Benefits

TSP tanks in weak August

Funds in the Thrift Savings Plan took a plunge last month. With the exception of the government-securities G Fund, all the funds in the Thrift Savings Plan fini...

Jack Moore

September 3, 2013 1:22 pm

2 min read

Funds in the Thrift Savings Plan took a plunge last month. With the exception of the government-securities G Fund, all the funds in the Thrift Savings Plan finished August in negative territory, according to data from the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.

The ever-reliable G Fund held steady at 0.18 percent.

The C Fund, tracked to the performance of stocks of S&P 500 companies, posted the biggest drop — down 2.89 percent over last month. That was followed by the S Fund, made up of smaller company stocks, down 2.76 percent.

The I Fund, made up of international stocks, finished the month down 1.31 percent.

The F Fund was down only slightly — 0.48 percent — but the fund, which is tracked to the bond market, has had a stagnant year. It’s down 2.62 percent since January and nearly as much over the past 12 months.

All five L Funds, a mix of the five regular funds targeted around an employee’s retirement date — all posted in the red for August. The L Income Fund, the target-date fund for retirees currently drawing on their TSP accounts, was down 0.39 percent. The L 2050 was down more than 2 percent.

Overall, the S&P 500 index fell 3.1 percent in August — the worst month on Wall Street since May of last year, according to the Associated Press. However, 2013 has otherwise been a strong year for stocks; the index is up 15 percent since January.

That’s translated to strong showings, year-to-date, for many TSP Funds. The G Fund is up 1.12 percent for the year. The C Fund has risen more than 16 percent since the start of the year, while the S Fund is up more than 20 percent since January.

Thrift Savings Plan August 2013 returns

Fund	August	Year-to-Date	Last 12 Months
G Fund	0.18%	1.12%	1.58%
F Fund	-0.48%	-2.62%	-2.25%
C Fund	-2.89%	16.18%	18.69%
S Fund	-2.76%	20.30%	26.89%
I Fund	-1.31%	7.56%	18.96%
L Income	-0.39%	3.52%	4.90%
L 2020	-1.22%	7.79%	11.09%
L 2030	-1.60%	9.68%	13.75%
L 2040	-1.87%	11.08%	15.75%
L 2050	-2.11%	12.37%	17.72%