I put am an E-5 who puts 20% Roth into my tsp and have been nothing but L fund. I have done lots of other things on the side and awesome own property but have not done anything else for "retirement" funds specifically. I am currently 24 and have 29kish (probably rose quite a bit based on the last two months as well)
How far behind/ahead of the curve am I?
What else should I be doing? I am moving to a billet that will be underway 9ish months a year and want to up all my financial game.
Posted by crazyjax51
3 Comments
I think you’re doing ok, but here’s what I did.
You are at least contributing, I follow Dave Ramsey and I put 80% in the C fund, 10% in the S fund and 10% in the I fund. I’ve seen it grow rapidly from there.
I’ve also attached the link so u can read more about it.
After listening to Ramsey my savings and invests blew up rapidly. And this was me as an E-3 /E-4 married with a kid. Now that I’m an O1-E, I’m contributing even more.
I put 20% into my tsp plus the 5% match.
Then I put about $400 in mutual funds toward a house in the future.
This is also off a single income (no debt)
[Dave Ramsey method](https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/what-is-the-thrift-savings-plan)
Sounds like you’re doing great things!
* Do you have any debt, other than perhaps a mortgage on the property you own? And do you already have an emergency fund established to avoid accruing high-interest credit card debt to pay off unexpected expenses (car repairs, travel for family emergencies, gov’t shutdowns, unpaid PCS/TDY vouchers, etc)? Based on 20% TSP savings rate, you’re doing well living within your means – keep that up!
* Is your TSP allocated to L 2065 (or another far-off retirement date), and *not* L-Income Fund? Unless you have low risk tolerance, stick with L 2065 or even consider DIY’ing a C/S/I Fund allocation that’s heavier on the C fund (L 2065 is only 50% C; I personally target a significantly higher allocation of large cap / S&P 500).
* Consider opening your own Roth IRA and aim to max out your tax-advantaged retirement contributions between TSP + IRA, especially considering that 3/4ths of your time may be out to sea in the near future.
You’re doing great! Your first step is to set goals. It’s hard to figure out what to do or if you’re on track when you don’t know where you’re trying to get.