Are Target-Date Funds Right for You?  Wednesday, November 23,
2011 9:00 AM  Target-date funds sound like they make retirement
simple.  Plunk one or more into your 401(k) or IRA account,
choose a retirement date and watch your portfolio grow, bringing
you to the financial nirvana every retiree craves.  That's the
allure of a target-date retirement fund. But there are several
caveats anyone considering this kind of investment vehicle
should be aware of.  Target-date funds, also known as life-cycle
or age-based funds, are mutual funds with a specified mixture of
asset classes matched to a selected time frame.  These asset
classes can include domestic and international stocks, U.S.
Treasury and high quality corporate bonds and as the target date
nears, inflation-protected bonds or "TIPS." The fund
automatically rebalances the asset allocation over time to make
it more conservative as your retirement date nears.  As an
example let's compare two target-date funds from the same
family: Vanguard. We'll choose one fun