@Derf @hank
If one plucked down "x" dollars, buy and hold on Oct. 30, 2007; the below percentages are total return for the period through May 16, 2019.
Same chart layout as last post, but with a start date of Oct. 30, 2007; which is very close to multiple equity market tops before the big melt of Sept., 2008.
Total returns for this period, buy and hold.
--- QQQ = 278%
--- FSPHX = 276%
--- FDGRX = 228%
--- VPMCX = 198%
--- FCNTX = 168%
--- SPY = 138%
Another observation. Same funds chart, but from Oct. 30, 2007 to Jan. 2013.
Imagine an investor deciding to invest $100,00 on Oct. 30, 2007, and vowed to be brave and bold enough to ride the equity markets through 2020, when some of the money would aid in retirement.
They sweat a bit as they find their portfolio value dip going into the end of 2007. But, about half way into 2008, things are looking better. Then early September tests their braveness, to be further tested into the end of the year and the spring of 2009. Going into the end of March, 2009, the worst appears to be past. The equity markets move along and slightly upward through the rest of 2009, 2010 and then the middle of 2011 finds another portfolio whack as the credit rating of the U.S. is downgraded. Eventually, a bit more positive travel for the remainder of 2011 and 2012.
However, take a peek at the returns after a little more than 5 years.
I suspect these are the types of experiences that find folks leaving equity investing and not returning.
Five years can be a very long time to watch one's money travel such a path.
Chart here
Have a good remainder,
Catch

The Best ETFs to Invest in Real Estate
https://money.usnews.com/investing/funds/slideshows/best-etfs-to-invest-in-real-estate
Investors are drawn to real estate investments for different reasons. For some, the investments offer big yield potential as properties generate a steady stream of income for shareholders. For others, real estate assets are a hedge against volatility.
When it comes to real estate stocks, more seem to be popping up every day. Whether you're investing in mortgage lenders or industrial park operators or various real estate investment trusts, there are many options out there to sort through.
If you're having trouble choosing which individual real estate stock to buy, or if you simply prefer the peace of mind that come with diversification, consider these real estate exchange-traded funds instead.
1. Vanguard Real Estate ETF (ticker: VNQ). A $63 billion behemoth, the VNQ fund from Vanguard is one of the most popular ways to invest in real estate via a brokerage account or retirement plan. The portfolio spans all manner of companies that own properties, ranging from health care facilities to hotels to malls.
There are about 200 component stocks that make up this real estate ETF. That's a very diversified list and at a relatively cheap fee structure at just 0.12% annually in expenses. You'll only pay about $12 per year on every $10,000 invested.
2. Schwab U.S. REIT ETF (SCHH). A slightly smaller list of real estate companies makes up the SCHH fund from Schwab, with just under 110 components in this ETF at present and about $5 billion in total assets under management. The fees are a bit smaller too, however, with an expense ratio of just 0.07% annually or $7 each year on every $10,000 you invest. The holdings are big REITs you should know, including mall operator Simon Property Group (SPG) and orange locker operator Public Storage (PSA). – Jeff Reeves

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-average-401-k-soared-466-over-the-past-10-years-194608825.html
Fidelity’s latest quarterly retirement savings update had something special to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of “the bottom.”
Keep buying...

https://www.fool.com/retirement/2019/05/12/3-essential-bond-buying-tips-for-newbies.aspx
3 tips for new bonds buying
Investing 101

Ditto @Lawlar.

PRWCX = 32.35% of my stuff. I'm now bond-heavy, in retirement. It's my favorite, too, and my only balanced fund. I'm 61% bonds, 25% US equities, and 7% foreign equities. The rest is cash and cash equivalents and "other," according to Morningstar.

Both series of T. Rowe Price funds, "Target Date" and "Retirement", have glide paths. If you want static allocation ("target risk") funds, those would be Price's "Personal Strategy" funds.
Here are the glide paths for the Target Date funds and the Retirement funds. The former are more conservative.
Target Date glide path:

Retirement glide path:

The Personal Strategy funds are:
Income (PRSIX) - 40% equity (55% bond/cash, 5% alternative)
Balanced (TRPBX) - 60% equity (35% bond/cash, 5% alternative)
Growth (TRSGX) - 80% equity (16% bond/cash, 4% alternative)
This series is not to be confused with older allocation funds like TRP Balanced (RPBAX), with its somewhat more mundane allocation of 65% stock, 35% bond.

Thanks for explaining that @MikeM. Too many different funds from TRP nowadays if you ask me, but I guess they need that to remain competitive. Have to wonder if they couldn’t rename that static fund category. It need not be solely for retirement. May be good reasons someone wants a particular risk exposure regardless of years to retirement.
20-25 years ago I could name most of TP’s funds and explain what they were all about. Today it’s hopeless.
Another thought. That “allocation fee” Oppenheimer slaps on their allocation funds - might make sense if the underlying funds they hold are some type of institutional class or otherwise paying a lower ER. I doubt that’s the case, but might be worth someone’s time to check on it.

@Hank, TRP has offered "static" type funds for some time now. For example, they have 2030 (or 20-whatever) target date fund and 2030 retirement fund. Target date will change portfolio balance as it nears your retirement year. 'Retirement fund' never changes portfolio balance. 'Target risk' is a much better, clearer name than 'retirement fund' for the static portfolio though.

@MikeM: Thank you for filling in the blanks for me concerning robo & personal account.
Your second thought on using TRP retirement fund, or in my case VG, may be the way to go. Three pot it ,Retirement 1/3- 2025 1/3 & 2030 the final 1/3
If I'm reading you right , you'd have 1/2 in TRP & run the other 1/2 yourself ?
Does Schwab use their funds in robo account ?
Good investing to all, Derf

Hi @Derf. I think you mentioned before you might invest in robo. Here's a few numbers from my experience that might help you. Just to qualify, the robo is about 62% diversified equity, about 22% bonds, 12% cash and 4% in gold.. My self managed moves around a little because I play with stocks. I would say on average it has been maybe 40% equity and the rest in fixed income and cash, mostly cash in form of CDs. Oh, have a little gold there also. So where I'm going with that info is the portfolios are certainly not apples to apples. But here's some #s:
4th Q of 2018, robo -5.5%, self -6.7%
YTD 2019, robo +8.5%, self +7.2% (as of 5/1)
Long term not sure what I will do. You (or I) may be better off, instead of a robo, just using a TRP retirement fund. I believe the 60:40 TRP fund has better results YTD than my robo. Slightly bigger drop in the 4th Q. The cash portion of the robo absolutely weighs on return when markets are moving up. But that's how Shwab makes it's money on the "free" robo.
Good luck to you.

FYI: A decade after target-date funds were damaged during the financial crisis, they have re-emerged bigger than ever as retirement investments. But they still have vulnerabilities.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-weve-learned-about-target-date-funds-10-years-later-11557108540?mod=article_inline

Congrats on your coming retirement Art. I'm about there myself, but will probably work part time to ease into retirement.
Over the last 5 years or so I've simplified my self-managed portfolio to about 8 funds that I feel good about. That's 1/2 the pot. The other 1/2 is in a well diversified robo. The 8 self managed funds include equity and fixed income funds. About 20% of that is in 1 balanced fund, PRWCX. I am not a believer in duplicating funds in categories or asset classes but to each their own. I also believe a 1 fund portfolio can be a fine idea coupled with a cash bucket in retirement. That 1 fund would be a target/retirement fund. How simple is that, but I don't think that is what you are looking for.
You, having 7 world/global funds, tells me that you and I have different portfolio building ideas, so I can't offer much help. 1 or 2 of those would be fine in my mind (or none depending on what else you hold). You can't go wrong with TRP (I'd pick PRGSX fwiw), and maybe even holding one of the Grandeur Peek funds might make sense IF they were different enough from TRP.
Good luck to you.

Art, Congratulation on your pending retirement. In general, I like T. Rowe Price funds since many of their managers have long track record and lower fee than the MF industry. The other metric worthwhile to consider is the recovery period after the maximum drawdown (risk consideration) - something you can search for if you are a MFO Premium subscriber. In April's commentary, David Snowball talked about the remake of his portfolio and he now uses a TRP target date to consolidate part of his funds. I consider that is wise move as TRP offers one of the better performing target date funds in that space.
At present I have two balanced funds - TRP Cap Appreciation, PRWCX and Vanguard Wellesley Income, VWINX.

Tend to agree with Ol’Skeet that number of funds doesn’t matter a lot. Getting the number down may well be a sign that you’ve successfully identified the funds that are most aligned with your own personal needs. So I suggest you view a lower number more as a measure of how well you’ve identified the right funds for you rather than a goal in itself.
A few things important to me in adding or culling funds (highly subjective criteria):
- Low fees
- Diversification across fiduciaries (fund houses or other)
- Diversification across asset classes
- Moderate exposure to international markets
- Superior downside protection relative to peers
Absent from my list is performance. Perhaps that’s due to it being so obvious a consideration. In addition, capital preservation becomes more important in retirement - especially later on. I’ve always strived to keep the number under 20, believing that meets my needs and is fairly easy to get my head around. Currently I hold 15 funds across 4 different management houses. In addition, I have one ultra-short bond fund that I treat the same as cash.
RPGAX is one of the 3 balanced funds I own - the only one with significant international exposure. I suspect the choice has as much to do with my preference for T. Rowe Price as with anything else. But RPGAX is a good fund with reasonable fees.

@Art: Congratulations on your pending retirement ! Keep PRGSX sell the rest.
Regards,
Ted

Retirement within 1 year. I want to reduce the number of funds I have. Thought I would see what the collective thinks.
IVWIX or RPGAX. Keep or sell one of these world allocation funds.
ARTGX or PRGSX or FWWFX. Keep or sell which one these world large stock funds.
GGSOX or GPROX?

We’ve currently got about 10% of our total savings in cash right now, the highest in many years. This is due to the relatively high yields of CDs and money markets right now, as well as the low yields for high quality bonds. That, plus we need to make periodic withdrawals in retirement and want to avoid having to sell stocks during potential market downturns.

FYI: Should I hold a cash reserve in retirement? If so, how much? And, if you’re willing to share, do you have a cash reserve as part of your retirement savings?
Sure. Happy to share. But let’s start with some background.
Regards,
Ted
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-much-cash-should-you-hold-in-retirement-11556805424?mod=md_mf_news

https://news.yahoo.com/7-best-vanguard-funds-retirement-portfolio-173144548.html
7 Best Vanguard Funds for Your Retirement Portfolio
Ellen Chang
Ellen Chang
U.S.News & World ReportApril 30, 2019, 12:31 PM CDT
High-performing Vanguard funds for your 401(k).
Vanguard revolutionized the investing industry with index mutual funds. The company's founder and former CEO, John Bogle, was an avid fan of low expense ratios and passive investing, believing that it democratized investing for individuals, since the majority of active investment managers fail to beat market averages like the S&P 500. Passive investing along with the perception that it yields better returns is gaining in popularity among consumers, says Grant Easterbrook, co-founder of New York-based Dream Forward, which sells 401(k) plans. "Consumers looking for low-cost retirement options ask for Vanguard funds from financial advisors or buy them directly," he says. Here are seven top Vanguard funds for retirement portfolios.

If there’s such a thing as good financial porn that was it. Remember grabbing a copy or so off the supermarket stands in the spring of ‘97 and enjoying them outdoors as it warmed in these parts. Those were transitional years. One year from retirement and had recently let go of my fee-based plan advisor - ill prepared to manage the accumulated assets on my own.
Some other things which helped shape my thinking back than were Andrew Tobias’ The Only Investment Guide You’ll ever Need and a recent book by John Bogle: Bogle On Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor. The WSJ was still pretty good reading. And, of course, Rukeyser’s weekly interviews with the likes of John Templeton / Perter Lynch were influential. Bill Fleckenstein had some good free columns online in those years and helped instill in me a wariness of markets (probably excessive) which still prevails today.