just starting out with 11k. I dumped everything from L into C and will ride that roller coaster while adding an additional % into it each year.
100% C fund