April Considered Best Month To Date For TSP Fund; But How Will The Market Continue To Fare

For people who invest in the TSP Funds, there was some good news to be had. The only exception would be the F fund, which lost 0.73 percent for April. And, for the year, it has dropped 2.17 percent. In fact, for a year, the fund has been in negative territory.

Thrift Savings Plan investors who shied away from the foreign stocks may want to reconsider their position for a long-term investment strategy.  The I Fund had the best return for April, with a 2.01 percent increase; it’s best year-to-date at 0.90 percent and a 14.88 percent increase for the last year. The C Fund had a 0.38 percent increase but is still down 0.40 percent for 2018. The C Fund is tied to the S&P 500 index, which increased 0.30 percent in April. Still, for the 2018 year, it’s down one percent.

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While the I Fund saw a good 2017 year, it’s still not one that TSP investors put their money into. After all, the funds have different returns and predicting how it and the other funds will act in a year is tricky. International stocks tend to balance out an investment portfolio, as they go up when others drop.

How have the funds stacked up for the last month, the year 2018 and the last year? Here’s a look at how they’re doing:

• G Fund – 0.23 percent month, 0.88 2018 and 2.43 percent last year
• F Fund – -0.73 percent month, -2.17 percent 2018 and -0.18 percent last year
• C Fund – 0.38 percent month, -0.40 percent 2018 and 13.23 percent last year
• S Fund – 0.28 percent month, 0.39 percent 2018 and 12.20 percent last year
• I Fund – 2.01 percent month, 0.90 percent 2018, 14.88 percent last year
• L Fund Income – 0.30 percent month, 0.62 percent 2018, 4.52 percent last year
• L2020 – 0.36 percent month, 0.50 percent 2018, 6.47 percent last year
• L2030 – 0.55 percent month, 0.33 percent 2018, 9.19 percent last year
• L2040 – 0.62 percent month, 0.23 percent 2018, 10.41 percent last year
• L2050 – 0.69 percent month, 016 percent 2018, 11.53 percent last year

The financial market for 2018 has been incredibly volatile, and this volatility is affecting the decisions and actions investors make. For March, over $1 billion had been moved into the G Fund. The S fund also saw a $423 million transfer and $174 million was moved into the L funds.

The C Fund saw a transference of $845 million out of it – maybe because there was a 2.55 percent drop in March. The I Fund also saw a 518 million transfer and $310 million from the F Fund.