April 11, 2014
I invested in target retirement fors in my 401-K and now in my IRA. I have placed funds for my child and other nieces and neephews in target graduation college saving trust accounts.
I think these instruments from our broker offer us a verey good deal. However they are difficult to understand, so setting some minimum level of univormity in disclousres is a big first step to helping the consumer understand their options. Any disclousre needs to show the glide parth of assets over time, what exactly is the nature and quality of each pool,. and management fees will do to your returns.
Vanguard, TIAA-CREF, and USAA push huge competitive funds of this nature that are hard to bet. They also do a fair job of disclosing theuir offerings and strategies. Other smaller or boutique forms may be more opaque about their cost structurting. By enhancing uniform disclosure, the big intitutions will be forced to compete even harder to make customrs happier, while other pracotitioners may be willing to go more out on a limb and try to provide needed serves to their investors.