Just moved my TSP to an IRA

[Sarah in SC]

Hi All,

I retired from the federal government in 2009 and just moved my TSP account to an IRA. The TSP is a great system, but has two drawbacks: limited investment options and severe restrictions on transfers. So the reason for doing this was to have access to more investment options and fewer restrictions. Now I'm like a kid in a candy-store, all these choices ... it's scary!

Thanks to everyone for the opinions posted here, they are a valuable resource to me.

Regards,
Chuck

Since the OP's concerns got buried in other, ahem, stuff, I thought I'd address it. Chuck, the best thing you can do is start reading about investments, allocations, and risk tolerance and then work from there. This is your money, and you are responsible for it, even if you pay someone else to manage it (this means anything from what you pay a mutual fund manager that is buried within the fund fees, to paying an advisor to manage your account individually). The best single piece of advice I can offer is to understand that no one cares as much about your money as you do, and act accordingly. No need to be paranoid, but understand the conflicts of interest inherent in investment advice.

There are some good books to read on the subject, and many are geared to beginners. But it okay to take some time over your decisions and not rush into any specific investments. And good luck to you and welcome!

 

[Newguy]

"He hit me first" is a childish excuse for insulting the entire forum.

Is there an excuse for attacking me based of of the post:

"Putting a lot of faith in Vanguard are you?"

And any insult to the whole forum (I'm assuming that you're talking about when I said that so far the level of advice I was finding on here was disappointing); was based solely on my opinions on most of the advice giving on here.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Hmmm, Eupraxia, it looks like you were commenting to MartyB that he is putting a lot of faith in Vanguard. Okay.

I don't really see any advice given on this thread to the OP, just a few people saying what they did with their nest eggs. I also don't see those comments as being disappointing or not disappointing, they are just responses to the OP.

I would be curious why you think they are disappointing and why you think it is advice?

 

[RE2Boys]

By DIY do you mean making your own stock selections or fund selections?

Since the OP's concerns got buried in other, ahem, stuff, I thought I'd address it. Chuck, the best thing you can do is start reading about investments, allocations, and risk tolerance and then work from there. This is your money, and you are responsible for it, even if you pay someone else to manage it (this means anything from what you pay a mutual fund manager that is buried within the fund fees, to paying an advisor to manage your account individually). The best single piece of advice I can offer is to understand that no one cares as much about your money as you do, and act accordingly. No need to be paranoid, but understand the conflicts of interest inherent in investment advice.

I think Sarah in SC (the second quote) summarizes the attitude of most on this forum. It is the exchange of ideas and items to consider that make this board valuable to most participants.

DIY does mean making my own stock, mutual fund selections but also and most importantly asset allocation. Also include what investment vehicles to participate in....bonds, etf, annuities, etc.

 

[Newguy]

DIY does mean making my own stock, mutual fund selections but also and most importantly asset allocation. Also include what investment vehicles to participate in....bonds, etf, annuities, etc.

Thanks RE2Boys, you might also consider REIT's if you have never invested in them. (Stands for Real Estate Investment Trust's). They are a diversified way of adding real estate of any type to a portfolio. As you are retired they may be a fit for you because they are required (by rule) pay out over 90% of their earnings as a sort of dividend so they can be great income investments. But the main advantage is that they tend to be uncorrelated with the stock market so they add some nice diversification (although I have found that they generally are one of the last securities that investors are aware of).

Happy retirement

 

[Sarah in SC]

Is there an excuse for attacking me based of of the post:

"Putting a lot of faith in Vanguard are you?"

And any insult to the whole forum (I'm assuming that you're talking about when I said that so far the level of advice I was finding on here was disappointing); was based solely on my opinions on most of the advice giving on here.

Dude, you gotta go back and review that Dale Carnegie course.

 

[Alan]

Thanks RE2Boys, you might also consider REIT's if you have never invested in them. (Stands for Real Estate Investment Trust's). They are a diversified way of adding real estate of any type to a portfolio. As you are retired they may be a fit for you because they are required (by rule) pay out over 90% of their earnings as a sort of dividend so they can be great income investments. But the main advantage is that they tend to be uncorrelated with the stock market so they add some nice diversification (although I have found that they generally are one of the last securities that investors are aware of).

Happy retirement

There was a discussion on REIT's as part of a retirement portfolio here if the OP is interested.
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...y-belong-in-a-retirement-portfolio-58528.html

There are more discussions on REIT's on this site which a search will reveal easily enough.

 

[nun]

Welcome to post on "Hi, I am" and tell us a bit about yourself! Me, I'm a retired 60-something NASA engineer who does income taxes on the side, DIY investor (learned my lesson the hard way as most of us do), and two active boys at home

Off topic. I was at GSFC. What center were you at?

 

[Newguy]

Never once said that there weren't discussions on REIT's on here though did I? Just told this particular poster about something he may not have been aware of. If that's not the point of a forum than forums of all sorts could just be retired because every point of knowledge is surely already written down someplace else anyway. Excellent idea to post to a further discussion; I was relying on RE2Boys' own searching ability if he wanted to learn more about them specifically.

There was a discussion on REIT's as part of a retirement portfolio here if the OP is interested.
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...y-belong-in-a-retirement-portfolio-58528.html

There are more discussions on REIT's on this site which a search will reveal easily enough.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Dude, you gotta go back and review that Dale Carnegie course.

I'd ask for a refund, really, at this point.

 

[REWahoo]

I'd ask for a refund, really, at this point.

Ask, Hell. Demand one and don't take no for an answer!

 

[Alan]

There was a discussion on REIT's as part of a retirement portfolio here if the OP is interested.
http://www.early-retirement.org/for...y-belong-in-a-retirement-portfolio-58528.html

There are more discussions on REIT's on this site which a search will reveal easily enough.

Never once said that there weren't discussions on REIT's on here though did I?Just told this particular poster about something he may not have been aware of. If that's not the point of a forum than forums of all sorts could just be retired because every point of knowledge is surely already written down someplace else anyway. Excellent idea to post to a further discussion; I was relying on RE2Boys' own searching ability if he wanted to learn more about them specifically.

Where in my post did I suggest that you said anything negative?

Since you had brought up the excellent subject on REIT's all I was doing was pointing the OP (Original Poster) at a discussion on REIT's as part of a retirement portfolio.

You seem to be a fairly balanced guy, with a chip on each shoulder.

 

[samclem]

I'd ask for a refund, really, at this point.

But to whom would they send the refund: his new screenname or his old one? I think a completely new account is in order if a person wants to turn over a new leaf.

 

[Greg V]

For the OP's question, my retirement portfolio is about equally divided between TSP and a brokerage account so I feel comfortable with both range of choices and costs without transferring between TSP and IRAs.

For EUPRAXIA's brokerage question, I've been a Fidelity customer for many years and have been satisfied with the variety of investment options, access to non-Fidelity products, ability to do research and costs/fees.

Hope this helps.

 

[Nords]

You mean that I also do this for a living and so any advice I offer isn't just the ramblings of an amateur? Because yes; you're quite right I have experience building retirements and the level of advice I have found so far on this forum is disappointing.

We always appreciate having people drop by to show us how we're doing it wrong.

So... for how many years have you been financially independent?

Thanks RE2Boys, you might also consider REIT's if you have never invested in them. (Stands for Real Estate Investment Trust's). They are a diversified way of adding real estate of any type to a portfolio. As you are retired they may be a fit for you because they are required (by rule) pay out over 90% of their earnings as a sort of dividend so they can be great income investments. But the main advantage is that they tend to be uncorrelated with the stock market so they add some nice diversification (although I have found that they generally are one of the last securities that investors are aware of).

Speaking of Rick Ferri and correlation:
Basics of Asset Allocation (Part 2 of 2)

You seem to be a fairly balanced guy, with a chip on each shoulder.

I'm going to plagiarize this quote several times a month... thanks!

 

[RE2Boys]

Off topic. I was at GSFC. What center were you at?

Twenty+ years at Marshall, AL Now in PA. Worked telecommunications

 

[donheff]

How to win friends and influence people. I predict this poster will disappear and/or return under a different user name.

@Newguy. When you change your name the idea is to re-register under a new identity so you can get a real do-over. But note that in the past we have jumped all over new members who start in with what appear to some of us as arrogant posts only to embrace them later as we get to know them better. So hang in there and be prepared to change your identity later to Regularguy or something.

 

[MichaelB]

How to win friends and influence people. I predict this poster will disappear and/or return under a different user name.

Nice! Care to make some market predictions?