"Friends don’t let friends buy and hold." That is our slogan at TSP Talk and it represents our approach toward investing, including saving for retirement. 

I won’t get too much into why we believe this, but let’s just put it this way; in 1999 the S&P 500 began the year at a level of 1229. Today, almost 11 years later, it is sitting at about 1050. That means any money you had invested in the S&P 500 (which is basically the Thrift Savings Plan’s C-fund) in 1999, and you left in there, is down about 15%. Not exactly what you’d expect from a long-term investment. 

That said, because of volatility, there were plenty of opportunities to make money in the stock market during that period, but it involved picking and choosing your buy and sell points. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to do, but with some effort you can improve your results. 

Not everyone is interested in watching the financial market, or has the savvy to understand the gyrations of the stock and bond markets, but it is your retirement savings after all, and if you are a federal government employee of the FERS retirement, your TSP balance could represent a large percentage of your retirement package. It may behoove you to take a little time out of your day or week to make some decisions regarding your account.

The S&P 500 has run up about 60% since the March lows earlier this year. Is it time to take some money off of the table, or can the rally continue? Are bonds a better investment right now, or have they also run up too far? These are the kinds of questions we discuss every day on TSP Talk.

Thanks to our friends at OhMyGov, we will be with you here weekly sharing tidbits of information that might help you improve your returns in your Thrift Savings Plan account. We won’t guarantee that your account will soar, but you will certainly learn something about investing and market timing if you follow along.

For those who want more than a weekly installment, we write up a free market commentary daily on www.tsptalk.com and for those who may want more help, we offer some premium services to help you make your decisions. 

Thanks for reading. We will be back here next week with more TSP Talk.