TSP Fund Performance Compared

Since January 2005, $100 invested in each TSP fund would be worth this much today, calculated directly from TSP's own published share price history, as of Jul 10, 2026. Higher long-run returns came with sharply higher volatility: 2008 shows exactly how far each fund can fall.

Value of $100 invested in each fund alone on January 3, 2005, held through July 10, 2026.
Fund G F C S I
Value of $100 $187.46 $200.74 $951.96 $803.62 $417.10
Total return +87.5% +100.7% +852.0% +703.6% +317.1%
Avg annual return +2.93% +3.48% +12.22% +11.52% +8.00%
2008 return +3.75% +5.45% −37.0% −38.3% −42.4%

Average annual return is over 2005–2025, matching the table below. Growth funds crater in a downturn, and the G Fund never blinks; that contrast is the core trade-off every TSP participant is making with their allocation.

Growth of $100 Invested

Chart data is temporarily unavailable. The full year-by-year figures are in the table below.

Click a fund in the legend to show or hide it. Source: TSP share price history, as of Jul 10, 2026.

Year-by-Year Returns

Annual return by calendar year, all five individual TSP funds. Source: TSP share price history.
Year G F C S I
2005+4.40%+2.40%+5.78%+12.21%+14.15%
2006+4.93%+4.40%+15.79%+15.30%+26.32%
2007+4.87%+7.09%+5.54%+5.49%+11.43%
2008+3.75%+5.45%-36.99%-38.32%-42.43%
2009+2.97%+5.99%+26.68%+34.85%+30.04%
2010+2.81%+6.71%+15.06%+29.06%+7.94%
2011+2.45%+7.89%+2.11%-3.38%-11.81%
2012+1.47%+4.29%+16.07%+18.57%+18.62%
2013+1.89%-1.68%+32.45%+38.35%+22.13%
2014+2.31%+6.73%+13.78%+7.80%-5.27%
2015+2.04%+0.91%+1.46%-2.92%-0.51%
2016+1.82%+2.91%+12.01%+16.35%+2.10%
2017+2.33%+3.82%+21.82%+18.22%+25.42%
2018+2.91%+0.15%-4.41%-9.26%-13.43%
2019+2.24%+8.68%+31.45%+27.97%+22.47%
2020+0.97%+7.50%+18.31%+31.85%+8.17%
2021+1.38%-1.46%+28.68%+12.45%+11.45%
2022+2.98%-12.83%-18.13%-26.26%-13.94%
2023+4.22%+5.58%+26.25%+25.30%+18.38%
2024+4.40%+1.33%+24.96%+16.93%+4.27%
2025+4.44%+7.21%+17.85%+11.38%+32.45%
Average +2.93% +3.48% +12.22% +11.52% +8.00%

The Five TSP Funds, Briefly

G Fund: Government Securities

Short-term U.S. Treasury securities unique to the TSP. No risk of loss of principal, and the lowest long-run return of the five funds.

F Fund: Fixed Income Index

Tracks the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, a diversified mix of U.S. government, corporate, and mortgage-backed bonds.

C Fund: Common Stock Index

Tracks the S&P 500, large-cap U.S. stocks. The strongest long-run performer of the five, and the most volatile of the non-international funds.

S Fund: Small Cap Index

Tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Completion TSM Index, the U.S. stock market outside the S&P 500. Moves with, and often more sharply than, the C Fund.

I Fund: International Stock Index

Tracks the MSCI EAFE Index, large companies across Europe, Australia, and the Far East. TSP's only fund with direct exposure outside the U.S.

How These Numbers Are Calculated

Every figure on this page is computed directly from TSP's own published share price history (tsp.gov/share-price-history), the same daily closing prices TSP itself uses to report fund performance. Annual returns are calculated close-to-close for each calendar year; the $100 growth series compounds those same prices monthly from a January 3, 2005 starting point. January 2005 is used as the starting point because it falls after markets had fully recovered from the 2000–2002 downturn — beginning a growth comparison at a market low would have overstated how far ahead the stock funds finished, so the later start keeps the comparison neutral rather than flattering the higher-risk funds. Note that the I Fund's underlying benchmark index changed in 2024. TSP reports its historical returns under the current index, and this page reflects TSP's own published numbers.

This page is educational only. It compares the TSP's own funds to each other and is not a recommendation for how to allocate your TSP, and it is not affiliated with ThriftTrading's allocation service. See our own track record if you're evaluating whether active management would have helped.

Source: TSP share price history (tsp.gov). Figures as of July 10, 2026. Neither this page nor ThriftTrading.com is affiliated with the U.S. Government, the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, or the Thrift Savings Plan. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

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