Investor types
There’s always risk associated with investing. But don’t let the risks prevent you from developing and maintaining an investment strategy through each phase of your working years.

Early career
The earlier you start saving for retirement, the more years you have to weather short-term market fluctuations and to gain the maximum benefit from the power of compounding.

How you distribute your money among the TSP funds should reflect your time horizon, or when in the future you’ll need retirement income, and your risk tolerance. Since you have many years ahead of you, you can probably afford to take some risk. That is, you can consider investing in stock funds (C, S, and I Funds) in addition to the G and the F funds. TSP stock funds, while they present more risk, offer the opportunity for potentially higher returns over time.

Also, by spreading your investments across the different funds, you become less open to dramatic losses that might be associated with having all of your money in a single asset.

Mid-career
If you haven’t started saving for retirement already, it’s not too late—start contributing now. And if you’ve been saving steadily, you will definitely want to stay on track.

At this stage of your career, your time horizon is shorter than when you first started working. This might be the right time to revisit your investment allocation to assess the amount of risk you’re taking in your TSP account. That is, if you’re heavily invested in the TSP stock funds or solely invested in the G Fund, you’ll want to be sure that your allocation is appropriate, given other retirement resources you may have.

Nearing retirement
The closer you are to retirement, the shorter your time horizon. As a result, your primary focus might shift from growth and accumulation to safety and preservation. Even if your risk tolerance is very high, you may not have time to recover from severe drops in the market if a large portion of your account is allocated to stock funds. If you determine that you have not saved enough, a better alternative might be to increase your contribution amount than to take on more risk.

The TSP offers Individual funds that offer broad market diversification. You can choose to have your retirement dollars invested in everything from a short-term U.S. Treasury security to index funds made of domestic and international stocks.

Marines in the Reserve go through the same intense training and work in the same Military Occupational Specialties (MOS) as their active-duty counterparts. However, with the ability to train part time with a Marine Corps Reserve unit near home or school, these Marines can continue to pursue a full-time civilian career or an education.

Reserve Marines maintain civilian commitments but are ready to support their Corps in major combat assignments, humanitarian efforts, and national emergencies. They are Marines and thus live up to the same standards as all Marines, regardless of duty status. Reserve Marines go through the same 13 weeks of Marine Corps Recruit Training, work in the same Military Occupational Specialties as active-duty Marines, and are required to meet nearly identical eligibility requirements.

Marines in the Reserve are a vital element in the demand for comprehensive combat readiness. Reservists may be called upon to strengthen active forces in peacetime and in time of war, provide support during national emergencies or lead community service efforts like the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program

After successful completion of Marine Corps Recruit Training and becoming proficient in their MOS, Reserve Marines begin their duties. From this point forward, training periods are called drills, which usually occur one weekend every month and two weeks each summer (full-drill status). The last portion of their commitment is spent in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR), where they are not obligated to participate in military activities unless specifically called upon to meet support requirements.

ENLISTMENT TERM OPTIONS INCLUDE:
– Eight years where the first six are spent in a drilling status and the last two in the IRR. Those who wish to participate in the Post-9/11 GI Bill must choose this program.
– Eight years where the first five are spent in a drilling status and the last three in the IRR.
– Eight years where the first four are spent in a drilling status and the last four in the IRR.

WHAT TO EXPECT
Some of the benefits and responsibilities you can expect as a Reserve Marine include:
– Marine Units often located near your home or school.
– Training with full pay one weekend per month and two weeks per year.
– Guaranteed Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) at time of enlistment.
– Advanced MOS training and leadership opportunites that will help you in all aspects of your life, including your civilian career.
– The same recruit training and formal schooling as active-duty Marines.

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