Federal employees (401)k-style retirement plans posted varied returns over the past year.

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which oversees the Thrift Savings Plan, announced the year-end TSP numbers Tuesday.

Tom Trabucco, the director of external affairs at the board told In Depth with Francis Rose, 2011 was "a mixed bag" for TSP returns.

The G Fund, which invests in Treasury securities and has the highest rates of participation, and the C Fund, which is tied to the performance of the S&P 500, both posted modest gains for the year.

The F Fund, which tracks a broad index of government and corporate bonds, posted the largest gain for the year at nearly 8 percent.

"A stellar performer and a consistent performer I must say if you look back over the last five or six years," Trabucco said of the F Fund.

The I Fund, which tracks international stocks faced a sharp downturn at the end of 2011, which Trabucco said makes sense given the debt crisis in Europe.

The Lifecycle funds, which invest in a combination of the common index funds and are "tailored" to meet retirement target dates, also posted mixed gains. The L Income posted a 2.23 percent gain and the L 2020 (for federal employees looking to retire between 2015 and 2024), was up only slightly for 2011 — 0.41 percent.

The L 2030 and L 2040, with retirement targets surrounding those dates, ended in the red for 2011.

December TSP returns

RELATED STORIES:

'Softening' participation in TSP

TSP offers varying levels of risk

A November to remember for TSP?