Being Fearful When Others Are Greedy, Moving Into The G Fund

Warren Buffett once said, “Be FearFul When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful.” With the stock market hitting all-time highs...I’m fearful.

In November of 1999, the NASDAQ (major index tracking mostly technology stocks) hit an all-time high of 4,303 during the “dot.com” bubble. Now in June of 2015, the NASDAQ is sitting at 5,160 jumping from a bottom of 1,476 in November 2008. While most people are encouraged by this upward movement, I am fearful.

Military members and federal government employees can take advantage of the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which allows them to invest in specific funds in a 401(k) like program. When an investor contributes to the TSP it automatically invests in the “G” Fund which invests in Government Securities. It’s the safest fund yet offers very little returns. Since 2008, I’ve been advising people to move their money out of the “G” Fund to take advantage of returns after the financial collapse in 2008. For most people I’ve recommended not being in the “G” Fund at all. That advice was spot on for those that listened. For those that kept their money in the “G” Fund, their portfolios have barely moved.

For nearly 7 years, we’ve enjoyed a stock market rally fueled by historically low interest rates and two administrations (Bush and Obama) with uncontrollable government spending. Both of these have artificially pumped cash into the pockets of corporations and the people who, then in turn, spend it quickly. With our National Debt over $18T, these low interest rates and government spending can’t last forever. Despite gas prices going lower, all others commodities in our lives have seen price increases. As I joked in a Facebook post, “Inflation is coming”; borrowing the ominous warning from Game of Thrones.

I believe there will be a stock market drop soon. I believe Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) investors should consider moving money back into the “G” Fund to protect against major market drops. Each investor is different, but if the investor is under 30 then they should consider putting about 10-15% in the G Fund. If the investor is 31-45, then I recommend 15-35% in the “G” Fund. Anyone over 45 should very carefully analyze their current financial position and evaluate retirement goals before deciding on how much to put in the “G” Fund. If the retirement goal is to retire at 55, then there should be a larger percentage in the “G” Fund and if the retirement goal is later, then less in the “G” Fund. Retirees should be careful not to take all their money out of the stock market though with average life spans reaching 85 years old—they’ll need to make their money last better. As interest rates rise to fight inflation, investors will see increased returns in the “G” Fund as well.

Investors can either go to MyPay or change their allocation to start moving money into the “G” Fund or they can use one of their two a month Interfund Transfers (IFT) to move money out of one fund and into another. They can do this through www.tsp.gov. Please do your own research before making any investment decisions, but I really feel that this 7-year long rally is about to end.

A Major Collapse is Coming

In July of 2001, I had just received my enlistment bonus and had been in the military for less than 2 years. I had $800 in Lucent stock and $500 in other stocks; totaling $1,300. I had less than $300 in an emergency savings account. Several months after the stock market had collapsed from the 9/11 attacks, my $1,300 portfolio was nearly worthless.

In 2007, I had become politically aware and more knowledgeable about the economy. Some of the political websites I followed started to discuss how bad the economy really was despite the media and the politicians saying the economy had never been better. All the data suggested the economy was perfectly fine yet some people had noticed the problems at the base. I began selling my stocks at 52-week highs. I looked foolish for several months preparing for the drop. Starting in October of 2008 the stock market began crashing, losing 18-20% in one week. By March of 2009, the major stocks indices dropped 50+%. I started buying back some of the stocks I had originally owned. Several years later I had many stocks double on me.

Now, in 2014, news articles are saying the economy has never been better and stock markets have never been higher. I believe there are significant problems at the base again. The national debt, almost $18T, Russia growing its empire and China doing the same are all world problems that soon, will impact America’s economy. Instead of worrying about a recession/depression like we’ve been doing for too long, we’ll see inflation come like a hurricane through our lives. Once the crash happens, the recovery, like always, will be on the backs of the middle-income taxpayers. The rich will come out unscathed and the poor will see little impact to them. By design, most of the people in the military are middle income and will be “punished” the most to help the economy recover. Over the past year, I’ve been preparing for the stock market to collapse and once again I look foolish, sitting on the sidelines while everyone is making money in the stock market. If you believe a crash is coming, like I do, then here are some of the investments I’m doing to prepare.

·         Emergency Savings Account: I’ve been increasing my emergency savings account. Even though I have no real debt, I believe having available cash will give me flexibility to take advantage of a stock market collapse by buying stocks at cheaper prices which have crashed with the economy but there’s nothing wrong with the company.

·         Eliminate all consumer debt: Except for a mortgage, and perhaps low-interest rate student loans, you should eliminate all consumer debt. As interest rates rise to help protect against inflation, your credit cards and other loans will also rise leaving you in a bad spot if you have limited flexibility in your paycheck.

·         Start selling stocks as they reach higher levels: If you own individual stocks or mutual funds, then sell portions of your gains as they go higher. Like me, you may look foolish when others are making money; but if they never sell, they miss the opportunity to realize those gains. If you solely invest in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) you can request an Interfund Transfer (IFT) and/or you can change your allocations on www.tsp.gov to “sell” out of the stocks funds and move into the “G Fund” to protect your TSP portfolio.

·         Gold: It may make sense to buy and hold gold through the collapse, but I recommend only holding gold for the initial panic. Gold has dropped from a high of $1,800 to less than $1,200 (a 30% drop). Gold will rise again when the stock market drops rapidly but if inflation rears its head, interest rates will rise and all the money currently in gold will go towards bonds to earn a “safer” rate of return. In 2003, an average high-yield savings account was earning 5% and Gold was less than $300. It may not go down that low for a long time, but it will go below $1,000. Gold will remain high as long as our national debt is at 100+% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), currently at 103%.

·         Dividend stocks: As the stock market collapses, many companies will offer a higher dividend yield as the stock prices fall in relation to its dividend. Some companies will be just fine and recover nicely. If you had invested in them at the bottom, then you’d have a very nice dividend yield. In his book, Getting Back to Even, Jim Cramer calls these stocks “accidental high yielders”.

If you are using different strategies or you disagree about my prediction, please let me know by leaving a comment.