Target Funds miss

Target Funds End Year Far From Bull's Eye Excerpt:

Often billed as the fund and brokerage industry's quick fix for retirement planning, so-called target-date funds took an unexpected turn for the worse in 2011, according to new data.

The funds, which have become an integral part of many Americans' 401(k) plans, are designed to protect investors by decreasing their exposure to stocks and increasing their bond holdings as people get closer to retirement, or their "target" year. But the average fund with about four years until its target date fell 0.4% in 2011

Comment: My own experience with a 2015 fund confirms this. This year I am taking a partial distribution of my 401K (using the 59½ rule) and managing it myself in a new IRA I set up. My 401K has 16 investing options ... the market thousands). I have a very modest investment objective which is 5% gain: 3% from dividends and 2% from market growth.