Meet the I fund

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which manages the TSP, explains that the "EAFE index is broadly diversified among countries and industries, so that the effect of poor performance in one stock market or group of companies is reduced. Losses will occur if and as the value of the EAFE index declines in response to changes in overall economic conditions or to increases in the value of the U.S. dollar. EAFE index returns tend to fluctuate more than S&P 500 … returns." Financial advisers encourage investors to diversify their portfolios so that a decline in one investment does not hurt all of their retirement savings. In May, federal employees will decide how to spread out their TSP investments among the C, F, G, I and S Funds. Next week, Pay and Benefits Watch will take a closer look at the S Fund. Want to keep an eye on the EAFE index and the Wilshire 4500 index (which the S Fund will track)? Look no farther than . Starting today, you can follow daily performance of the two indexes on the TSP Ticker on . You can look up historical performance for the EAFE index at and for the Wilshire 4500 at . On Jan. 8, GovExec.com reported that the Patent and Trademark Office agreed to for patent examiners and managers. The agreement requires Office of Personnel Management approval, which typically takes six to eight weeks in similar cases. But it may take longer in the patent examiners' case. OPM officials have asked the Patent Office for more data about recruitment and retention in a number of patent specialty areas. OPM officials will have to analyze that data before they make a decision on whether to grant the Patent Office's request. The next time your office hires a new employee (which may be a while if you're operating under the hiring freeze), check with your human resources office about a new 22-minute video called The video describes the initial decisions employees have to make about health insurance, life insurance, retirement and Thrift Saving Plan benefits.