How are your C and S funds doing? Depends on when you ask

Many active and retired federal workers and military personnel have money in the C and S funds of the Thrift Savings Plan. As of June 30, 28.8 percent had money in the C Fund,11.1 percent in the S Fund and 31.2 percent in the G Fund.

The C Fund tracks the 500 largest publicly traded companies while the S Fund covers the rest, or about 4,500 companies on the NYSE. The G Fund is made up of special U.S. Treasury securities. Stocks, as most people know, go up and down.

Because of its stability, many feds and retirees consider the G Fund to be the safest place for their investments, especially in hard times. Many financial planners, however, say the “safety” of the low-performing G Fund is misleading.

If you go by averages the stock market is long overdue for a major correction — at least 20 percent, maybe 30 percent or more. During the Great Recession, it was down almost 40 percent. Many TSP investors moved some or all of their nest egg from the stock funds (C, S and I) into the “safety” of the G Fund. Many stopped buying the C and S funds even though, as it turns out, shares were on sale as the market recovered — big time.

The stock market has bounced back from the Great Recession, and so have account balances of people who kept money in the C and S funds. The market peak of this month, so far, was Aug. 7. But many people remain in the G Fund where they went in 2009. They are waiting for the right time to come back. So how’s the market doing? Depends on who you ask and, most importantly, when you check in. The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index is a good way to track the total U.S. stock market. On Aug. 16 Wilshire Associates confirmed the following statistics:

The Wilshire 5000 closed up 240.98 points, or 0.82 percent. That represented a paper gain for the day of $275 billion and change. Not bad, right?

Don’t get smug, because since the Aug. 7 high the index is down 0.53 percent. That doesn’t sound so bad, until you translate it into a $175 billion — with a B — loss on paper.

Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the 5000 index has gained 24.70 percent, or an increase of $6.5 trillion — with a T. So if you run the numbers you can reach several conclusions:

• Happy days are here again, or
• This is too good to last, or
• Not sure.

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Amelia Brust

In a National Institutes of Health study published Monday, researchers found 1 in 15 Americans, or or 6.5 percent over the age of 40 experiences phantom odors, or smells that are not really there. The study was the first in the U.S. to use nationally representative data to examine phantom odor perception.

Source: National Institutes of Health

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