TSP funds end 2009 on positive note

Nine of the 10 funds in the Thrift Savings Plan increased in value in December, with most posting modest gains. All funds grew during 2009.

The F Fund, which invests in fixed-income bonds, was the only fund to see a loss in December, falling 1.55 percent in value. Despite those losses, it was up 5.99 percent from its worth at the end of December 2008.

The S Fund, which invests in small and mid-size companies and tracks the Dow Jones Wilshire 4500 Index, made the biggest gains in December, rising 6.57 percent. In 2009, the fund's value also jumped by the largest amount of any TSP offering, up 34.85 percent.

Both the C Fund, which invests in common stocks of large companies on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, and the I Fund, which invests in overseas companies, made smaller gains, rising 1.94 percent and 1.43 percent, respectively. The I Fund experienced the second-largest growth of any fund, rising 30.04 percent, with the C Fund close behind, climbing 26.68 percent during the course of the year.

The government securities, or G Fund, had the smallest increase of the TSP offerings, at 0.25 percent. Its value rose 2.97 percent in 2009.

All the life-cycle funds, which are designed to shift investors from more aggressive portfolios to more stables ones as they near retirement, made gains in December and during 2009 overall. The L 2040 Fund rose 2.12 percent in December; the L 2030 Fund gained 1.85 percent; the L 2020 Fund grew 1.50 percent; the L 2010 Fund was up 0.70 percent; and the L Income Fund rose 0.59 percent. In 2009, the L 2040 Fund gained 25.19 percent over its value at the end of 2008; the L 2030 Fund climbed 22.48 percent; the L 2020 Fund was up 19.14 percent for the same period; the L 2010 Fund rose 10.03 percent; and the L Income Fund gained 8.57 percent.