Investing megathread extravaganza

[DaFace]

A place to talk about investing stuff.

[eDave]

2+2=5. It's always been that way. Just do the best you can.

[lewdog]

Loading SDOW

[58-4ever]

Microsoft is up to 136 dollars... from 84 in January of 18

[Rawlsian]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

I wouldn’t. They don’t make money. There is a lot to like there but they don’t make money and never meet their projections. Not good things for stock owners.


.

Amazon had impressive revenue but didn't turn a profit with focus on money going into development and expansion. Tesla sales are impressive and they don't spend money on advertisements.

[Coach]

For the experts, tell me if I am doing this right or wrong and what would be your suggestions.

Currently I have the following % allocated to the funds from my biweekly paycheck (roughly about $310 goes to my retirement pre-tax):

G Fund - 10%
F Fund - 15%
C Fund - 25%
S Fund - 25%
I Fund - 25%

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Coach

For the experts, tell me if I am doing this right or wrong and what would be your suggestions.

Currently I have the following % allocated to the funds from my biweekly paycheck (roughly about $310 goes to my retirement pre-tax):

G Fund - 10%
F Fund - 15%
C Fund - 25%
S Fund - 25%
I Fund - 25%

What are the contents of those funds? It'll probably say something like, "100 percent stocks", or "Company stock" or something like that.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

What are the contents of those funds? It'll probably say something like, "100 percent stocks", or "Company stock" or something like that.

https://www.tsp.gov/InvestmentFunds/...ormance_G.html

The G Fund's investment objective is to produce a rate of return that is higher than inflation while avoiding exposure to credit (default) risk and market price fluctuations. The G Fund invests exclusively in a nonmarketable short-term U.S. Treasury security that is specially issued to the TSP. The earnings consist entirely of interest income on the security.

The F Fund's investment objective is to match the performance of the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a broad index representing the U.S. bond market.

The F Fund assets are held in a separate account and managed to track the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. This broad index includes U.S. Government, mortgage-backed, corporate, and foreign government (issued in the U.S.) sectors of the U.S. bond market. The earnings consist of interest income on the securities and gains (or losses) in the value of the securities.

The F Fund uses an indexing approach to investing. In other words, it is a passively managed fund that remains invested according to its investment strategy regardless of conditions in the bond market or the economy.

The C Fund's investment objective is to match the performance of the Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P 500) Index, a broad market index made up of stocks of 500 large to medium-sized U.S. companies.

The C Fund assets are held in a separate account and managed to fully replicate the Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P 500) Index. The earnings consist primarily of dividend income and gains (or losses) in the price of stocks.
The C Fund is a passively managed fund that remains invested according to its indexed investment strategy regardless of stock market movements or general economic conditions.

The S Fund's investment objective is to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Completion Total Stock Market Index, a broad market index made up of stocks of U.S. companies not included in the S&P 500 Index.

The S Fund invests in a stock index fund that tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Completion Total Stock Market Index. The earnings consist of dividend income and gains (or losses) in the price of stocks.

The S Fund uses an indexing approach to investing. In other words, it is a passively managed fund that remains invested according to its investment strategy regardless of conditions in the bond market or the economy.

The I Fund's investment objective is to match the performance of the MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia, Far East) Index.

The I Fund invests in a stock index fund that fully replicates the MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia, Far East) Index. The earnings consist of gains (or losses) in the price of stocks, dividend income, and change in the relative value of currencies.

The I Fund uses an indexing approach to investing. In other words, it is a passively managed fund that remains invested according to its investment strategy regardless of stock market movements or general economic conditions.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Coach

For the experts, tell me if I am doing this right or wrong and what would be your suggestions.

Currently I have the following % allocated to the funds from my biweekly paycheck (roughly about $310 goes to my retirement pre-tax):

G Fund - 10%
F Fund - 15%
C Fund - 25%
S Fund - 25%
I Fund - 25%

Looks pretty good to me. 75/25 stocks to bonds. Decent ratio and I wouldn't go less stocks unless you were within 5 years of retirement.

The $310 isn't super meaningful. Think in term of your salary percentage. People should be putting in 10-15% of their salary into retirement accounts....more if you can swing it.

[Rain Man]

I'll admit that I'm blatantly aggressive in my investments, so take your own philosophy into account, but unless you're getting close to retirement I'm not a big fan of F and G. They're conservative if you're risk-averse, but as long as you don't fear a long-term bear market, and/or you're young enough to recover from such a market, you're better off loading up on C. How many years do you have until your planned retirement?

I've been burned on international funds in the past, so I don't like them, but I can see why you'd want some.

Just my opinions, and I'm no expert.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by lewdog

Looks pretty good to me. 75/25 stocks to bonds. Decent ratio and I wouldn't go less stocks unless you were within 5 years of retirement.

The $310 isn't super meaningful. Think in term of your salary percentage. People should be putting in 10-15% of their salary into retirement accounts....more if you can swing it.

Currently, I am putting in about 18% (this is where the calculation of $310) of my salary into retirement. The plan is to increase it to 20+% if I get an promotion.

I just wasn't sure if I was putting a little too much/being a little too conservative on the F and G funds.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I'll admit that I'm blatantly aggressive in my investments, so take your own philosophy into account, but unless you're getting close to retirement I'm not a big fan of F and G. They're conservative if you're risk-averse, but as long as you don't fear a long-term bear market, and/or you're young enough to recover from such a market, you're better off loading up on C. How many years do you have until your planned retirement?

I've been burned on international funds in the past, so I don't like them, but I can see why you'd want some.

Just my opinions, and I'm no expert.

I am in the late 30's, so hoping to retire by 67 or 70 (depending on my health and how my retirement is doing), to maximize the Social Security.

Downside was I didn't have much of a retirement in my 20's, so that's part of the reason why I'm being a little aggressive to make up for that lost time. At least I was not impacted by the great recession in the 2008.

And yeah, the international funds were shaky initially, but as long as I'm seeing positive returns annually, I'll be fine. But that one I tend to watch more closely than the C and S funds.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Coach

Currently, I am putting in about 18% (this is where the calculation of $310) of my salary into retirement. The plan is to increase it to 20+% if I get an promotion.

I just wasn't sure if I was putting a little too much/being a little too conservative on the F and G funds.

That's up to you. I run 90/10 but I am young and this makes more sense to me as I can handle some big swings being 3 decades out from retirement.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by Coach

I am in the late 30's, so hoping to retire by 67 or 70 (depending on my health and how my retirement is doing), to maximize the Social Security.

Downside was I didn't have much of a retirement in my 20's, so that's part of the reason why I'm being a little aggressive to make up for that lost time. At least I was not impacted by the great recession in the 2008.

And yeah, the international funds were shaky initially, but as long as I'm seeing positive returns annually, I'll be fine. But that one I tend to watch more closely than the C and S funds.

If you feel you are behind in your retirement savings and got started late, I would lean more heavily towards stocks than you currently are then.

[EPodolak]

Originally Posted by Coach

Currently, I am putting in about 18% (this is where the calculation of $310) of my salary into retirement. The plan is to increase it to 20+% if I get an promotion.

I just wasn't sure if I was putting a little too much/being a little too conservative on the F and G funds.

One rule of thumb out there is your bond allocation be 110 minus your age. Raise it or lower it a little based on your comfort with risk.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by lewdog

If you feel you are behind in your retirement savings and got started late, I would lean more heavily towards stocks than you currently are then.

That's what I was wondering if I was being a little conservative on the F and G funds. I was thinking of making it 5% for both and allocate the remaining 15% to the C fund or split it evenly to the C/S funds.

But the C/S/I funds returns have been OK so....