Frequently Asked Questions


We have grouped the most frequently asked questions/answers into 4 categories for conveniency:
General Questions / Trading Questions / System Questions / Performance Questions / Other Questions


General Questions:

  1. What will I receive as a member to your service?

    2. As a member, you will receive:

    • Instant access to our Members page. The members page will show the active fund (S or G Fund), based on our mathematical model "The S/G Model Portfolio Trading System™" and the date when the signal was issued.
    • An Email alert when we release a new trading signal (S or G Fund). The Email will describe the exact procedure for moving money between funds on the TSP.gov website.
    • A SMS Text Message when the Email alert is issued.
    • Procedures for adding or changing your Email and/or SMS Text Address.

  2. What are the Lifecycle Funds?

    3. There are 10 L Funds that are a diversified mix of the five individual funds (G, F, C, S, and I). However, those who choose to buy-and-hold using the L Fund strategy will be putting your investment portfolio at risk during bear cycles, and even at greater risk during secular bear markets, which can last 15 years. We do not recommend any type of buy-and-hold strategy. Mindless investing (buy-and-hold, a.k.a buy-and-hope) is not a smart way to invest.

    Quick example – You are in one of the L Funds and the market crashes 58% (i.e., 2008-2009). During this market crash, you seen your hard earned life savings plummet. All you can do at this point is hope that one day it comes back. Well it took the market ~5 1/2 years (Aug 2007 to Mar 2013) to make up this devastating loss. Comparing this to our returns, we profited +35% in 2009, +25% in 2010, +21% in 2011, +21% in 2012, and +25% in 2013.

  3. What are the individual TSP Funds?

    The Thrift Savings Plan has a selection of individual funds that offer broad market diversification. There are five investment options that are available:

    • G Fund: Government Securities Investment Fund – Ensures preservation of capital and generate returns above those of short-term U.S. Treasury securities.
    • F Fund: Fixed Income Index Investments – Matches the performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (BND).
    • C Fund: Common Stock Index Investment Fund – Matches the performance of the Standard and Poor's 500 (S&P 500) Index (VOO).
    • S Fund: Small Capitalization Stock Index Investment Fund – Matches the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Completion Total Stock Market Index (VXF).
    • I Fund: International Stock Index Investment Fund – Matches the performance of the MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia, Far East) Index (VEA).

  4. Are your returns professionally and independently verified by a 3rd party?

    Yes absolutely! Our system's performance has been completely verified by Alpha Performance Verification Services, Wrightsville Beach, NC. The firm is distinguished with certifications of CPA, CFA, CIPM.

    • CPA – is a Certified Public Accountant. A CPA has earned a professional designation through a combination of education, experience and licensing.
    • CFA – is a Chartered Financial Analyst. A CFA is a globally-recognized professional designation given by the CFA Institute, (formerly the AIMR (Association for Investment Management and Research), that measures and certifies the competence and integrity of financial analysts. Candidates are required to pass three levels of exams covering areas, such as accounting, economics, ethics, money management, and security analysis.
    • CIPM – is a Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement. A CIPM is an internationally recognized accreditation offered by the CFA Institute. As its name suggests, the purpose of the CIPM is to train professionals to accurately calculate and communicate investment performance figures.


Trading Questions:

  1. How do you send out the IFT Alerts?

    The alerts are sent via email and/or as a text message.

  2. I received your IFT Alert and need to make an change from 100% G Fund to 100% S Fund. How do I make this change in my TSP account?

    Once you log into your account at TSP.gov, go to:

    A) Change Investments (left blue circle)

    B) Move money between funds (middle green circle - Get Started)

    1. Choose Funds to Move Money From - Enter %'s. Since the scenario above is going from 100% G to 100% S, fill in the G Fund with 100%, and press Continue...

    2. Choose Funds to Move Money To - Enter %'s. Now fill in 100% for the S Fund, and press Continue, Review & Submit

  3. When you release a new trading signal does this apply to personal contributions as well as the Interfund Transfer (IFT)?

    When a new IFT is released, the system's signals are designed to apply to your TSP balance, not to your personal contributions.

  4. Does your trading alerts meet the Interfund Transfer Rule?

    We adhere to the Federal Governments Policy of two trades per month. If the 2nd trade is in the S Fund, we can issue a 3rd trade only back to the G Fund.

  5. What is the general duration that we remain in a specific fund before transferring to the other?

    Our statistics show an average number of 15.4 IFTs per year. This equates to 1.2 IFTs per month.


System Questions:

  1. What funds are used in the system?

    The system will only use the S and G Funds.

  2. Why do you use only the S Fund and not the other stock funds, and what about the F Fund?

    After running the data in our system, the S fund gives the best performance. When the S Fund goes to a bearish condition, we only use the G Fund for safety and not the F Fund. This is because there is no risk in being in the G Fund and our returns continue to incrementally grow while in the G Fund.

  3. How does the system work?

    When the system generates a "Buy Signal," you will receive an IFT Alert via an email and/or text message, prompting you to transfer 100% of your savings into the S Fund.

    When the system generates a "Sell Signal" (for the S Fund), then you would transfer 100% of your savings into the G Fund.

    The key to this system is adhering to all signal changes. Any deviation of our signals will not produce the same returns.

  4. What is the method you are using to derive your trading signals?

    The methodology of our mathematical system that is proprietary and is not available to the public.

  5. Is investment news and other research data taken into consideration?

    No. The system is purely mathematical. Meaning, human emotions, chart interpretation and technical analysis are all eliminated.

  6. Is there a daily or weekly newsletter for this system?

    There is no newsletter or market commentary, since we do not interpret charts as in technical analysis.

  7. I want to do as well as the system, is this possible?

    Yes. The key is adhering to all signal changes. Any deviation will not produce the same returns.

  8. When will the IFT alert be sent out?

    We send out the IFT Alerts after the close of the market and the change will be effective the next trading day. Therefore, we will use the end-of-day (EOD) values for the close of the next trading day. Though, if we send out an IFT prior to the cut-off time, then we will use the EOD for that day. The date the IFT is effective will be stated in the IFT Alert Email.

  9. When did the system go live?

    The domain was created on October 29, 2008. Signals were generated privately starting on January 1, 2009. The system was made available to the public on July 18, 2022. Our performance has been independently verified from January 1, 2009 to July 19, 2022 by Alpha Verification Services. In addition, TimerTrac has been tracking our signals since July 18, 2022. We plan on having our performance continually verified by Alpha on a yearly basis.


Performance Questions:

  1. What is the largest drawdown and largest individual gain the system has generated?

    Our largest drawdown was -6.5% in 2009, though the system still produced a +35% annual return. Our largest individual gain was +25% in 2020 and the annual performance for 2020 was +59%.

  2. What is the system's average return compared to the buy-and-hold strategy?

    Since the inception of the system in 2009, our annual return is +21%. The buy-and-hold strategy only averages a return of +9%.

  3. If I started with $100K in my account back in 2009, what would have my savings be at today (End of Year 2021) and compared to the buy-and-hold strategy?

    In that time frame, an account would of increased to $1.30 Million. The buy-and-hold increased to only $326 Thousand.

  4. Where can I find the exact trades of the system?

    We show our yearly returns and generated statistics on our site. We do not show the exact trades, since a savvy investor may try to duplicate our proprietary system. We are here to help Federal government employees and military personnel. And secondly, this system is our livelihood.


Other Questions:

  1. How much is a subscription to your service?

    We only offer yearly memberships. Our fee is $1250 per year. After one year has past, the renewal rate is only $1000 per year. We do not have auto-renew. Once your term has expired, we send out a friendly reminder and ask if you would like to renew.

  2. Does your company also trade using the system?

    Yes

  3. Who provides the signal changes?

    Our trading signals are derived through a mathematical process and are sent via email and/or SMS text message. Our team has confidential contracts with Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) who manage Assets Under Management (AUM).

  4. Does your company offer any free trial periods?

    We do not offer any free trials.

  5. When I sign up, how will you provide confirmation that I am a member?

    Once authorization is approved, within 24 hours you will receive our confirmation response via e-mail with your Member Login information. You will then be able to log into the Members Page which will provide our Active Trading Signal.

  6. Can I have the trading signal sent via a text message?

    Yes, to receive TSP Alerts via SMS text messages, simply contact us at support@tspmarkettiming.com, and provide your phone number along with your name and email address so we can verify your membership and add you to our text alert distribution list.

  7. Once I become a member, can I change my email or text address in the future?

    You can change your Email and/or SMS Text address by writing to us at support@tspmarkettiming.com. In the email, state your old and new e-mail addresses and/or old and new text addresses.

  8. Do you have automatic renewals?

    We do not have automatic renewals. A few days prior to when your subscription expires, we will send you a friendly reminder to see if you would like to renew your membership.