Reduced Returns
Government workers with most of their retirement nest egg in the thrift savings plan's high-risk, high-reward stock market fund may require an extra cup of coffee this morning.</br></br>Reflecting the recent downturn in the stock market, the rate of return for the C-fund for the 12-month period that ended in March was 1.52 percent. The F-fund (bonds) return was 2.24 percent, and the never-has-a-bad-day G-fund (Treasury securities) paid 6.01 percent.</br></br>The big drop in the C-fund was expected by workers who have been reading the papers and watching the news. Each snapshot of 12-month returns can present a different picture because one month from the previous year is dropped and the most recent month is added to the calculations.</br></br>For example, the new 12-month figures lead off with April 1993, when the C-fund lost 2.39 percent, and picked up March 1994, when it lost 4.39 percent. That produced the low return for the most recent 12-month period. For the 12-month period that ended in February, the C-fund returned a respectable 8.39 percent. A one-month gain or loss can cause the 12-month rate of return to rise or fall dramatically.</br></br>Taken on a calendar-year basis, all three funds in the tax-deferred federal 401(k) plan have done well. In 1989, the C-fund paid 31.03 percent. In 1990, it lost 3.15 percent, but came back and paid 30.77 percent in 1991, 7.70 percent in 1992 and 10.13 percent last year.