0000926425 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member dtds1:C000016751Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member dtds1:C000016753Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member dtds1:C000016754Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member dtds1:C000016755Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016751Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMember dtds1:C000016751Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMember dtds1:C000016751Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016753Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016754Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016755Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member dtds1:SAndPTargetDateRetirementIncomeIndexMember 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006097Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member dtds1:C000016765Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member dtds1:C000016767Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member dtds1:C000016768Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member dtds1:C000016769Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016765Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMember dtds1:C000016765Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMember dtds1:C000016765Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016768Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016767Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016769Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member dtds1:SAndPTargetDateTwentyHundredAndFifteenIndexMember 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member dtds1:C000016758Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member dtds1:C000016757Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member dtds1:C000016756Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member dtds1:C000016759Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member dtds1:C000016760Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member dtds1:C000016762Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member dtds1:C000016763Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member dtds1:C000016764Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016760Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMember dtds1:C000016760Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMember dtds1:C000016760Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016762Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016763Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016764Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member dtds1:SAndPTargetDateTwentyHundredAndTwentyIndexMember 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016756Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016757Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016758Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000016759Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMember dtds1:C000016756Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMember dtds1:C000016756Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member dtds1:SAndPTargetDateTwentyHundredAndThirtyIndexMember 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006099Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006098Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member dtds1:C000054366Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member dtds1:C000054368Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member dtds1:C000054367Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000006100Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000054366Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMember dtds1:C000054366Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMember dtds1:C000054366Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000054367Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member dtds1:BeforeTaxMember dtds1:C000054368Member 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 0000926425 dtds1:S000019563Member dtds1:SAndPTargetDateTwentyHundredAndFortyIndexMember 2011-12-02 2012-12-01 pure iso4217:USD 485BPOS 0000926425 2012-11-30 DWS TARGET DATE SERIES 2012-12-01 0.0575 0 0 0 0 0.04 0.01 0 20 20 20 20 0 0 0 0 0.0025 0.01 0.01 0 0.0049 0.0048 0.0043 0.0045 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.006 0.0134 0.0208 0.0203 0.0105 -0.0028 -0.0027 -0.0022 -0.0024 0.0106 0.0181 0.0181 0.0081 677 584 284 83 949 926 615 310 1242 1294 1073 556 2072 2025 2341 1261 677 184 184 83 949 626 615 310 1242 1094 1073 556 2072 2025 2341 1261 -0.0594 0.1327 0.0742 0.0443 0.091 0.0442 -0.2454 0.1979 0.089 0.007 -0.0509 -0.0567 -0.0321 -0.0301 -0.0015 0.0095 0.0398 -0.0049 -0.0153 -0.0098 -0.0024 -0.0005 0.0095 0.0312 0.0243 0.0139 0.0227 0.015 0.0228 0.0329 0.0455 Investment Objective The fund seeks current income Fees and Expenses of the Fund These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 59) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) The Advisor has contractually agreed through November 30, 2013 to waive and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses at ratios no higher than 0.46%, 1.21%, 1.21% and 0.21% (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expenses and acquired funds (underlying funds) fees and expenses) for Class A, Class B, Class C and Class S, respectively. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board. EXAMPLE This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of capped expenses for each period) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: PORTFOLIO TURNOVER The fund (or an underlying fund) pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2012: 53%. Principal Investment Strategy Main investments. The fund pursues its investment objective by investing in other DWS funds (i.e., mutual funds,exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other pooled investment vehicles managed by Deutsche Investment Management Americas Inc., the fund's investment advisor, or one of its affiliates). The fund may also invest in securities of unaffiliated ETFs when the economic exposure to a particular market or sector is not available through a DWS fund. DWS funds and unaffiliated ETFs, are collectively referred to as "underlying funds." Management process. The fund has a target asset allocation (the fund's current target asset allocation is approximately: 35% equity funds; and 65% fixed income funds), which portfolio management uses as a reference point in setting the fund's actual asset allocation. To a limited extent, the fund may invest in underlying funds in other asset classes, such as commodities, market neutral and others not generally considered equity or fixed income funds. The fund is designed for investors who are retired or expect to retire or begin withdrawing portions of their investment soon. The fund's target asset allocation may differ from the fund's actual asset allocation. Portfolio management regularly reviews the actual asset allocation and may adjust it based on current or expected market conditions or to manage risk. In making its asset allocation decisions, portfolio management uses a proprietary mix of quantitative and qualitative inputs, such as return forecasts for asset classes and investment guidelines. Based on the desired exposure to particular investments and risk analysis, portfolio management then decides which funds to use as underlying funds and in which proportions. To mitigate the risks associated with a particular fund or manager and increase diversification, no more than 40% of the overall allocation to equity will be invested in any one equity fund. The underlying funds use a broad array of investment styles. The underlying funds can buy many types of securities, among them common stocks of companies of any size, corporate bonds of varying credit quality, US government and agency bonds, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, money market instruments and others, and may also use various types of derivative instruments, including commodities-related derivatives. Derivatives. The fund, and the underlying funds in which the fund may invest, may use various types of derivatives (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities) (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. Main Risks There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. There is no guarantee that the fund will provide adequate income at, and through, retirement. Because the fund invests in underlying funds, the risks listed here include those of the various underlying funds as well as those of the fund itself. Therefore, in these risk descriptions the term "the fund" may refer to the fund itself, one or more underlying funds, or both. Asset allocation risk. Portfolio management may favor one or more types of investments or assets that underperform other investments, assets, or securities markets as a whole. Anytime portfolio management buys or sells securities in order to adjust the fund's asset allocation this will increase portfolio turnover and generate transaction costs. Stock market risk. The fund is affected by how the stock market performs. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile and less liquid than large company stocks. Small companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Growth investing risk. As a category, growth stocks may underperform value stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. Because the prices of growth stocks are based largely on the expectation of future earnings, growth stock prices can decline rapidly and significantly in reaction to negative news about such factors as earnings, the economy, political developments, or other news. Value investing risk. As a category, value stocks may underperform growth stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. In addition, value stocks selected for investment by portfolio management may not perform as anticipated. Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities. Emerging markets risk. Foreign investment risks are greater in emerging markets than in developed markets. Investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default, security downgrade or inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities. Because of the rising US government debt burden, it is possible that the US government may not be able to meet its financial obligations or that securities issued by the US government may experience credit downgrades. Such a credit event may also adversely impact the financial markets. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive it will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Underlying funds risk. Because the fund may invest in underlying funds, the fund's performance will be directly related to the performance of the underlying funds. To the extent that a given underlying fund underperforms its benchmark or its fund peer group, it may contribute to underperformance by the fund. In addition, the fund indirectly pays a portion of the expenses incurred by the underlying funds, which lowers performance. To the extent that the fund's allocations favor underlying funds with higher expenses, the overall cost of investing paid by the fund will be higher. Concentration risk - underlying funds. Any underlying fund that concentrates in a particular segment of the market (such as commodities, gold-related investments, infrastructure-related companies and real estate securities) will generally be more volatile than a fund that invests more broadly. Any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting the particular market segment in which the underlying fund concentrates will have a significant impact on the underlying fund's performance. While the fund does not concentrate in a particular industry, it may concentrate in an underlying DWS fund, and there is risk for the fund with respect to the aggregation of holdings of underlying funds. The aggregation of holdings of underlying funds may result in the fund indirectly having concentrated assets in a particular industry or group of industries, or in a single issuer. Such indirect concentration may have the effect of increasing the volatility of the fund's returns. The fund does not control the investments of the underlying funds, and any indirect concentration occurs as a result of the underlying funds following their own investment objectives and strategies. Non-diversification risk - underlying funds. While the fund is diversified, certain underlying funds may be classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. This means that the underlying fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance of the underlying fund. Inflation-indexed bond risk. Any rise in interest rates may cause inflation-indexed bonds to decline in price, hurting fund performance. If interest rates rise due to reasons other than inflation, the fund's investment in these securities may not be fully protected from the effects of rising interest rates. The performance of any bonds that are indexed to non-US rates of inflation may be higher or lower than those indexed to US inflation rates. The fund's actual returns could fail to match the real rate of inflation. Commodities-related investments risk. The commodities-linked derivatives instruments in which the fund invests tend to be more volatile than many other types of securities and may subject the fund to special risks that do not apply to all derivatives transactions. GTAA risk. The success of the global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) overlay strategy employed by certain underlying funds, depends in part on portfolio management's ability to analyze the correlation between various global markets and asset classes. If portfolio management's correlation analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the strategy. Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund incurs brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF's fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders. Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors will have a significant impact on the fund's performance. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Short sale risk. If the fund sells a security short and subsequently has to buy the security back at a higher price, the fund will lose money on the transaction. Any loss will be increased by the amount of compensation, interest or dividends and transaction costs the fund must pay to a lender of the security. The amount the fund could lose on a short sale is theoretically unlimited (as compared to a long position, where the maximum loss is the amount invested). The use of short sales, which has the effect of leveraging the fund, could increase the exposure of the fund to the market, increase losses and increase the volatility of returns. Currency strategies risk. The success of the currency strategies depends, in part, on the effectiveness and implementation of portfolio management's proprietary models. If portfolio management's analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the currency strategies. As part of the currency strategies, the fund will have substantial exposure to the risks of non-US currency markets. Foreign currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and economic or political developments in the US or abroad. As a result, the fund's exposure to foreign currencies could cause lower returns or even losses to the fund. Although portfolio management seeks to limit these risks through the aggregation of various long and short positions, there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so. Borrowing risk. Borrowing creates leverage. It also adds to fund expenses and at times could effectively force the fund to sell securities when it otherwise might not want to. Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security. Senior loans risk. Senior loans may not be rated by a rating agency, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities commission or listed on any national securities exchange. Therefore, there may be less publicly available information about them than for registered or exchange-listed securities. Also, because portfolio management relies mainly on its own evaluation of the creditworthiness of borrowers, the fund is particularly dependent on portfolio management's analytical abilities. Senior loans involve other risks, including conflict of interest risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. Conflict of interest risk. Affiliates of the Advisor may participate in the primary and secondary market for senior loans. Because of limitations imposed by applicable law, the presence of the Advisor's affiliates in the senior loan market may restrict the fund's ability to participate in a restructuring of a senior loan or to acquire some senior loans, or affect the timing or price of such acquisition. IPO risk. Prices of securities bought in an initial public offering (IPO) may rise and fall rapidly, often because of investor perceptions rather than economic reasons. To the extent a mutual fund is small in size, its IPO investments may have a significant impact on its performance since they may represent a larger proportion of the fund's overall portfolio as compared to the portfolio of a larger fund. Tax status risk. Income from certain commodity-linked derivative instruments does not constitute "qualifying income" to the fund for purposes of qualification as a "regulated investment company." If such income were determined to cause the fund's nonqualifying income to exceed 10% of the fund's gross income, the fund would be subject to a tax at the fund level. Subsidiary risk. Certain underlying funds may invest in a wholly-owned subsidiary of the underlying fund (the Subsidiary) that is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and therefore it is not subject to all of the investor protections of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Moreover, neither the underlying fund nor the Subsidiary currently is subject to the investor protections of the Commodity Exchange Act in reliance on certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator. A regulatory change in the US or the Cayman Islands that impacts the Subsidiary or how the underlying fund invests in the Subsidiary, such as a change in tax law, could adversely affect the underlying fund and the fund. As a result of recent changes to certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator under the Commodities Exchange Act, such underlying funds and the Subsidiary may no longer be able to rely on such exemptions from registration under the Commodities Exchange Act or may be subject to some or all of the provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act. Amendments to such exemptions have been challenged in a court of law. Accordingly, the impact of such rule changes on the underlying funds and the Subsidiary remains uncertain. The underlying funds and the fund are exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary's investments, which generally include the risks of investing in derivatives and commodities-related investments. Past Performance How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A) Best Quarter: 10.34%, Q2 2009 Worst Quarter: -14.56%, Q4 2008 Year-to-Date as of 9/30/2012: 8.09% AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. www.dws-investments.com How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) November 30, 2013 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesDWSLifeCompassRetirementFund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesDWSLifeCompassRetirementFund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleDWSLifeCompassRetirementFund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionDWSLifeCompassRetirementFund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsDWSLifeCompassRetirementFundBarChart column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedDWSLifeCompassRetirementFund column period compact * ~</div> false DWS LifeCompass Retirement Fund 2000-12-29 2000-12-29 1996-11-15 2000-12-29 0.53 Best Quarter: 2009-06-30 0.1034 Worst Quarter: 2008-12-31 -0.1456 Year-to-Date 2012-09-30 0.0809 0 0.04 0.01 0 0.0575 0 0 0 20 20 20 20 0 0 0 0 0.0025 0.01 0.01 0 0.0041 0.0054 0.0038 0.0044 0.0062 0.0062 0.0062 0.0062 0.0128 0.0216 0.0106 0.02 -0.002 -0.0033 -0.0017 -0.0023 0.0108 0.0183 0.0183 0.0083 679 586 286 85 939 944 611 314 1219 1329 1062 562 2015 2036 2314 1273 679 186 186 939 644 611 1219 1129 1062 2036 2314 2015 -0.1218 0.1877 0.0879 0.051 0.1111 0.0422 -0.305 0.2315 0.1079 -0.0127 -0.0695 -0.0742 -0.0436 -0.0201 -0.05 -0.0103 0.0153 -0.0254 -0.0184 -0.0166 -0.0143 -0.0027 0.0226 -0.0124 0.02 0.0116 0.0127 0.0184 0.0183 0.0285 0.0459 2000-12-29 2000-12-29 2000-12-29 1996-11-15 Year-to-Date 2012-09-30 0.0968 Best Quarter: 2009-06-30 0.1295 Worst Quarter: 2008-12-31 -0.177 0 0 0.0575 0 0 0.04 0.01 0 20 20 20 20 85 314 0.0575 0 0 0 562 1273 0 0.04 0.01 0 20 20 20 20 0 0 0 0 0.0024 0.01 0.01 0 0.0056 0.0055 0.0048 0.0055 0.0068 0.0068 0.0068 0.0068 0.0148 0.0223 0.0216 0.0123 -0.0034 -0.0034 -0.0027 -0.0034 0.0114 0.0189 0.0189 0.0089 685 592 292 91 985 965 650 357 1306 1364 1135 643 2214 2174 2472 1459 0 0 0 0 0.0025 0.01 0.01 0 0.0038 0.0023 0.0033 0.0042 0.0064 0.0064 0.0064 0.0064 0.0127 0.0187 0.0197 0.0106 685 192 192 91 -0.0017 -0.0002 -0.0012 -0.0021 0.011 357 0.0185 650 665 0.0185 985 0.0085 1306 1164 1135 643 2214 2174 2472 1459 681 588 288 87 939 886 607 316 1217 1209 0.0668 1051 0.1594 564 0.0399 -0.3706 0.287 2007 1889 2286 1275 0.1284 -0.0457 681 188 188 87 939 586 607 316 1217 1009 1051 564 2007 1889 2286 1275 -0.1898 0.2539 0.1006 0.0584 0.133 0.0441 -0.3284 0.246 0.1169 -0.0215 -0.0778 -0.0821 -0.0487 -0.0579 -0.0299 -0.0191 0.0058 -0.0209 -0.0276 -0.0205 -0.0184 -0.0167 -0.0067 0.0178 0.0189 0.013 0.0136 0.0173 0.0173 0.0274 0.0454 2000-12-29 2000-12-29 2000-12-29 1996-11-15 2004-11-01 2004-11-01 2004-11-01 2004-11-01 -0.1006 -0.1028 -0.0631 -0.082 -0.0528 -0.0433 -0.0117 0.0075 -0.0167 -0.0265 -0.0282 -0.0272 -0.0374 -0.0309 0.0158 0.0074 0.0112 0.0166 0.0166 0.0268 0.0433 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesDWSLifeCompass2020Fund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesDWSLifeCompass2020Fund column period compact * ~</div> DWS LifeCompass 2040 Fund The fund seeks to achieve as high total return as is consistent with its asset allocation until the target year. Fees and Expenses of the Fund These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 59) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) The Advisor has contractually agreed through November 30, 2013 to waive and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses at ratios no higher than 0.46%, 1.21% and 0.21% (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expenses and acquired funds (underlying funds) fees and expenses) for Class A, Class C and Class S, respectively. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleDWSLifeCompass2020Fund column period compact * ~</div> EXAMPLE This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of capped expenses for each period) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: PORTFOLIO TURNOVER The fund (or an underlying fund) pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2012: 38%. Principal Investment Strategy Main investments. The fund pursues its investment objective by investing in other DWS funds (i.e., mutual funds,exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other pooled investment vehicles managed by Deutsche Investment Management Americas Inc., the fund's investment advisor, or one of its affiliates). The fund may also invest in securities of unaffiliated ETFs when the economic exposure to a particular market or sector is not available through a DWS fund. DWS funds and unaffiliated ETFs, are collectively referred to as "underlying funds." The fund is designed for investors who anticipate retiring around 2040. Management process. The fund has a target asset allocation (the fund's current target asset allocation is approximately: 88% equity funds; and 12% fixed income funds), which portfolio management uses as a reference point in setting the fund's actual asset allocation. To a limited extent, the fund may invest in underlying funds in other asset classes, such as commodities, market neutral and others not generally considered equity or fixed income funds. The target asset allocation changes over time to become more conservative as the fund approaches its target date year (which is known as the fund's "glide path") and will approach that of the DWS LifeCompass Retirement Fund (Retirement Fund) over time and, upon reaching the stated target year, will be similar to that of the Retirement Fund, at which point the fund may be combined with the Retirement Fund or another DWS fund offered at the time. The fund's target asset allocation may differ from the fund's actual asset allocation. Portfolio management regularly reviews the actual asset allocation and may adjust it based on the target investment horizon, on current or expected market conditions or to manage risk. In making their asset allocation decisions, portfolio management uses in addition to the target investment horizon, a proprietary mix of quantitative and qualitative inputs, such as return forecasts for asset classes and investment guidelines. Based on the desired exposure to particular investments and risk analysis, portfolio management then decides which funds to use as underlying funds and in which proportions. To mitigate the risks associated with a particular fund or manager and increase diversification, no more than 40% of the overall allocation to equity will be invested in any one equity fund. The underlying funds use a broad array of investment styles. The underlying funds can buy many types of securities, among them common stocks of companies of any size, corporate bonds of varying credit quality, US government and agency bonds, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, money market instruments and others, and may also use various types of derivative instruments, including commodities-related derivatives. Derivatives. The fund, and the underlying funds in which the fund may invest, may use various types of derivatives (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities) (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. Main Risks There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. You may experience losses, including losses near, at, or after the target date year. There is no guarantee that the fund will provide adequate income at, and through, your retirement. Because the fund invests in underlying funds, the risks listed here include those of the various underlying funds as well as those of the fund itself. Therefore, in these risk descriptions the term "the fund" may refer to the fund itself, one or more underlying funds, or both. Asset allocation risk. Portfolio management may favor one or more types of investments or assets that underperform other investments, assets, or securities markets as a whole. Anytime portfolio management buys or sells securities in order to adjust the fund's asset allocation this will increase portfolio turnover and generate transaction costs. Stock market risk. The fund is affected by how the stock market performs. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile and less liquid than large company stocks. Small companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Growth investing risk. As a category, growth stocks may underperform value stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. Because the prices of growth stocks are based largely on the expectation of future earnings, growth stock prices can decline rapidly and significantly in reaction to negative news about such factors as earnings, the economy, political developments, or other news. Value investing risk. As a category, value stocks may underperform growth stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. In addition, value stocks selected for investment by portfolio management may not perform as anticipated. Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities. Emerging markets risk. Foreign investment risks are greater in emerging markets than in developed markets. Investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default, security downgrade or inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities. Because of the rising US government debt burden, it is possible that the US government may not be able to meet its financial obligations or that securities issued by the US government may experience credit downgrades. Such a credit event may also adversely impact the financial markets. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive it will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Underlying funds risk. Because the fund may invest in underlying funds, the fund's performance will be directly related to the performance of the underlying funds. To the extent that a given underlying fund underperforms its benchmark or its fund peer group, it may contribute to underperformance by the fund. In addition, the fund indirectly pays a portion of the expenses incurred by the underlying funds, which lowers performance. To the extent that the fund's allocations favor underlying funds with higher expenses, the overall cost of investing paid by the fund will be higher. Concentration risk - underlying funds. Any underlying fund that concentrates in a particular segment of the market (such as commodities, gold-related investments, infrastructure-related companies and real estate securities) will generally be more volatile than a fund that invests more broadly. Any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting the particular market segment in which the underlying fund concentrates will have a significant impact on the underlying fund's performance. While the fund does not concentrate in a particular industry, it may concentrate in an underlying DWS fund, and there is risk for the fund with respect to the aggregation of holdings of underlying funds. The aggregation of holdings of underlying funds may result in the fund indirectly having concentrated assets in a particular industry or group of industries, or in a single issuer. Such indirect concentration may have the effect of increasing the volatility of the fund's returns. The fund does not control the investments of the underlying funds, and any indirect concentration occurs as a result of the underlying funds following their own investment objectives and strategies. Non-diversification risk - underlying funds. While the fund is diversified, certain underlying funds may be classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. This means that the underlying fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance of the underlying fund. Inflation-indexed bond risk. Any rise in interest rates may cause inflation-indexed bonds to decline in price, hurting fund performance. If interest rates rise due to reasons other than inflation, the fund's investment in these securities may not be fully protected from the effects of rising interest rates. The performance of any bonds that are indexed to non-US rates of inflation may be higher or lower than those indexed to US inflation rates. The fund's actual returns could fail to match the real rate of inflation. Commodities-related investments risk. The commodities-linked derivatives instruments in which the fund invests tend to be more volatile than many other types of securities and may subject the fund to special risks that do not apply to all derivatives transactions. GTAA risk. The success of the global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) overlay strategy employed by certain underlying funds, depends in part on portfolio management's ability to analyze the correlation between various global markets and asset classes. If portfolio management's correlation analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the strategy. Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund incurs brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF's fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders. Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors will have a significant impact on the fund's performance. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Short sale risk. If the fund sells a security short and subsequently has to buy the security back at a higher price, the fund will lose money on the transaction. Any loss will be increased by the amount of compensation, interest or dividends and transaction costs the fund must pay to a lender of the security. The amount the fund could lose on a short sale is theoretically unlimited (as compared to a long position, where the maximum loss is the amount invested). The use of short sales, which has the effect of leveraging the fund, could increase the exposure of the fund to the market, increase losses and increase the volatility of returns. Currency strategies risk. The success of the currency strategies depends, in part, on the effectiveness and implementation of portfolio management's proprietary models. If portfolio management's analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the currency strategies. As part of the currency strategies, the fund will have substantial exposure to the risks of non-US currency markets. Foreign currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and economic or political developments in the US or abroad. As a result, the fund's exposure to foreign currencies could cause lower returns or even losses to the fund. Although portfolio management seeks to limit these risks through the aggregation of various long and short positions, there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so. Borrowing risk. Borrowing creates leverage. It also adds to fund expenses and at times could effectively force the fund to sell securities when it otherwise might not want to. Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security. Senior loans risk. Senior loans may not be rated by a rating agency, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities commission or listed on any national securities exchange. Therefore, there may be less publicly available information about them than for registered or exchange-listed securities. Also, because portfolio management relies mainly on its own evaluation of the creditworthiness of borrowers, the fund is particularly dependent on portfolio management's analytical abilities. Senior loans involve other risks, including conflict of interest risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. Conflict of interest risk. Affiliates of the Advisor may participate in the primary and secondary market for senior loans. Because of limitations imposed by applicable law, the presence of the Advisor's affiliates in the senior loan market may restrict the fund's ability to participate in a restructuring of a senior loan or to acquire some senior loans, or affect the timing or price of such acquisition. IPO risk. Prices of securities bought in an initial public offering (IPO) may rise and fall rapidly, often because of investor perceptions rather than economic reasons. To the extent a mutual fund is small in size, its IPO investments may have a significant impact on its performance since they may represent a larger proportion of the fund's overall portfolio as compared to the portfolio of a larger fund. Tax status risk. Income from certain commodity-linked derivative instruments does not constitute "qualifying income" to the fund for purposes of qualification as a "regulated investment company." If such income were determined to cause the fund's nonqualifying income to exceed 10% of the fund's gross income, the fund would be subject to a tax at the fund level. Subsidiary risk. Certain underlying funds may invest in a wholly-owned subsidiary of the underlying fund (the Subsidiary) that is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and therefore it is not subject to all of the investor protections of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Moreover, neither the underlying fund nor the Subsidiary currently is subject to the investor protections of the Commodity Exchange Act in reliance on certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator. A regulatory change in the US or the Cayman Islands that impacts the Subsidiary or how the underlying fund invests in the Subsidiary, such as a change in tax law, could adversely affect the underlying fund and the fund. As a result of recent changes to certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator under the Commodities Exchange Act, such underlying funds and the Subsidiary may no longer be able to rely on such exemptions from registration under the Commodities Exchange Act or may be subject to some or all of the provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act. Amendments to such exemptions have been challenged in a court of law. Accordingly, the impact of such rule changes on the underlying funds and the Subsidiary remains uncertain. The underlying funds and the fund are exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary's investments, which generally include the risks of investing in derivatives and commodities-related investments. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionDWSLifeCompass2020Fund column period compact * ~</div> Past Performance How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus. CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A) These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. Best Quarter: 17.26%, Q2 2009 Worst Quarter: -22.60%, Q4 2008 Year-to-Date as of 9/30/2012: 12.05% AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %) <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsDWSLifeCompass2020FundBarChart column period compact * ~</div> After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. Index comparisons begin on 11/30/2007. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesDWSLifeCompass2030Fund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedDWSLifeCompass2020Fund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesDWSLifeCompass2030Fund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleDWSLifeCompass2030Fund column period compact * ~</div> There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. www.dws-investments.com How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionDWSLifeCompass2030Fund column period compact * ~</div> After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) November 30, 2013 Year-to-Date 2012-09-30 0.1205 Best Quarter: 2009-06-30 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsDWSLifeCompass2030FundBarChart column period compact * ~</div> 0.1726 Worst Quarter: 2008-12-31 -0.226 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedDWSLifeCompass2030Fund column period compact * ~</div> Year-to-Date 2012-09-30 0.1172 Best Quarter: 2009-06-30 0.17 Worst Quarter: 2008-12-31 -0.2109 0 0 0.0575 0.01 0 0 20 20 20 0 0 0 0 0.01 0.0024 0.0075 0.0068 0.0069 0.0069 0.0069 0.0069 0.0244 0.0137 0.0162 DWS LifeCompass 2030 Fund Investment Objective -0.0047 -0.0054 -0.0047 0.0115 DWS LifeCompass 2015 Fund 0.019 0.009 Investment Objective The fund seeks to achieve as high total return as is consistent with its asset allocation until the target year. Fees and Expenses of the Fund These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 59) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) EXAMPLE The Advisor has contractually agreed through November 30, 2013 to waive and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses at ratios no higher than 0.46%, 1.21%, 1.21% and 0.21% (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expenses and acquired funds (underlying funds) fees and expenses) for Class A, Class B, Class C and Class S, respectively. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board. This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of capped expenses for each period) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: PORTFOLIO TURNOVER The fund seeks to achieve as high total return as is consistent with its asset allocation until the target year. The fund (or an underlying fund) pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2012: 39%. Fees and Expenses of the Fund These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 59) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) Class B converts to Class A after six years; the Example for Class B reflects Class A fees after the conversion. PORTFOLIO TURNOVER Principal Investment Strategy The fund (or an underlying fund) pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2012: 46%. Main investments. The fund pursues its investment objective by investing in other DWS funds (i.e., mutual funds,exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other pooled investment vehicles managed by Deutsche Investment Management Americas Inc., the fund's investment advisor, or one of its affiliates). The fund may also invest in securities of unaffiliated ETFs when the economic exposure to a particular market or sector is not available through a DWS fund. DWS funds and unaffiliated ETFs, are collectively referred to as "underlying funds." The fund is designed for investors who anticipate retiring around 2015. Management process. The fund has a target asset allocation (the fund's current target asset allocation is approximately: 48% equity funds; and 52% fixed income funds), which portfolio management uses as a reference point in setting the fund's actual asset allocation. To a limited extent, the fund may invest in underlying funds in other asset classes, such as commodities, market neutral and others not generally considered equity or fixed income funds. The target asset allocation changes over time to become more conservative as the fund approaches its target date year (which is known as the fund's "glide path") and will approach that of the DWS LifeCompass Retirement Fund (Retirement Fund) over time and, upon reaching the stated target year, will be similar to that of the Retirement Fund, at which point the fund may be combined with the Retirement Fund or another DWS fund offered at the time. The fund's target asset allocation may differ from the fund's actual asset allocation. Portfolio management regularly reviews the actual asset allocation and may adjust it based on the target investment horizon, on current or expected market conditions or to manage risk. In making its asset allocation decisions, portfolio management uses in addition to the target investment horizon, a proprietary mix of quantitative and qualitative inputs, such as return forecasts for asset classes and investment guidelines. Based on the desired exposure to particular investments and risk analysis, portfolio management then decides which funds to use as underlying funds and in which proportions. To mitigate the risks associated with a particular fund or manager and increase diversification, no more than 40% of the overall allocation to equity will be invested in any one equity fund. The underlying funds use a broad array of investment styles. The underlying funds can buy many types of securities, among them common stocks of companies of any size, corporate bonds of varying credit quality, US government and agency bonds, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, money market instruments and others, and may also use various types of derivative instruments, including commodities-related derivatives. Derivatives. The fund, and the underlying funds in which the fund may invest, may use various types of derivatives (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities) (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. Main Risks There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. You may experience losses, including losses near, at, or after the target date year. There is no guarantee that the fund will provide adequate income at, and through, your retirement. Because the fund invests in underlying funds, the risks listed here include those of the various underlying funds as well as those of the fund itself. Therefore, in these risk descriptions the term "the fund" may refer to the fund itself, one or more underlying funds, or both. Asset allocation risk. Portfolio management may favor one or more types of investments or assets that underperform other investments, assets, or securities markets as a whole. Anytime portfolio management buys or sells securities in order to adjust the fund's asset allocation this will increase portfolio turnover and generate transaction costs. Stock market risk. The fund is affected by how the stock market performs. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile and less liquid than large company stocks. Small companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Growth investing risk. As a category, growth stocks may underperform value stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. Because the prices of growth stocks are based largely on the expectation of future earnings, growth stock prices can decline rapidly and significantly in reaction to negative news about such factors as earnings, the economy, political developments, or other news. Value investing risk. As a category, value stocks may underperform growth stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. In addition, value stocks selected for investment by portfolio management may not perform as anticipated. Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities. Emerging markets risk. Foreign investment risks are greater in emerging markets than in developed markets. Investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default, security downgrade or inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities. Because of the rising US government debt burden, it is possible that the US government may not be able to meet its financial obligations or that securities issued by the US government may experience credit downgrades. Such a credit event may also adversely impact the financial markets. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive it will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Underlying funds risk. Because the fund may invest in underlying funds, the fund's performance will be directly related to the performance of the underlying funds. To the extent that a given underlying fund underperforms its benchmark or its fund peer group, it may contribute to underperformance by the fund. In addition, the fund indirectly pays a portion of the expenses incurred by the underlying funds, which lowers performance. To the extent that the fund's allocations favor underlying funds with higher expenses, the overall cost of investing paid by the fund will be higher. Concentration risk - underlying funds. Any underlying fund that concentrates in a particular segment of the market (such as commodities, gold-related investments, infrastructure-related companies and real estate securities) will generally be more volatile than a fund that invests more broadly. Any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting the particular market segment in which the underlying fund concentrates will have a significant impact on the underlying fund's performance. While the fund does not concentrate in a particular industry, it may concentrate in an underlying DWS fund, and there is risk for the fund with respect to the aggregation of holdings of underlying funds. The aggregation of holdings of underlying funds may result in the fund indirectly having concentrated assets in a particular industry or group of industries, or in a single issuer. Such indirect concentration may have the effect of increasing the volatility of the fund's returns. The fund does not control the investments of the underlying funds, and any indirect concentration occurs as a result of the underlying funds following their own investment objectives and strategies. Non-diversification risk - underlying funds. While the fund is diversified, certain underlying funds may be classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. This means that the underlying fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance of the underlying fund. Inflation-indexed bond risk. Any rise in interest rates may cause inflation-indexed bonds to decline in price, hurting fund performance. If interest rates rise due to reasons other than inflation, the fund's investment in these securities may not be fully protected from the effects of rising interest rates. The performance of any bonds that are indexed to non-US rates of inflation may be higher or lower than those indexed to US inflation rates. The fund's actual returns could fail to match the real rate of inflation. Commodities-related investments risk. The commodities-linked derivatives instruments in which the fund invests tend to be more volatile than many other types of securities and may subject the fund to special risks that do not apply to all derivatives transactions. GTAA risk. The success of the global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) overlay strategy employed by certain underlying funds, depends in part on portfolio management's ability to analyze the correlation between various global markets and asset classes. If portfolio management's correlation analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the strategy. Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund incurs brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF's fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders. Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors will have a significant impact on the fund's performance. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Short sale risk. If the fund sells a security short and subsequently has to buy the security back at a higher price, the fund will lose money on the transaction. Any loss will be increased by the amount of compensation, interest or dividends and transaction costs the fund must pay to a lender of the security. The amount the fund could lose on a short sale is theoretically unlimited (as compared to a long position, where the maximum loss is the amount invested). The use of short sales, which has the effect of leveraging the fund, could increase the exposure of the fund to the market, increase losses and increase the volatility of returns. Currency strategies risk. The success of the currency strategies depends, in part, on the effectiveness and implementation of portfolio management's proprietary models. If portfolio management's analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the currency strategies. As part of the currency strategies, the fund will have substantial exposure to the risks of non-US currency markets. Foreign currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and economic or political developments in the US or abroad. As a result, the fund's exposure to foreign currencies could cause lower returns or even losses to the fund. Although portfolio management seeks to limit these risks through the aggregation of various long and short positions, there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so. Borrowing risk. Borrowing creates leverage. It also adds to fund expenses and at times could effectively force the fund to sell securities when it otherwise might not want to. Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security. Senior loans risk. Senior loans may not be rated by a rating agency, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities commission or listed on any national securities exchange. Therefore, there may be less publicly available information about them than for registered or exchange-listed securities. Also, because portfolio management relies mainly on its own evaluation of the creditworthiness of borrowers, the fund is particularly dependent on portfolio management's analytical abilities. Senior loans involve other risks, including conflict of interest risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. Conflict of interest risk. Affiliates of the Advisor may participate in the primary and secondary market for senior loans. Because of limitations imposed by applicable law, the presence of the Advisor's affiliates in the senior loan market may restrict the fund's ability to participate in a restructuring of a senior loan or to acquire some senior loans, or affect the timing or price of such acquisition. IPO risk. Prices of securities bought in an initial public offering (IPO) may rise and fall rapidly, often because of investor perceptions rather than economic reasons. To the extent a mutual fund is small in size, its IPO investments may have a significant impact on its performance since they may represent a larger proportion of the fund's overall portfolio as compared to the portfolio of a larger fund. Tax status risk. Income from certain commodity-linked derivative instruments does not constitute "qualifying income" to the fund for purposes of qualification as a "regulated investment company." If such income were determined to cause the fund's nonqualifying income to exceed 10% of the fund's gross income, the fund would be subject to a tax at the fund level. Subsidiary risk. Certain underlying funds may invest in a wholly-owned subsidiary of the underlying fund (the Subsidiary) that is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and therefore it is not subject to all of the investor protections of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Moreover, neither the underlying fund nor the Subsidiary currently is subject to the investor protections of the Commodity Exchange Act in reliance on certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator. A regulatory change in the US or the Cayman Islands that impacts the Subsidiary or how the underlying fund invests in the Subsidiary, such as a change in tax law, could adversely affect the underlying fund and the fund. As a result of recent changes to certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator under the Commodities Exchange Act, such underlying funds and the Subsidiary may no longer be able to rely on such exemptions from registration under the Commodities Exchange Act or may be subject to some or all of the provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act. Amendments to such exemptions have been challenged in a court of law. Accordingly, the impact of such rule changes on the underlying funds and the Subsidiary remains uncertain. The underlying funds and the fund are exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary's investments, which generally include the risks of investing in derivatives and commodities-related investments. The Advisor has contractually agreed through November 30, 2013 to waive and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses at ratios no higher than 0.46%, 1.21%, 1.21% and 0.21% (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expenses and acquired funds (underlying funds) fees and expenses) for Class A, Class B, Class C and Class S, respectively. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board. Past Performance How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus. CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A) These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. EXAMPLE This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of capped expenses for each period) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: Class B converts to Class A after six years; the Example for Class B reflects Class A fees after the conversion. Best Quarter: 12.95%, Q2 2009 Worst Quarter: -17.70%, Q4 2008 Year-to-Date as of 9/30/2012: 9.68% AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. Principal Investment Strategy November 30, 2013 0.39 You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. 50000 There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. 685 293 92 An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. 709 388 1013 How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). 705 www.dws-investments.com 1252 1364 Past performance may not indicate future results. 2349 2735 These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. 1605 After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) Main investments. The fund pursues its investment objective by investing in other DWS funds (i.e., mutual funds,exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other pooled investment vehicles managed by Deutsche Investment Management Americas Inc., the fund's investment advisor, or one of its affiliates). The fund may also invest in securities of unaffiliated ETFs when the economic exposure to a particular market or sector is not available through a DWS fund. DWS funds and unaffiliated ETFs, are collectively referred to as "underlying funds." The fund is designed for investors who anticipate retiring around 2030. Management process. The fund has a target asset allocation (the fund's current target asset allocation is approximately: 76% equity funds; and 24% fixed income funds), which portfolio management uses as a reference point in setting the fund's actual asset allocation. To a limited extent, the fund may invest in underlying funds in other asset classes, such as commodities, market neutral and others not generally considered equity or fixed income funds. The target asset allocation changes over time to become more conservative as the fund approaches its target date year (which is known as the fund's "glide path") and will approach that of the DWS LifeCompass Retirement Fund (Retirement Fund) over time and, upon reaching the stated target year, will be similar to that of the Retirement Fund, at which point the fund may be combined with the Retirement Fund or another DWS fund offered at the time. The fund's target asset allocation may differ from the fund's actual asset allocation. Portfolio management regularly reviews the actual asset allocation and may adjust it based on the target investment horizon, on current or expected market conditions or to manage risk. In making its asset allocation decisions, portfolio management uses in addition to the target investment horizon, a proprietary mix of quantitative and qualitative inputs, such as return forecasts for asset classes and investment guidelines. Based on the desired exposure to particular investments and risk analysis, portfolio management then decides which funds to use as underlying funds and in which proportions. To mitigate the risks associated with a particular fund or manager and increase diversification, no more than 40% of the overall allocation to equity will be invested in any one equity fund. The underlying funds use a broad array of investment styles. The underlying funds can buy many types of securities, among them common stocks of companies of any size, corporate bonds of varying credit quality, US government and agency bonds, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, money market instruments and others, and may also use various types of derivative instruments, including commodities-related derivatives. Derivatives. The fund, and the underlying funds in which the fund may invest, may use various types of derivatives (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities) (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. Main Risks 685 193 92 709 1013 388 705 1252 1364 2735 1605 2349 There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. You may experience losses, including losses near, at, or after the target date year. There is no guarantee that the fund will provide adequate income at, and through, your retirement. Because the fund invests in underlying funds, the risks listed here include those of the various underlying funds as well as those of the fund itself. Therefore, in these risk descriptions the term "the fund" may refer to the fund itself, one or more underlying funds, or both. Asset allocation risk. Portfolio management may favor one or more types of investments or assets that underperform other investments, assets, or securities markets as a whole. Anytime portfolio management buys or sells securities in order to adjust the fund's asset allocation this will increase portfolio turnover and generate transaction costs. Stock market risk. The fund is affected by how the stock market performs. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile and less liquid than large company stocks. Small companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Growth investing risk. As a category, growth stocks may underperform value stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. Because the prices of growth stocks are based largely on the expectation of future earnings, growth stock prices can decline rapidly and significantly in reaction to negative news about such factors as earnings, the economy, political developments, or other news. Value investing risk. As a category, value stocks may underperform growth stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. In addition, value stocks selected for investment by portfolio management may not perform as anticipated. Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities. Emerging markets risk. Foreign investment risks are greater in emerging markets than in developed markets. Investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default, security downgrade or inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities. Because of the rising US government debt burden, it is possible that the US government may not be able to meet its financial obligations or that securities issued by the US government may experience credit downgrades. Such a credit event may also adversely impact the financial markets. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive it will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Underlying funds risk. Because the fund may invest in underlying funds, the fund's performance will be directly related to the performance of the underlying funds. To the extent that a given underlying fund underperforms its benchmark or its fund peer group, it may contribute to underperformance by the fund. In addition, the fund indirectly pays a portion of the expenses incurred by the underlying funds, which lowers performance. To the extent that the fund's allocations favor underlying funds with higher expenses, the overall cost of investing paid by the fund will be higher. Concentration risk - underlying funds. Any underlying fund that concentrates in a particular segment of the market (such as commodities, gold-related investments, infrastructure-related companies and real estate securities) will generally be more volatile than a fund that invests more broadly. Any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting the particular market segment in which the underlying fund concentrates will have a significant impact on the underlying fund's performance. While the fund does not concentrate in a particular industry, it may concentrate in an underlying DWS fund, and there is risk for the fund with respect to the aggregation of holdings of underlying funds. The aggregation of holdings of underlying funds may result in the fund indirectly having concentrated assets in a particular industry or group of industries, or in a single issuer. Such indirect concentration may have the effect of increasing the volatility of the fund's returns. The fund does not control the investments of the underlying funds, and any indirect concentration occurs as a result of the underlying funds following their own investment objectives and strategies. Non-diversification risk - underlying funds. While the fund is diversified, certain underlying funds may be classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. This means that the underlying fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance of the underlying fund. Inflation-indexed bond risk. Any rise in interest rates may cause inflation-indexed bonds to decline in price, hurting fund performance. If interest rates rise due to reasons other than inflation, the fund's investment in these securities may not be fully protected from the effects of rising interest rates. The performance of any bonds that are indexed to non-US rates of inflation may be higher or lower than those indexed to US inflation rates. The fund's actual returns could fail to match the real rate of inflation. Commodities-related investments risk. The commodities-linked derivatives instruments in which the fund invests tend to be more volatile than many other types of securities and may subject the fund to special risks that do not apply to all derivatives transactions. GTAA risk. The success of the global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) overlay strategy employed by certain underlying funds, depends in part on portfolio management's ability to analyze the correlation between various global markets and asset classes. If portfolio management's correlation analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the strategy. Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund incurs brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF's fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders. Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors will have a significant impact on the fund's performance. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Short sale risk. If the fund sells a security short and subsequently has to buy the security back at a higher price, the fund will lose money on the transaction. Any loss will be increased by the amount of compensation, interest or dividends and transaction costs the fund must pay to a lender of the security. The amount the fund could lose on a short sale is theoretically unlimited (as compared to a long position, where the maximum loss is the amount invested). The use of short sales, which has the effect of leveraging the fund, could increase the exposure of the fund to the market, increase losses and increase the volatility of returns. Currency strategies risk. The success of the currency strategies depends, in part, on the effectiveness and implementation of portfolio management's proprietary models. If portfolio management's analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the currency strategies. As part of the currency strategies, the fund will have substantial exposure to the risks of non-US currency markets. Foreign currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and economic or political developments in the US or abroad. As a result, the fund's exposure to foreign currencies could cause lower returns or even losses to the fund. Although portfolio management seeks to limit these risks through the aggregation of various long and short positions, there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so. Borrowing risk. Borrowing creates leverage. It also adds to fund expenses and at times could effectively force the fund to sell securities when it otherwise might not want to. Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security. Senior loans risk. Senior loans may not be rated by a rating agency, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities commission or listed on any national securities exchange. Therefore, there may be less publicly available information about them than for registered or exchange-listed securities. Also, because portfolio management relies mainly on its own evaluation of the creditworthiness of borrowers, the fund is particularly dependent on portfolio management's analytical abilities. Senior loans involve other risks, including conflict of interest risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. Conflict of interest risk. Affiliates of the Advisor may participate in the primary and secondary market for senior loans. Because of limitations imposed by applicable law, the presence of the Advisor's affiliates in the senior loan market may restrict the fund's ability to participate in a restructuring of a senior loan or to acquire some senior loans, or affect the timing or price of such acquisition. IPO risk. Prices of securities bought in an initial public offering (IPO) may rise and fall rapidly, often because of investor perceptions rather than economic reasons. To the extent a mutual fund is small in size, its IPO investments may have a significant impact on its performance since they may represent a larger proportion of the fund's overall portfolio as compared to the portfolio of a larger fund. Tax status risk. Income from certain commodity-linked derivative instruments does not constitute "qualifying income" to the fund for purposes of qualification as a "regulated investment company." If such income were determined to cause the fund's nonqualifying income to exceed 10% of the fund's gross income, the fund would be subject to a tax at the fund level. Subsidiary risk. Certain underlying funds may invest in a wholly-owned subsidiary of the underlying fund (the Subsidiary) that is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and therefore it is not subject to all of the investor protections of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Moreover, neither the underlying fund nor the Subsidiary currently is subject to the investor protections of the Commodity Exchange Act in reliance on certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator. A regulatory change in the US or the Cayman Islands that impacts the Subsidiary or how the underlying fund invests in the Subsidiary, such as a change in tax law, could adversely affect the underlying fund and the fund. As a result of recent changes to certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator under the Commodities Exchange Act, such underlying funds and the Subsidiary may no longer be able to rely on such exemptions from registration under the Commodities Exchange Act or may be subject to some or all of the provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act. Amendments to such exemptions have been challenged in a court of law. Accordingly, the impact of such rule changes on the underlying funds and the Subsidiary remains uncertain. The underlying funds and the fund are exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary's investments, which generally include the risks of investing in derivatives and commodities-related investments. Past Performance <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesDWSLifeCompass2015Fund column period compact * ~</div> How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus. -0.3769 0.2839 0.1348 -0.0566 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesDWSLifeCompass2015Fund column period compact * ~</div> CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A) These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. Best Quarter: 17.00%, Q2 2009 Worst Quarter: -21.09%, Q4 2008 Year-to-Date as of 9/30/2012: 11.72% AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. Index comparisons begin on 10/31/04. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsDWSLifeCompass2015FundBarChart column period compact * ~</div> November 30, 2013 0.46 You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. 50000 -0.1108 -0.1169 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedDWSLifeCompass2015Fund column period compact * ~</div> -0.067 -0.0636 -0.0542 -0.0217 -0.0488 -0.055 -0.0425 -0.0422 -0.0326 -0.0184 2007-11-14 2007-11-14 2007-11-14 There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). www.dws-investments.com Past performance may not indicate future results. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesDWSLifeCompass2040Fund column period compact * ~</div> DWS LifeCompass 2020 Fund Investment Objective The fund seeks to achieve as high total return as is consistent with its asset allocation until the target year. Fees and Expenses of the Fund These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 59) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) PORTFOLIO TURNOVER The fund (or an underlying fund) pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. Portfolio turnover rate for fiscal year 2012: 45%. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesDWSLifeCompass2040Fund column period compact * ~</div> EXAMPLE This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of caped expenses for each period) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: Class B converts to Class A after six years; the Example for Class B reflects Class A fees after the conversion. Principal Investment Strategy Main investments. The fund pursues its investment objective by investing in other DWS funds (i.e., mutual funds,exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other pooled investment vehicles managed by Deutsche Investment Management Americas Inc., the fund's investment advisor, or one of its affiliates). The fund may also invest in securities of unaffiliated ETFs when the economic exposure to a particular market or sector is not available through a DWS fund. DWS funds and unaffiliated ETFs, are collectively referred to as "underlying funds." The fund is designed for investors who anticipate retiring around 2020. Management process. The fund has a target asset allocation (the fund's current target asset allocation is approximately: 58% equity funds; and 42% fixed income funds), which portfolio management uses as a reference point in setting the fund's actual asset allocation. To a limited extent, the fund may invest in underlying funds in other asset classes, such as commodities, market neutral and others not generally considered equity or fixed income funds. The target asset allocation changes over time to become more conservative as the fund approaches its target date year (which is known as the fund's "glide path") and will approach that of the DWS LifeCompass Retirement Fund (Retirement Fund) over time and, upon reaching the stated target year, will be similar to that of the Retirement Fund, at which point the fund may be combined with the Retirement Fund or another DWS fund offered at the time. The fund's target asset allocation may differ from the fund's actual asset allocation. Portfolio management regularly reviews the actual asset allocation and may adjust it based on the target investment horizon, on current or expected market conditions or to manage risk. In making its asset allocation decisions, portfolio management uses in addition to the target investment horizon, a proprietary mix of quantitative and qualitative inputs, such as return forecasts for asset classes and investment guidelines. Based on the desired exposure to particular investments and risk analysis, portfolio management then decides which funds to use as underlying funds and in which proportions. To mitigate the risks associated with a particular fund or manager and increase diversification, no more than 40% of the overall allocation to equity will be invested in any one equity fund. The underlying funds use a broad array of investment styles. The underlying funds can buy many types of securities, among them common stocks of companies of any size, corporate bonds of varying credit quality, US government and agency bonds, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, money market instruments and others, and may also use various types of derivative instruments, including commodities-related derivatives. Derivatives. The fund, and the underlying funds in which the fund may invest, may use various types of derivatives (a contract whose value is based on, for example, indices, currencies or securities) (i) for hedging purposes; (ii) for risk management; (iii) for non-hedging purposes to seek to enhance potential gains; or (iv) as a substitute for direct investment in a particular asset class or to keep cash on hand to meet shareholder redemptions. Main Risks There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. You may experience losses, including losses near, at, or after the target date year. There is no guarantee that the fund will provide adequate income at, and through, your retirement. Because the fund invests in underlying funds, the risks listed here include those of the various underlying funds as well as those of the fund itself. Therefore, in these risk descriptions the term "the fund" may refer to the fund itself, one or more underlying funds, or both. Asset allocation risk. Portfolio management may favor one or more types of investments or assets that underperform other investments, assets, or securities markets as a whole. Anytime portfolio management buys or sells securities in order to adjust the fund's asset allocation this will increase portfolio turnover and generate transaction costs. Stock market risk. The fund is affected by how the stock market performs. When stock prices fall, you should expect the value of your investment to fall as well. Small company risk. Small company stocks tend to be more volatile and less liquid than large company stocks. Small companies are less widely followed by stock analysts and less information about them is available to investors. Growth investing risk. As a category, growth stocks may underperform value stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. Because the prices of growth stocks are based largely on the expectation of future earnings, growth stock prices can decline rapidly and significantly in reaction to negative news about such factors as earnings, the economy, political developments, or other news. Value investing risk. As a category, value stocks may underperform growth stocks (and the stock market as a whole) over any period of time. In addition, value stocks selected for investment by portfolio management may not perform as anticipated. Foreign investment risk. The fund faces the risks inherent in foreign investing. Adverse political, economic or social developments could undermine the value of the fund's investments or prevent the fund from realizing their full value. Financial reporting standards for companies based in foreign markets differ from those in the US. Additionally, foreign securities markets generally are smaller and less liquid than US markets. To the extent that the fund invests in non-US dollar denominated foreign securities, changes in currency exchange rates may affect the US dollar value of foreign securities or the income or gain received on these securities. Emerging markets risk. Foreign investment risks are greater in emerging markets than in developed markets. Investments in emerging markets are often considered speculative. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default, security downgrade or inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities. Because of the rising US government debt burden, it is possible that the US government may not be able to meet its financial obligations or that securities issued by the US government may experience credit downgrades. Such a credit event may also adversely impact the financial markets. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive it will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Underlying funds risk. Because the fund may invest in underlying funds, the fund's performance will be directly related to the performance of the underlying funds. To the extent that a given underlying fund underperforms its benchmark or its fund peer group, it may contribute to underperformance by the fund. In addition, the fund indirectly pays a portion of the expenses incurred by the underlying funds, which lowers performance. To the extent that the fund's allocations favor underlying funds with higher expenses, the overall cost of investing paid by the fund will be higher. Concentration risk - underlying funds. Any underlying fund that concentrates in a particular segment of the market (such as commodities, gold-related investments, infrastructure-related companies and real estate securities) will generally be more volatile than a fund that invests more broadly. Any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting the particular market segment in which the underlying fund concentrates will have a significant impact on the underlying fund's performance. While the fund does not concentrate in a particular industry, it may concentrate in an underlying DWS fund, and there is risk for the fund with respect to the aggregation of holdings of underlying funds. The aggregation of holdings of underlying funds may result in the fund indirectly having concentrated assets in a particular industry or group of industries, or in a single issuer. Such indirect concentration may have the effect of increasing the volatility of the fund's returns. The fund does not control the investments of the underlying funds, and any indirect concentration occurs as a result of the underlying funds following their own investment objectives and strategies. Non-diversification risk - underlying funds. While the fund is diversified, certain underlying funds may be classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. This means that the underlying fund may invest in securities of relatively few issuers. Thus, the performance of one or a small number of portfolio holdings can affect overall performance of the underlying fund. Inflation-indexed bond risk. Any rise in interest rates may cause inflation-indexed bonds to decline in price, hurting fund performance. If interest rates rise due to reasons other than inflation, the fund's investment in these securities may not be fully protected from the effects of rising interest rates. The performance of any bonds that are indexed to non-US rates of inflation may be higher or lower than those indexed to US inflation rates. The fund's actual returns could fail to match the real rate of inflation. Commodities-related investments risk. The commodities-linked derivatives instruments in which the fund invests tend to be more volatile than many other types of securities and may subject the fund to special risks that do not apply to all derivatives transactions. GTAA risk. The success of the global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) overlay strategy employed by certain underlying funds, depends in part on portfolio management's ability to analyze the correlation between various global markets and asset classes. If portfolio management's correlation analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the strategy. Derivatives risk. Risks associated with derivatives include the risk that the derivative is not well correlated with the security, index or currency to which it relates; the risk that derivatives may result in losses or missed opportunities; the risk that the fund will be unable to sell the derivative because of an illiquid secondary market; the risk that a counterparty is unwilling or unable to meet its obligation; and the risk that the derivative transaction could expose the fund to the effects of leverage, which could increase the fund's exposure to the market and magnify potential losses. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment in an orderly fashion at an acceptable price. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund incurs brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF's fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders. Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses its investments in particular industries, asset classes or sectors of the economy, any market price movements, regulatory or technological changes, or economic conditions affecting companies in those industries, asset classes or sectors will have a significant impact on the fund's performance. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Short sale risk. If the fund sells a security short and subsequently has to buy the security back at a higher price, the fund will lose money on the transaction. Any loss will be increased by the amount of compensation, interest or dividends and transaction costs the fund must pay to a lender of the security. The amount the fund could lose on a short sale is theoretically unlimited (as compared to a long position, where the maximum loss is the amount invested). The use of short sales, which has the effect of leveraging the fund, could increase the exposure of the fund to the market, increase losses and increase the volatility of returns. Currency strategies risk. The success of the currency strategies depends, in part, on the effectiveness and implementation of portfolio management's proprietary models. If portfolio management's analysis proves to be incorrect, losses to the fund may be significant and may substantially exceed the intended level of market exposure for the currency strategies. As part of the currency strategies, the fund will have substantial exposure to the risks of non-US currency markets. Foreign currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and economic or political developments in the US or abroad. As a result, the fund's exposure to foreign currencies could cause lower returns or even losses to the fund. Although portfolio management seeks to limit these risks through the aggregation of various long and short positions, there can be no assurance that it will be able to do so. Borrowing risk. Borrowing creates leverage. It also adds to fund expenses and at times could effectively force the fund to sell securities when it otherwise might not want to. Securities lending risk. Any decline in the value of a portfolio security that occurs while the security is out on loan is borne by the fund and will adversely affect performance. Also, there may be delays in recovery of securities loaned or even a loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower of the securities fail financially while holding the security. Senior loans risk. Senior loans may not be rated by a rating agency, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities commission or listed on any national securities exchange. Therefore, there may be less publicly available information about them than for registered or exchange-listed securities. Also, because portfolio management relies mainly on its own evaluation of the creditworthiness of borrowers, the fund is particularly dependent on portfolio management's analytical abilities. Senior loans involve other risks, including conflict of interest risk, credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk, and prepayment and extension risk. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different than the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. Conflict of interest risk. Affiliates of the Advisor may participate in the primary and secondary market for senior loans. Because of limitations imposed by applicable law, the presence of the Advisor's affiliates in the senior loan market may restrict the fund's ability to participate in a restructuring of a senior loan or to acquire some senior loans, or affect the timing or price of such acquisition. IPO risk. Prices of securities bought in an initial public offering (IPO) may rise and fall rapidly, often because of investor perceptions rather than economic reasons. To the extent a mutual fund is small in size, its IPO investments may have a significant impact on its performance since they may represent a larger proportion of the fund's overall portfolio as compared to the portfolio of a larger fund. Tax status risk. Income from certain commodity-linked derivative instruments does not constitute "qualifying income" to the fund for purposes of qualification as a "regulated investment company." If such income were determined to cause the fund's nonqualifying income to exceed 10% of the fund's gross income, the fund would be subject to a tax at the fund level. Subsidiary risk. Certain underlying funds may invest in a wholly-owned subsidiary of the underlying fund (the Subsidiary) that is not registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and therefore it is not subject to all of the investor protections of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Moreover, neither the underlying fund nor the Subsidiary currently is subject to the investor protections of the Commodity Exchange Act in reliance on certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator. A regulatory change in the US or the Cayman Islands that impacts the Subsidiary or how the underlying fund invests in the Subsidiary, such as a change in tax law, could adversely affect the underlying fund and the fund. As a result of recent changes to certain exemptions from the definition of commodity pool operator under the Commodities Exchange Act, such underlying funds and the Subsidiary may no longer be able to rely on such exemptions from registration under the Commodities Exchange Act or may be subject to some or all of the provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act. Amendments to such exemptions have been challenged in a court of law. Accordingly, the impact of such rule changes on the underlying funds and the Subsidiary remains uncertain. The underlying funds and the fund are exposed to the risks associated with the Subsidiary's investments, which generally include the risks of investing in derivatives and commodities-related investments. Past Performance How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to www.dws-investments.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus. CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A) These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. Best Quarter: 14.35%, Q2 2009 Worst Quarter: -18.90%, Q4 2008 Year-to-Date as of 9/30/2012: 10.28% AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (For periods ended 12/31/2011 expressed as a %) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleDWSLifeCompass2040Fund column period compact * ~</div> November 30, 2013 0.45 You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. 50000 There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). www.dws-investments.com Past performance may not indicate future results. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: The Advisor has contractually agreed through November 30, 2013 to waive and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses at ratios no higher than 0.46%, 1.21%, 1.21% and 0.21% (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expenses and acquired funds (underlying funds) fees and expenses) for Class A, Class B, Class C and Class S, respectively. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board. 0.38 Year-to-Date 2012-09-30 0.1028 Best Quarter: 2009-06-30 0.1435 Worst Quarter: 2008-12-31 -0.189 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionDWSLifeCompass2040Fund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsDWSLifeCompass2040FundBarChart column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedDWSLifeCompass2040Fund column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleDWSLifeCompass2015Fund column period compact * ~</div> Investment Objective <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dwsinvestments.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionDWSLifeCompass2015Fund column period compact * ~</div> 2012-08-31 and, as a secondary objective, long-term growth of capital. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. 50000 You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. 2012-12-01 Class B converts to Class A after six years; the Example for Class B reflects lower fees incurred in Class A after this conversion. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in DWS funds. 50000 You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: