Q. Are target date funds from different providers but with the same target date the same?
A. No. Target date funds are supposed to make an investor's life easier - a target date fund automatically reallocates the investment to different funds with different asset categories based on preset target dates, in this way, an investor doesn't have to worry about asset allocation, it's done by the pros.
Furthermore, many investors assume with two different target date funds, if they have the same target dates, then their risk levels are the same. Some investors even thought target date funds guarantee their returns at their retirement time.
The reality is with over 250 different target date funds out there, target date funds' performances could have a huge difference. For example, in 2008, for the 2010 target date funds, some dropped 3.6% and some dropped 41%!
Why such a big difference in performance? A key reason is different asset allocation between stocks and bonds. Some target date funds allocate 8% to stocks, while other funds with the same target dates could allocate 68% to stocks!
This certainly makes it very hard for an investor to choose the best target date funds - you need to dig into the fund's asset allocations and determine if that meet your risk tolerance level, the fund's sliding path, and the fund's expenses.
A. No. Target date funds are supposed to make an investor's life easier - a target date fund automatically reallocates the investment to different funds with different asset categories based on preset target dates, in this way, an investor doesn't have to worry about asset allocation, it's done by the pros.
Furthermore, many investors assume with two different target date funds, if they have the same target dates, then their risk levels are the same. Some investors even thought target date funds guarantee their returns at their retirement time.
The reality is with over 250 different target date funds out there, target date funds' performances could have a huge difference. For example, in 2008, for the 2010 target date funds, some dropped 3.6% and some dropped 41%!
Why such a big difference in performance? A key reason is different asset allocation between stocks and bonds. Some target date funds allocate 8% to stocks, while other funds with the same target dates could allocate 68% to stocks!
This certainly makes it very hard for an investor to choose the best target date funds - you need to dig into the fund's asset allocations and determine if that meet your risk tolerance level, the fund's sliding path, and the fund's expenses.
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