OK, good. The 401k is not something that I get excited about, and the fund choices are not fun either. Honestly, they all start to look / sound the same. I am not sure how to compare and select, but I like your advice to pick the one with the lowest fee, the T Rowe Price that seems decent, or to pick just one or two and then seek balance it among our taxable investments.
The stock service that I follow for our taxable portfolio has a mission of inflation + 7%, with no loss of capital over a 3-5 year period. That is their guideline/target that they measure by. And so their strategies include options and hedging to lower cost basis and reduce risk, and it is a fairly conservative portfolio. They are looking for "cash machine" type stocks, and I like their philosophy very much.
I hold a few extra stocks that I like, to personalize things. Some are very steady companies, big brands, a few are emerging / more speculative. (small $ there). I have a lot of fun with doing my own investing. That is why I am so much more interested in that side of things.
Over the past 6 months or so, I did a thorough spreadsheet that documents all of our taxable investments, so that I can see what we own all in one place. I went through everything and it was a big process to make it.
Generally, I prefer stock investing and I prefer American companies (so many US companies are in international markets.) I would like to try real estate land lording where I live. There are some opportunities that look good and it would be a good business to learn. However, I could also start to learn about notes. We aren't quite cash account heavy enough to do much with real estate at this point, but I would love to diversify from the stock portfolio with real estate.