I would like investing advice for my 401K

[paulnolivia]

I feel like the decisions I made for my investments were uneducated when I set them up years ago. I'm really regretting possibly losing out on future gains and would like some advice on how to allocate among the investments available to me with my 401K. Any help is appreciated!

Age 36

Available investments are:

Vanguard Target 2065



Vanguard Target INC



Vanguard Target 2020



Vanguard Target 2025



Vanguard Target 2030



Vanguard Target 2035



Vanguard Target 2040



Vanguard Target 2045



Vanguard Target 2050



Vanguard Target 2055



Vanguard Target 2060



Vanguard Target 2070



VANG RET SAV TR IV
Vanguard Retirement Savings Trust IV


VANG INST INDEX PLUS
Vanguard Institutional Index Fund Institutional Plus Shares
VIIIX

FID EXTD MKT IDX
Fidelity® Extended Market Index Fund
FSMAX

FID SM CAP IDX
Fidelity® Small Cap Index Fund
FSSNX

VANG TOT INTL STK IS
Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Institutional Shares
VTSNX

FID US BOND IDX
Fidelity® U.S. Bond Index Fund
FXNAX

AF WASH MUTL INV R6
American Funds Washington Mutual Investors Fund Class R-6
RWMGX

JPM LG CAP GROWTH R6
JPMorgan Large Cap Growth Fund Class R6
JLGMX

VICTORY S EST VAL R6
Victory Sycamore Established Value Fund Class R6
VEVRX

SBH SM CAP VAL INST
Segall Bryant & Hamill Small Cap Value Fund Institutional Class
SBHVX

GENEVA SM CP GR C
Geneva Small Cap Growth Collective Fund Fee Class C


AF EUROPAC GROWTH R6
American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund® Class R-6
RERGX

VANG INCOME & GROWTH
Vanguard Target Retirement Income & Growth Trust II


FID BALANCED K
Fidelity® Balanced Fund Class K
FBAKX

 

[drumchannell]

@paulnolivia A vanguard target date fund is perfectly fine to choose as your “all in one” fund: it’s globally diversified, low cost, rebalances regularly, and comprised of index funds.

Your plan also offers good index funds from vanguard and fidelity. The vanguard TDF already has them all anyway, but if you wanted to limit bonds or international for any reason, choosing your own mix gives you the best freedom.

My vote in most cases is the TDF though. Prevents the urge to tinker with the portfolio.

 

[paulnolivia]

@drumchannell I appreciate the input! I'll 100% take this into account when I redo my contributions.

 

[miaadora]

@paulnolivia You really can’t go wrong with a Vanguard Target fund

 

[lostchildinthemidst]

@paulnolivia At your age VIIIX or the 2070 target fund (although it's international exposure is higher than I like)

 

[paulnolivia]

@lostchildinthemidst Thanks for the input. I was already in TDF, however, I was using Targets much closer than I probably should have. I really appreciate the help!

 

[kristenn]

@paulnolivia If you want to set and forget choose target date fund, if you want something more active you can pick your own mix. At your age I’d only look into equity funds. Most investors overweight US to international and then within the US markets they will overweight large cap to small.

 

[caap27]

@paulnolivia If you don't want to make your own allocations and adjustments, then the Van Target '55 or '60 is the way to go. Just check the fees - it should be max .1% given it's just a blend of two -3 Fid index funds.

If you are interested in doing simple allocation yourself, you would do fine with 30% VIIIX 30% FSSNX 15% VTSNX 25% FXNAX.

If you are working for a rare company with a pension plan - or some other fixed income retirement plan - and a good likelihood of being there long term, you could bump out the FXNAX and just go 100% equities for another 10 years or so, at your age.