TSP L Fund Returns
The L Funds began accepting contributions in August 2005.
In that year, they consisted of the L Income Fund, the L 2020 Fund, the L 2030 Fund, and the L 2040 Fund. The L 2050 Fund was added later, and that is too new to include below.
L Income, L 2020, L 2030, & L 2040 Funds
Scroll over the chart to see approximate returns of investing the equivalent of the maximum deferral limit* on a monthly basis from 2005 through 2023 - a total of approximately $306,000.
The funds consist of a different mix of the TSP stock and bond funds. The L Income is the most conservative, with the least amount of stock fund holdings compared to bond fund holdings. It has almost 75% of total holdings invested in the G Fund, another 6% in the F Fund, and the remainder is invested in the C, S, and I stock funds. (The stock holdings will gradually increase in the coming years, however.)
The funds’ holdings of stock funds compared to bond funds gradually decrease over the years, so that the fund holdings are more conservative - and less prone to major swings in value - as one nears retirement.
Readers can see the recent allocations among the L Funds here.
The charts represent the returns of each L fund based on monthly investments that total the maximum yearly TSP deferral limits*, from the date of each fund’s inception to the current year. Figures are approximate and will differ depending on actual investment dates and actual amounts invested. Remember: past fund performance does not predict future returns, but the below is a good illustration of what investors can do when investing through thick and thin over the very long-term!
New! beta Check how you would’ve done in the G, F, and/or C Funds for any timeframe from 1988 here.
L 2050 Fund
The L 2050 Fund, began accepting contributions in February 2011. It keeps a majority of investors’ contributions in stock funds, with over 80% invested in the C, S, and I stock funds, and just under 20% invested in the G and F bond funds.
Scroll over the chart to see approximate returns of investing the equivalent of the maximum deferral limit* on a monthly basis from 2011 through 2023 - a total of approximately $218,000.
Maintaining steady contributions over the long term matters. For information on returns over a 40-year period when investing even small amounts, see “What Does $1,000 a Year Matter?”.
*The deferral amounts used in the examples above can be reached either as a combination of individual and matching contributions (for civilian and military BRS participants), or solely from individual contributions (for uniformed service members who do not receive a government match). Thus a civilian FERS worker making $120,000 would reach the $22,500 deferral rate for 2023 used in the examples above by contributing $16,500 and receiving $6,000 in 5% government matching contributions, for $22,500 in total contributions for the year. Civilian government workers who receive matching contributions can defer up to the maximum deferral rate - $22,500 in 2023, plus catch-up deferrals for those over 50 - and still receive a match of 5% of their regular salary.
For a complete discussion of the methodology used and calculations, see this page.
