Thrift Savings Plan readies two new fund options

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board expects to have two new investment funds for federal employees in place by early next year, a board spokesman said Tuesday.

Early 2005, however, is "a working goal," TSP spokesman Tom Trabucco said. "Nothing is set in stone."

The board discussed the progress of new "lifestyle" and "life cycle" funds Tuesday morning during its monthly meeting. Board officials said the investment funds are not new, but rather compilations of existing funds. The lifestyle fund would draw from existing funds and could be arranged in a conservative, moderate or aggressive investment structure.

The life cycle fund would adjust over the lifetime of the investment, according to Trabucco. The fund would begin with an aggressive approach and grow more conservative as the end date of the investment approached.

Currently, the 401(k)-style Thrift Savings Plan offers five funds: the C, F, G, S and I funds. The latter two were added to the plan in May 2001. The C Fund invests in stocks of large companies, the F Fund in bonds, the G Fund in government securities, the S Fund in small- and mid-size companies and the I Fund in international stocks.

"We are now in the stage of getting information from consultants and vendors under [a request for information] on how such an investment could be structured," Trabucco said of the lifestyle and life cycle funds. "We are moving forward on a schedule that, hopefully, could have the preliminary work done this year."