Page 108 - The Informed Fed--Hearn (edited 10.29.20)

____________________________________________________

Seven Bad TSP Investing

Habits

____________________________________________________

We have all developed bad habits. Ever play Little League baseball?
The coaches would consistently tell you not to develop a bad habit as it
would relate to fielding the ball, batting stance, etc.
We would spend hours practicing good habits while doing everything
in our power not to gravitate to the bad ones. The same can be applied
to TSP investing habits. Will you always get it right? Well, of course not.
But you can learn to develop those habits that will give you the best shot
at TSP success. The following seven mistakes are the ones to avoid and
will help put you in the position to maximize your TSP.

Bad Habit #1:

Not Contributing to the TSP. According to data provided by the
Profit Sharing/401k Council of America, about 17% of all people eligible
to participate in 401k-like plans such as the TSP don’t do so. Are people
finding other ways to invest their retirement savings? There’s not enough
data to know for sure, but it’s safe to say that since retirement can seem
so far away, it’s easy to procrastinate. The fact is, many find that it is too
late to do much about it. So, in many instances, what happens is we
violate a key requirement of wealth accumulation: 1) sufficient time for

107