TSP funds post mediocre June earnings

After a dismal performance in May, the Thrift Savings Plan had modest positive returns in June.

The TSP, a $180 billion 401(k)-style retirement savings plan for federal employees, earned the most in its S Fund, which is invested in the stocks of small- and mid-sized American companies.

The S Fund's 0.47 percent gain was unexceptional but a big improvement over May, when it dropped 4.36 percent. A 12-month total for the S Fund is now at 14.43 percent.

The S Fund barely eked out the ever-reliable government securities (G) fund, which earned 0.44 percent in June. The G Fund is invested in short-term U.S. Treasury securities specially issued to the TSP to provide a higher return than the rate of inflation without any serious risk from market fluctuations, and had a 4.77 percent gain for the year.

Fixed-income bonds, which make up the F Fund, earned 0.19 percent in June. The F Fund is the only basic TSP fund that has lost money over a 12-month run, now standing at a 0.75 percent loss for the year.

The C Fund, or common stocks fund, which tracks Standard & Poor's 500 Index of stocks in the largest domestic companies, gained just 0.07 percent in June, for a 8.59 percent 12-month total.

And international stocks, represented in the I Fund, neither gained nor lost ground in June. Still, the fund's investments in stocks from European, Australian and some Asian countries have by far the highest 12-month returns, at 26.57 percent.

For about a year, the TSP also has offered five life-cycle funds, made up of a mix of the underlying basic funds. Life-cycle funds automatically shift participants' money from riskier to more conservative allocations as they age. These funds made modest gains in June, just as their components did.

L 2040, intended for employees with a target retirement date around the year 2040, gained 0.26 percent. The L 2030 Fund earned 0.27 percent; the L 2020 gained 0.28 percent; the L 2010 increased 0.37 percent; and the L Income, designed for employees with planned retirements in the very near future, grew 0.33 percent.