INVESTING YOUR SAVINGS

What are target date funds?

Target date funds (TDFs) mix several different types of stocks, bonds and other investments in a single solution to help you prepare for retirement. They take more investment risks when you’re young and gradually get more conservative as you near retirement.

Simply put, target date funds help take the guesswork out of saving for retirement because they are managed by a professional and provide you with a diversified mix of equities and fixed income that changes over time.

If you have a 401(k) plan, you may already be invested in a target date fund, since many workplace retirement plans use them as their “default investment.”

How do target date funds work?

Target dates funds make it easy to navigate towards retirement by managing investments over time. But you wouldn’t put a plane on autopilot without there being a good plan in place first. 

In a managed fund like a TDF, a portfolio manager will make trades based on a tool called a “glidepath” to adjust the underlying mix of investments that make up the fund. A glidepath is like an investment flight plan or roadmap. It helps determine the risk exposure over the course of your path through retirement by adjusting diversification levels.

Investors can take more risk when they’re younger since they have a long-term horizon to weather the typical ups and downs of the stock market. But as investors get closer to retirement, the fund moves toward lower risk options accordingly based on the plan laid out in the glidepath.

Your life is full of twists and turns as you travel through different seasons toward retirement.

Picking the right investments to get you through the decades of change can seem intimidating.

Fortunately, target date funds can take the stress out of investing by automatically adjusting your investments on your journey to retirement.

Let’s say you want to retire in 2039 when you turn 65.

All you have to do is pick the fund closest to your retirement year.

In this case, you might consider the 2040 fund – the fund closest to your target date.

A team of professionals manages the fund and invests in a globally diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and other investments.

They adjust the mix of stocks and bonds as you go through your career to help you stay on track.

By simplifying the process of investing, target date funds allow you to focus on saving...so you can focus on the road to retirement and beyond.

Visit your retirement plan website to learn more today.

Your life is full of twists and turns as you travel through different seasons toward retirement.

Picking the right investments to get you through the decades of change can seem intimidating.

Fortunately, target date funds can take the stress out of investing by automatically adjusting your investments on your journey to retirement.

Let’s say you want to retire in 2039 when you turn 65.

All you have to do is pick the fund closest to your retirement year.

In this case, you might consider the 2040 fund – the fund closest to your target date.

A team of professionals manages the fund and invests in a globally diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and other investments.

They adjust the mix of stocks and bonds as you go through your career to help you stay on track.

By simplifying the process of investing, target date funds allow you to focus on saving...so you can focus on the road to retirement and beyond.

Visit your retirement plan website to learn more today.

Start by picking a retirement target date

Investing in target date funds is easy. In fact, getting started with picking the right target date fund can be as simple as answering one question about your milestone: when do you plan to retire?

That’s how you’ll know your “target date” year. For example, a 22 year-old teacher today planning to retire at age 66 might invest in a 2065 target date fund. The year in the name of the fund is the approximate date that an investor would plan to start withdrawing money.

Over time, as the teacher moves closer to the target date (2065), a portfolio manager will rebalance the fund and adjust the investments it owns so that it becomes more conservative.

The principal value is not guaranteed at any time, including at the target date. Because of this, it’s important to know how your target date fund is managed and that you monitor your investment.

What is diversification in a TDF?

Diversification is an investment strategy that accounts for market turbulence by investing in multiple types of assets. If one kind of investment (let’s say stocks, for example) has a bad year, other types of investments (like bonds, in this case) might have an up year.

Said differently, diversification is just a word for “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Target date funds help address the risk of market turbulence by diversifying the investments in your portfolio adjusting it over time.

Some days the stock market goes up. Some days it goes down.

Forecasting whether the market will go up or down on any one day is hard, even for professional investors. The good news is – you don’t have to, thanks to something called diversification.

When you take a closer look at the market, you’ll see that almost every day, some stocks go up while others go down.

What’s more, bonds tend to keep to their own current and may be strong when the stock market is weak.

Diversification tries to blend together different currents to give you a smoother journey. It does this by investing across a broad number of stocks and multiple asset classes.

That’s exactly what BlackRock® LifePath® target date funds do as they help you invest for retirement.

You simply pick the target date fund closest to the year you plan to retire and the fund automatically does the rest.

It’s diversified based on how close you are to retirement. When retirement is off in the distance, more stocks can help power your journey. As you get closer to retirement, the mix moves toward bonds, seeking to reduce risk.

Remember, each fund is diversified based on how close you are to retirement, so you only need one target date fund.

If you combine funds, it may no longer be the right fit for your target date – and it doesn’t necessarily improve your overall diversification.

No matter where you are in your retirement savings journey, target date funds can help you invest confidently in your future.

Visit your retirement plan website to learn more today.

Some days the stock market goes up. Some days it goes down.

Forecasting whether the market will go up or down on any one day is hard, even for professional investors. The good news is – you don’t have to, thanks to something called diversification.

When you take a closer look at the market, you’ll see that almost every day, some stocks go up while others go down.

What’s more, bonds tend to keep to their own current and may be strong when the stock market is weak.

Diversification tries to blend together different currents to give you a smoother journey. It does this by investing across a broad number of stocks and multiple asset classes.

That’s exactly what BlackRock® LifePath® target date funds do as they help you invest for retirement.

You simply pick the target date fund closest to the year you plan to retire and the fund automatically does the rest.

It’s diversified based on how close you are to retirement. When retirement is off in the distance, more stocks can help power your journey. As you get closer to retirement, the mix moves toward bonds, seeking to reduce risk.

Remember, each fund is diversified based on how close you are to retirement, so you only need one target date fund.

If you combine funds, it may no longer be the right fit for your target date – and it doesn’t necessarily improve your overall diversification.

No matter where you are in your retirement savings journey, target date funds can help you invest confidently in your future.

Visit your retirement plan website to learn more today.

Are target date funds a good investment?

One main benefit provided by target date funds is access to professional management. The managers conduct research to inform the creation of the “glidepath” strategy that the fund will use. These glidepaths outline how the fund will plan to navigate risk for investors as they approach retirement, helping to make sure savers are invested in appropriate assets.

That helps make target date funds a simple investment vehicle savers can consider to help minimize retirement risks as much as possible. Even with good habits in place, saving for retirement can be stressful and there are some risks that are beyond your control. However, target date funds can help mitigate some of these risks through diversification and strategies to help manage inflation.

Target date funds can help manage inflation risk in two ways. First, by investing more heavily in stocks earlier in your career, the idea is to grow your savings past the point of inflation. In addition, some TDFs invest in what are called “real assets” (such as Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities [TIPS] and real estate), which traditionally have helped hedge against inflation.