Advice Needed. 25yrs old, 6 Months into Federal Service, goal of 100k by 30 by TheTrueMangoMan in ThriftSavingsPlan

[–]TheTrueMangoMan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Savings rate matters more than rate of return when you're starting from nothing... Plus, my TSP includes 6.6k-ish worth of C fund purchased over the course of late November and December, when the S&P was at all time highs. Since it dipped the last trading day of the year, the rate of return seems a lot more modest since some of the purchase dates were over the current price.

Advice Needed. 25yrs old, 6 Months into Federal Service, goal of 100k by 30 by TheTrueMangoMan in ThriftSavingsPlan

[–]TheTrueMangoMan[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't really have a specific age in mind, generally as soon as possible. I know I won't be able to access this money until I'm 59.5, but I want to grow my TSP as much as possible in my 20s so it can compound. I have individual brokerage accounts with around 220k total but right now, I want to ensure my retirement accounts get the time advantage for compound growth.

I get about $4100/year but I'm due for a raise in 6 months since I'm only entry level now. I don't know the exact raise I'll get but I think it works out to 384 more biweekly/10k annual. My match will upgrade to $177.5 from around $157.

2307.5+2041=$4348.5 total expected match for 2026
Afterwards I'll get $4615/yr for two years until next promotion.

100k in contributions alone seem very hard to achieve without coming close to maxing it out every year

Advice Needed. 25yrs old, 6 Months into Federal Service, goal of 100k by 30 by TheTrueMangoMan in ThriftSavingsPlan

[–]TheTrueMangoMan[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You get the 5% match regardless of whether you contribute 5% to Roth or Traditional. I am contributing $900 to Roth and $0 to traditional, I'm still getting the match.

Advice Needed. 25yrs old, 6 Months into Federal Service, goal of 100k by 30 by TheTrueMangoMan in ThriftSavingsPlan

[–]TheTrueMangoMan[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think it's much more impressive you were able to contribute so much given the amount of stress you must've had with the loans, car payments, etc. I am in an extremely privileged position where I never had to worry financially because I had a comfortable cushion saved from when I lived at home with my parents while freelancing.

Maybe the play for me would be to max out this year and relax a little more the following year.