TL;DR: Trying to figure out how to calculate the fees charged by TSP, and if it is still worth it to keep my money in TSP.
I have some money in the TSP from previous employment and a rollover. I have been keeping it there because the fees have been favorable. I looked at my annual statements and they show expense ratios of:
2016 - 0.038%
2015 - 0.029%
2014 - 0.029%
I was delivered the "TSP highlights January/February 2018" that described the fees, and was very confused, as well as not sure if I'm still getting the best deal by keeping my money with the TSP. It says the 2017 administrative expenses will be available in the April 2018 issue of Highlights, but this issue has a breakdown of fees by fund.
They break it out by Expenses by Fund
Gross - all the funds are 0.052% except S Fund which is 0.051%, and I Fund which is 0.053%
Net - all the funds are 0.038%, except I Fund which is 0.039%
Other - different for each fund, I'll list them:
- L2050 - 0.012%
- L2040 - 0.011%
- L2030 - 0.009%
- L2020 - 0.007%
- L Income - 0.003%
- G Fund - 0.000%
- F Fund - 0.017%
- C Fund - 0.004%
- S Fund - 0.041%
- I Fund - 0.014%
They have a note about the Net Expenses as: Net administrative expenses are the expenses charge to TSP participants per dollar invested in the respective funds after offsetting gross administrative expenses with account forfeitures and loan fees.
They have a note on Other Expenses as: Fees associated with securities lending are not included in 2016 administrative expenses. Consistent with standard practice in the industry, they are charged in addition to administrative expenses. The other expenses represent fees paid to the investment manager for administering securities lending programs. Income earned from these programs improved the returns of the funds.
Okay, with all that knowledge... how do I know what my fees are?
Do I look at the Gross or the Net or the Net+Other?
If for example I am getting 0.04% (Vanguard) or even 0.03% (TRowePrice), would it be better to rollover my TSP into those brokers?
I've seen arguments for keeping money in TSP because of the low fees, but I am now wondering if that is still the case with the latest fees.