Hi All,
Thanks a bunch in advance to anyone knowledgable and generous enough to spend the time to lend advice.
I have been reading some scathing reviews of lifecycle funds lately and am wondering if I should switch. When I joined my employer 2 years ago, I had no experience with retirement investments and so after polling a few colleagues, my Dad, etc, I went with the most familiar option offered - TIAA-CREF lifecycle fund 2040. My employer contributes 10% of my annual salary. The expense ratios are 0.58% gross/0.46% net. Year to date performance is quoted as 5.37%. By contrast, my 401k (Vanguard Target Retirement 2040 Inv) has an expense ratio of 0.18% and a rate of return of 5.46%.
So my question is, should I switch the TIAA-CREF lifecycle fund over to something else, and if so, what?
Here are my other options within TIAA-CREF:
EQUITIES
American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund R4
CREF Equity Index R3
CREF Global Equities R3
CREF Growth R3
CREF Stock R3
Columbia Small Cap Value I Z
Eaton Vance Large Cap Value I
Prudential Jennison Mid-Cap Growth Fund Inc. Z
Sentinel Small Company Fund - Class I
TIAA-CREF Mid-Cap Value Fund - Institutional Class
FIXED INCOME
CREF Bond Market R3
CREF Inflation-Linked Bond R3
PIMCO Total Return Admin Class
Templeton Global Bond Fund Advisor Class Shares
GUARANTEED
TIAA Stable Return Annuity
MONEY MARKET
CREF Money Market R3
MULTI-ASSETCREF Social Choice R3
TIAA-CREF Lifecycle Funds with different target dates
REAL ESTATE
TIAA Real Estate
Alternatively, I can go with VALIC:
Options available to me are listed in the link below. They include Vanguard Index funds.
https://www.valic.com/Images/TNORP_mfperf_tcm1046-452612.pdfMy husband and I also have IRAs with Betterment - the default recommended mix of 90% stocks/10% bonds.
I went with lifecycle funds through work originally because I was uncomfortable choosing the mix and percentages for a balanced portfolio. I'm not likely to tinker with my portfolio in response to stock crash but generally uncomfortable with more than a moderate amount of risk, planning to achieve financial independence in about 15 years.
Thanks for reading this. Any thoughts (and reasoning behind it) very much appreciated.