Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) millionaires dropped for a third time in 2022—this time with a decline of about 42% since last year.
As reported by FedSmith, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) saw a major plunge in the number of TSP millionaires as of September 30 with a current number of 65,494, its lowest number of millionaires in 2022. That’s an additional drop from the 72,241 reported in June and 100,364 in March. The TSP currently has 6.6 million participants.
The single-largest TSP account also took a dive in funds once again, this time swooping down to $6,499,519.61 This is a decline of $456,419 since the end of June, and 4,476,007 since end of December 2021.
When it came to core fund performance, the TSP’s S Fund rose 9.37%, bringing its YTD number to -29.85%. The C Fund had a YTD return of -23.87, while the I Fund saw a return of -27.25% in September and the F Fund returned -14.30%. The G fund saw a modest gain of 1.94%, up from 1.15% reported in August.
The dismal performance heavily contrasts October’s solid stock gains, with the S&P scoring an 8% increase for the month, the NASDAQ up 3.9% and the Dow up 14%.
Outside of millionaires, investors with account balances ranging from over $250,000 to over $750,000 saw declines in its number of participants. Investors in the $250,000 to $499,000 bracket declined by 6,360 since June, to a current total of 513,037. Those in the $500,000 to $749,000 group fell from 193,326 investors in June to 187,615 in September. Investors decreased by 3,887 in the $750,000 to $999,000 range to a total number of 81,557.
It wasn’t all bad news however—participants with account balances under $50,000 saw an increase in number of participants from 4,160,558 in June to 4,209,912 in September. Those within the $50,000 to $249,000 range rose 7,857 in participants since June, to 1,629,010 total current investors.
TSP recorded its greatest number of elite members in December 2021, with 112,880 millionaires. The high increase was contributed to the annual return that many participants received in the C Fund and S Fund, granting them access (at least at the time) to the exclusive club.
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