Is Now a Good Time To Shift To Lifecycle Fund?

[Dog]

DH is thinking about shifting from C fund, D fund and G fund to the Lifecycle option in his TSP account. The market is in another down cycle, should he wait until there is some improvement or just do it?
Thanks for your input.

 

[ats5g]

There is no D fund. do you mean F, S, or I fund?

 

[Dude]

What is the % of stocks to bonds of the mix that you're in now, and what would be the allocation of the lifecycle fund you would switch to?

 

[Spanky]

The market is in another down cycle, should he wait until there is some improvement or just do it?

In general, any time is a good time to buy based on the premise that we cannot predict the market. If we can foresee the future, the best time to buy is at the bottom (or near the bottom). Anyway, the market may be heading lower, but if we wait for the market to recover, we may miss the opportunity to buy low since the recovery may happen quickly.

 

[Coach]

He's in for the long haul, right? Might as well do it now.

Coach

 

[Dog]

There is no D fund. do you mean F, S, or I fund?

Oops - the S fund.

 

[Dog]

What is the % of stocks to bonds of the mix that you're in now, and what would be the allocation of the lifecycle fund you would switch to?

He is 35 (C), 35 (G) and 30 (S) fund.

He is looking at the 2020 Lifecycle (27% - G, 8% - F, 34% - C, 12% - S, 19% - I).

 

[rgarling]

35% C & 35%G is roughly the same as the 27% G, 8%F and 34% C in the L2020 fund. That leaves you with the major change:

30%S going to 12%S and 19%I.

That change is an improvement from your current position, so overall, I'd say it improves your situation to make the change.

 

[yakers]

Agree with rgarling, the L fund, by adding international improves the overall portfolio. My TSP is 85% L2020 & 15% I, I just moved 1/3 of my TSP to a Wells Fargo IRA to capture some assets not covered by the TSP. But the TSP is a good program and is my core holding and the L fund suits me. I retired March 2008.