What does the F fund track?
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board has chosen to invest the F Fund in an index fund that tracks the
Generally, if market interest rates rise, the value of your F Fund shares will fall, and vice versa. The effect of rising interest rates is offset, to some extent, by the interest payments that are periodically received from the bonds and credited to the shares' value.
The G Fund rate is calculated by the U.S. Treasury as the weighted average yield of approximately 191 U.S. Treasury securities on the last day of the previous month. The yield of the security has a weight in the G Fund rate calculation based on the amount outstanding.
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 small-to-medium U.S. companies not included in the S&P 500 Index.
The C Fund holds all the stocks included in the S&P 500 Index in virtually the same weights that they have in the index. The performance of the C Fund is evaluated on the basis of how closely its returns match those of the S&P 500 Index.
Basic Info. Thrift Savings Plan F Fund Monthly Returns is at -1.41%, compared to -0.19% last month and -2.58% last year.
The G Fund is often considered the safest option among TSP funds. It invests in U.S. Treasury securities, providing a stable return with minimal risk.
F Fund investors are rewarded with the opportunity to earn higher rates of return over the long term than they would from investments in short-term securities such as the G Fund.
If you choose to invest in the G Fund, you are placing a higher priority on the stability and preservation of your money than on the opportunity to potentially achieve greater long-term growth in your account through investment in the other TSP funds.
The F Fund (bonds) and the C, S, and I Funds (stocks) have higher potential returns than the G Fund (government securities). But stocks and bonds also carry the risk of investment losses that the G Fund does not have.
What is the return on the TSP F fund?
The fixed-income investment index F fund was the only fund in the negative for February with a -1.41% return. The F fund is negative year to date, still up 3.29% in the last 12 months.
Fidelity® Total Market Index Fund is a diversified domestic all-cap equity strategy that seeks to closely track the aggregate returns and characteristics of the Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market IndexSM.
The Fidelity 500 Index Fund tracks the S&P 500 index, one of the main benchmarks for U.S. stocks.
Summary: The TSP I Fund (International Stock Index Investment Fund) invests in stocks of 44 foreign countries. The TSP I Fund is an international stock index fund that tracks the investment performance of the Morgan Stanley Capital International ACWI IMI ex USA ex China ex Hong Kong Index.
Summary: The TSP C Fund (Common Stock Index Investment Fund) is a U.S. large cap stock index fund that tracks the S&P 500 index. The TSP C Fund is a U.S. stock index fund invested in common stocks of the 500 companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) Index.
THE G FUND:
This gives the G Fund the best overall risk/reward ratio of any Treasury investment, and it's only available to TSP investors. More specifically, the G Fund interest rate is based on the average of U.S Treasuries with a duration of 4 years or more, and the interest rate resets monthly.
The F Fund invests in a bond index fund that tracks the Barclays Capital 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.
This is the only core fund that does not invest in an index. The G Fund invests in a special non-marketable treasury security issued specifically for the TSP by the U.S. government. This fund is the only one in the TSP that guarantees the return of the investor's principal.
If you follow this formula, it should allow you to accumulate your full annual salary by age 30. Continuing at the same average savings rate should yield the following: Age 35—two times annual salary. Age 40—three times annual salary.
Dave Ramsey's advice is to save 5% into the TSP to get the full match, then max out a Roth IRA, and then put more into the TSP if you are able to save more after that.
How much should I have in my TSP when I retire?
There is no such thing as too much money in the Thrift Savings Plan. If you want your TSP balance to be able to generate an inflation-indexed annual income of $10,000, most financial planners will suggest that you have a $250,000 balance at the time you retire.
The TSP is not all bad in retirement. The TSP certainly does lack some flexibility in retirement but its greatest strength is SIMPLICITY. Fewer options often means fewer ways to make a mistake. You'll have to decide if you value simplicity or flexibility when choosing where to keep your retirement money.
| Ticker | Name | 5-year return (%) |
|---|---|---|
| FGRTX | Fidelity Mega Cap Stock | 16.52% |
| STSEX | BlackRock Exchange BlackRock | 16.27% |
| USBOX | Pear Tree Quality Ordinary | 16.13% |
| FGLGX | Fidelity Series Large Cap Stock | 16.08% |
F, F5 & FT Series
These series are only offered to investors with a fee-based account with dealers who have entered into an agreement with us. Please note that this also applies to our FH Series (see the H & FH Series section below).
The top performers in Barron's fund families ranking—Putnam Investments in the top slot, followed by Fidelity Investments, PGIM Investments, Virtus Investment Partners, and Touchstone Investments—did just that for most of their investors.
