The choices are:
Government Securities
Fixed Income Index
Common Stock Index
Small Cap Stock Index
International Stock Index
Personally, I’d go with 100% in the International Stock Index fund.
Like Pimco, I’ve come to the conclusion that investing in US government treasuries is foolhardy, and investing in anything denominated in US dollar is nearly as bad.
Given the course that our country is taking, I think it’s important to get wealth out of dollars.
If you are in DC, no. At least none that you'd ever want to use unless bankruptcy is your goal.
Get the Cash and invest it in Mattress Savings and Loan.
I would take a certain amount each month out of the Gummint Securities and dollar cost average into the 2 domestic stock funds and the international fund.
Gov’t securities and Fixed income will be made up entirely or partly of FED and MUNI bonds. Although I think the scare over MUNI’s recently is overdone, nonetheless, what upside is there? Interest rates are at historical lows. Yes, we may bounce along the bottom with years of low rates (like Japan), but what’s the point of locking in crappy interest rates? With the fees the fund manager might charge, you may not have any upside at all, but a lot of potential downside.
I would prefer international stocks (some diversity to US markets) or small cap stock funds, given the limited choice you have.
Any free advice you get is worth what you pay for it.
Buy Libyan Rebel War Bonds
BTW: I am working for the National Weather Service in the Alaska bush.
The only connection I have to DC is my Dept of Commerce paycheck.
If you are putting your money in government securities don’t expect much growth from capital appreciation. Bonds can only go down from here in value since interest rates are extremely low. Market values of bonds are inversely associated with interest rates.
HOWEVER, that being true if you are intending to work a long time for the government that will not affect you that much over the long run since the interest will compound without taxes.
Most financial theory indicates you should diversify your holdings so perhaps you should consider splitting your contributions with a couple of more choices.
That is conditioned on how long you anticipate before retirement and the longer that period is means you would profit from weighting toward the more speculative investments.
My buddy just retired from the feds and he did extremely well by investing heavily in the standard and poor’s index funds even after the market collapse after 911 and 2008.
My financial advice is to get a financial adviser. Web forums are not a good source.
That being said, you could do a lot worse than FR.
You should also have an L-fund, based on your target retirement date. So, if you’re 10 years from now you choose the L-2020 fund. If you’re 20 years from retirement, you choose the L-2030 fund. Etc. That fund is fully diversified across all the different asset classes. That’s really the best choice for the long run.
Buy low, sell high.
Buy a good, well-managed stock mutual fund that goes up.
If it doesn’t go up, don’t buy it.
No licensed financial adviser is going to give you an opinion on an Internet chat board. You will get opinions, but they will be free anonymous opinions on an Internet chat board. How much are they worth?