Self-made millionaire club shows growth spurt
The number of self-made members of the TSP Millionaire Club jumped again last month. The number of active and retired federal governments with balances over $ 1 million was 112,880 as of December 31, 2021.
This is a record 98,523 at the end of September 2020 and 84,808 at the end of March 2021 due to a long-standing bull market “correction” that has been so brief that many investors fail to recognize it. haven’t noticed.
Biggest end-of-year sale in Uncle Sam’s version of a 401k plan has jumped to $ 10.9 million!
When the TSP was created, all of the big accounts were owned by wealthy politicians, successful attorneys turned federal judges, and others who brought big retirement nuggets with them. For a while, Club Mil was really exclusively made up of wealthy people when they came to government. But over the years, tens of thousands of ordinary federal and postal workers have built up their accounts with long-term investments. Virtually all of them place all or most of their contributions in the stock index funds of TSPs that rise and fall with the markets. But in the long run, obviously, increase. Typical investors have been in the TSP for about 30 years and most stuck with funds indexed to C, S, and I stocks during the shakes, but as it turns out to be relatively brief, the period we call the Great Recession of 2018-19. Most also continued to buy stocks after the market correction reduced their price by 40-60%. When the market started in March 2009, it saw an all-time high marked by a few corrections that many did not notice. Or be careful too. At least so far.
A growing number of TSP millionaires are retirees. I spoke with (or heard of) three people last week who retired earlier this month. All of them had account balances greater than $ 3 million.
What’s in store for you? Obviously, no one knows. The market could collapse tomorrow, and if the past is a prologue, sooner or later it will. The question is what do you do when it does? So far, nothing – like doing nothing but staying the course – has worked for a lot of people.
While no one can say where things are going, where we (and the TSP) have been is pretty clear.
The real news here is not the growing number of millionaires. The news is how many people have $ 250,000 to $ 900,000 in their accounts, many with years to invest.
Almost useless factoid
By David Thornton
In the town of Wasau, Wisconsin, a law passed in 1884 made throwing snowballs illegal. The law was finally amended in 2020.
Source: Wasau Daily Herald
