1. Who are you?
Excellent question. TSP TIPS is Investry Analytics LLC (software engineering and general tech administration) and Weisert Investments Inc. (investment gurus). You're probably more interested in our investment gurus' background credentials, and you can read more about them here. Weisert Investments is owned and operated by Roy Weisert, a retired Navy pilot, PhD recipient, and Certified Financial Planner with over 30 years of history of building solid investment portfolios for his clients. We also all have civil service backgrounds, and invest our own accounts using these same strategies.
2. Are you finance professionals?
One of us is! Weisert Investments handles all the market math; Roy Weisert holds a CFP license as well as a PhD. He's been providing personal, professional investment services for clients since 1993, and still does.
3. What are your credentials and track record?
We have performance data for our TSP strategies here. Worth pointing out is that this data includes a 4.2% gain (yes, GAIN) in 2008, when markets all over the globe were losing 30% or more.
Roy also has seven years of synopses available here, summarizing the gains he's made for his clients. More data is on the way; in the meantime, tell us if there's something specific you want to know! You can also check out reviews from some folks who've been using our tips for a while, and have had a chance to see them work.
4. How long have you been around?
Well, Roy's been doing this for over 30 years. In 2012, he began providing TSP recommendations to coworkers. Word of mouth did its thing, that list of coworkers grew and grew, and the foundation for TSP TIPS was formed. We released a free preview in November 2013, and officially went live in July of 2014.
5. Do you provide guarantees of profits and account performance?
In financial markets, a "guarantee" is also known as a "lie." We're not liars. What we offer is the credibility and assurance that comes with 20+ years of professional expertise, a history of positive results, and the knowledge that we invest our own accounts the same way.
6. What's your strategy? How do you come up with your numbers?
Weisert Investments' website has a really good description of the core concepts behind their investment strategies. Check it out when you have a few minutes!
7. Will my account earn money all the time?
No. When following the TSP TIPS recommendations (or anyone's recommendations), sometimes your account may be down for the week. Maybe the month. Maybe even a year.
"Well hell, why would I pay for tips just to lose money?" A fair question. And the answer is, because no one (including us) can post profits all the time. Our strategy is focused strongly on *long-term gain*. An average of almost 10% annually from 2003 to 2013, in fact. Basically, while you may lose battles, we try our best to help you win the war.
8. The __ fund made more than you in (insert year here). Why is that?
The answer here is pretty similar to question 7; different strategies produce different results. For example, we did very well in 2013, gaining around 25%. But so did a lot of people. The S fund grew 35% in 2013.
"Well hell, I'll just keep my money in the S fund then." True, you can do that, and you'd have done very well in those months. But the key is balance. The S fund also lost 38% in 2008; we gained 4.2%. It's not all about big gains all the time.
There's a wealth of information on the Weisert Investments site if you want to gain a bit more knowledge about smart investing and risk management.
