Roth IRA allocation advice

[bittheory]

Hey Mustacians,
I'm looking for some allocation advice for my Roth IRA. Right now it's about 50/50 between STAR and an age-targeted retirement fund. STAR was the recommended fund I went with when I opened the acct in 2012. I honestly never thought to change it, but the more I research, the more I realize I need to switch some things up.

I have been good about maxing contributions to my SIMPLE plan, but not my Roth, so my plan is to max it out this and every year from now on. I am a complete investing novice. And that's where you guys come in: How do I make this money, and the future money I contribute, work to my benefit with the right mix of funds?

STATS:
$20K in Roth.
32 years old.

[dandarc]

Is your Roth at Vanguard?  Because the STAR fund and a target-fund are OK choices for an investing novice.  Not to say you couldn't do this cheaper, but you could definitely do worse.

You need an investing policy statement.  http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Investment_policy_statement.  Basically:

1.  Pick your asset allocation
2.  Find funds that meet your target asset allocation at a low cost
3.  Invest diligently, rebalance periodically back to your target allocation

Do you like the 60-40 stock-bond split of the STAR fund?  You could get into Life-Strategy Conservative Growth, and it would be a bit cheaper.  Or put it all into your target-date fund, which if it is a Vanguard target-date fund likely has a lower expense ratio.  Cheaper still would be to use Total Stock / Total International Stock and Total Bond to make a 3 fund portfolio.  With 20K, you'd likely need at least 50% in Total Stock Market to get admiral shares to make this significantly cheaper than the Life-Strategy or target-retirement.

[bittheory]

Is your Roth at Vanguard?  Because the STAR fund and a target-fund are OK choices for an investing novice.  Not to say you couldn't do this cheaper, but you could definitely do worse.

It is at Vanguard. I actually recently rolled it over from Fidelity to my existing Vanguard Roth. I'm thinking this is a good time to reassess my funds. STAR has performed well, and I might keep it, just wanted to reach out here first. I'm actually considering putting everything into my target fund. Do you think that's a good idea? Thanks for responding.

[MDM]

I'm actually considering putting everything into my target fund. Do you think that's a good idea?

It is certainly a defensible idea.  How well it will work, only time will tell.  But that is true of any investment decision.

All that being said, VTTSX or similar is my default answer to the "don't know what to do so what should one do?" question.

[bittheory]

It is certainly a defensible idea.  How well it will work, only time will tell.  But that is true of any investment decision.

All that being said, VTTSX or similar is my default answer to the "don't know what to do so what should one do?" question.

True. I'm just thinking that as a novice, I should go by a target date over everything.