Investment question (I know nothing about this stuff)

[mcantar18c]

What exactly is the Personal Investment Performance number, and what is it a measurement of? (Other than the obvious... where do the numbers come from). Also, what's a good percentage to be seeing?
I just checked my TSP account out of boredom and saw this number on my account page. I've actually wanted to get more involved with this stuff for a while, but haven't found the time to figure out where to start.

[MrPrena]

I ususally use S&P500 , Russell 2000, Wilshire 5000 types of indicies to measure my % of gain loss PLUS whatever risk factor you added in.

[Guylee]

Put it all on red.

[Mick-Boy]

BLACK!!!.

Everyone knows red is a suckers bet.

[UncleDave]

Ponies, always the ponies. Let it ride.

[Dave]

From the TSP site:
The Personal Investment Performance (PIP) number is a combined rate of return earned on all of the funds you held in your TSP account during the year covered by the annual statement. Your personal performance is based on the performance of your investments and on the timing and amount of your purchases (e.g., contributions) and redemptions (e.g., loans and withdrawals) as well as the effect of any interfund transfers. Therefore, your personal performance may differ substantially from the performance of the investments themselves.

TSP has really underperformed compared to my smaller E-trade Roth IRA. But, with 5% matching from the federal agency I still put money in a Lifecycle fund there.

[275RLTW]

Yeah, about that TSP...don't expect much from there. Get a financial advisor and transfer your TSP into something that has the ability to actually make money for the same risk.

[mcantar18c]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm not putting into it anymore, but I figure I may as well let it sit.
I really want to get a lot more involved into this stuff one day.

[Dave]

Yeah, about that TSP...don't expect much from there. Get a financial advisor and transfer your TSP into something that has the ability to actually make money for the same risk.

Except you have a 5% matching, which is better than the average 3% most people get. The matching is actually a lot bigger than most people think because if you contribute that you automatically double your money every pay period. For me 5% is about $120, but every two weeks my TSP account gets ~$240 put into it. You would have to lose 50% in a year to technically break even on your own contributions. However, TSP money is handled by the Thrift Investment Board in Louisiana. They basically pull people with finance degrees in and pay them GS-07 wages which are below industry standards so you get the brokers who for whatever reason got turned down for a job elsewhere. Since the recession this usually has meant fresh graduates who are competing with other people for private sector jobs that have 10+ years of experience and already have their broker licenses. This means gov work is their last choice since they know student loans will be coming due.

Like I said before, since I can afford it I do 5% to TSP on a pre-tax basis and then have a Roth IRA separately that I put extra to. It's a smaller one so all I am required to put in is $50 a month which I do through an auto withdrawal and if I have extra discretionary money at the end of a month I put a little more to it.

[Guylee]

BLACK!!!.

Everyone knows red is a suckers bet.

Full disclosure-I've never even set foot in a casino.