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.

[Guylee]

BLACK!!!.

Everyone knows red is a suckers bet.

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

[Irving]

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

Why not? Let's go.

[Guylee]

Why not? Let's go.

Not a fan of gambling. I have a hard enough time holding onto the money I already have.

[Samurai]

Not a fan of gambling. I have a hard enough time holding onto the money I already have.

I am the exact same way, I consider my 401k as gambling, better odds to make money based on doing investments and a company match!

[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.