TSP funds down in July

All but two of the investment options in the federal employee retirement savings plan posted losses in July after two months of similar declines.

The Thrift Savings Plan's F Fund, which invests in fixed-income bonds, saw a small gain for the month, up 1.59 percent. The stable government securities in the G Fund also posted small monthly growth of 0.22 percent. The F Fund has increased 4.39 percent so far this year, while the G Fund rose 1.66 percent in that time.

The S Fund, which invests in small and midsize companies and tracks the Dow Jones Wilshire 4500 Index, saw the largest drop for the month, decreasing 3.14 percent. The C Fund -- invested in common stocks of large companies on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index -- declined 2.04 percent, with international stocks in the I Fund down 1.60 percent.

The S Fund has gained 3.81 percent this year to date. The C Fund is up 3.85 percent in the same period, followed closely by the I Fund, up 3.59 percent so far this year.

All the life-cycle funds, designed to move investors to less risky portfolios as they get closer to retirement, saw losses for the third month in a row. The L 2040 dropped 1.49 percent in June; L 2030 declined 1.25 percent; L 2020 lost 0.94 percent; and L Income, for federal employees who have reached their target retirement date and have started withdrawing money, dropped 0.14 percent. The new L 2050 Fund, which opened on Jan. 31, declined 1.75 percent.

L 2040 is up 3.81 percent so far this year, with L 2030 close behind at 3.60 percent and L 2020 up 3.31 percent. L Income grew 2.36 percent in that time.