Can some one explain the thrift savings plan to me?

Question

And if my husband joins the border patrol when he gets out in a couple of years can he take it with him, or will he have to roll it over into something else. Also, what other advice can you give me as far as retierment planing for millitary and or federal employees.

Answer 1

Yes, he can take it to his new employer
TSP is the retirement of federal employee like 401k, It has Life cycle Fund/target retirement fund as L fund, addition to that
they have
G fund-- government bond security
F fund-- corporate bond and government bond
C fund-- mirror the SP500 (big cap)
S fund-- mirrorred the wilshire 4500 (small cap fund)
I fund-- mirrored the EAFE international fund
But you need how to invest properly. I work for government, at the age 32 my TSP is 74000 +roth IRA, 30000 in taxable account. but you need to learn how to invest the right way

Yes you could learn invest by yourself. it is your money, you should know how to do with it. for starter check this site out.

http://www.pathtoinvesting.org/index_fla...
http://www.stockcharts.com
http://www.streettalklive.com>... university. a lot amount of information. It will serve you well
I accumulate in good amount in 401k at the young age.I could share with you. when consider invest in stock market. you should consider basic 3 things:

fundamental analysis==(economic data,finincial health, management, business model, competetion)>>what to buy

technical analysis==(chart+indicator)>> when to buy

Sentiment/schycho analysis==>>mood of investor, Contrarian point of view.
Market cycle===>> check out book Trader Almanac by jeff hirsch will give you inside stuff
When you combine 3 thing, It is one of the powerful knowledge goinh with you for the rest of your live

At the age of 32. my 401k is amassed 74,000.00 and 30000.00 in taxble account. by follow simple rule

Answer 2

The TSP is designed for Federal Employees. It is great because taxes on contributions and attributable earnings are deferred until you withdraw your money. There are alot of other incentives and you should go to http://tsp.gov/uniserv/features/chapter01.html and check them out.

Once a federal employee leaves service, he can not contribute to the TSP, but he can roll it over into another 401(k) to avoid tax penalties if he were to withdraw early.

GO to http://tsp.gov/uniserv/features/index.html for a list of info on the TSP.

For what to do after he seperates go to http://tsp.gov/uniserv/features/chapter13.html

Since you are his spouse, chapter 15 is a must read for you. It is found at http://tsp.gov/uniserv/features/chapter15.html.

As far as retierment planning goes, pay off all debt epecially if it has more than 5% interest charges. Once you pay off all debt, dont save your money in a box, or a bank, but rather invest it into a secure 401K or buy a house. You can also get a mutual fund that will give you 10 to 20% earnings a year on average. A house will give you the same over 20 years.

The most important advice I can give you and anyone else is to not have any debt at all no matter what! Some eople might say that your fico score will be lower or whatever but in the end, you loose money when you pay other people to borrow their money.

Have other people pay you money for them borrowing your money. That is smart life/ retierment planning.

I hope I could help you! Good luck on your transition out.

Answer 3

Yeah here is the break down for the year:
The C fund is crappy
The S fund is OK
The G fund is slow, but the most safest.
The I fund is the only one making any money.
The L funds is new for people who dont want to do nothing.

Now what I do is move my money around certain times of the year. When I get a gain that I am happy with I go to save haven which is G fund. Then I find another time to jump in. This is about the only way you will make any money.

A good site to follow is:
http://www.tsptalk.com/agreement.html

Answer 4

I have that, and its the best program the federal govt has for us. There match you money. The military don't even get it..he can always switch to ICE...there are several branches...Border Patrol is only the first step.....after several years go to work for Immigration or Customs...which is now all under Home Land Security.