Vanguard Target Retirement 2030 Keeps Its Eye on the Prize
With these retirement-focused funds, staying put is the best strategy.
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Newsletter sign up Newsletter
When the stock market crashes, the hardest thing to do is to do nothing. But target-date fund investors who took that route came out of the sell-off just fine.
Vanguard Target Retirement 2030 (symbol, VTHRX (opens in new tab)), a proxy for all target-date funds but designed for people with 10 years to go before retirement, returned 0.2% over the past 12 months, including a 24.9% loss from peak to trough in February and March. That beats 71% of all target-date 2030 funds. For context, Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index lost 34% during the winter sell-off.
Target-date funds, which hold stocks and bonds, are designed to help people invest appropriately for retirement. Experts make the investing decisions, rebalance the portfolio when needed and shift holdings to a more conservative mix as you age. The Target Retirement 2030 fund has 67% of assets in stocks, 31% in bonds and 2% in cash.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
These funds, fixtures in 401(k) plans, also help save investors from themselves. Most target-date fund investors buy shares with every paycheck, automatically buying at lower prices in down markets. They tend not to sell until they’re close to retirement.
During the historic sell-off, some shareholders did unload a few shares. The net inflow (money coming in, less money going out) in Vanguard’s Target Retirement series, which includes 12 funds, was negative in March by $3.9 billion. That was unusual but modest, given that the firm manages a total of $726 billion in target-date fund assets, says Vanguard spokesperson Carolyn Wegemann.
Shareholders who sold missed out on rebalancing moves in March, when portfolios took profits in higher-priced fare to buy low-priced assets in order to keep target allocations intact. Given market volatility, Vanguard rebalanced Target Retirement portfolios, which hold index funds, more than usual. “Sometimes the market was down 10% one day and up 10% the next,” says Marty Klepp, who heads Vanguard’s index strategy team.
Over the long haul, Vanguard Target Retirement 2030 has delivered solid returns. Since its June 2006 inception, the fund has gained 6.0% annualized, better than the 4.9% annualized return in the typical fund with a 2030 target date.
Nellie joined Kiplinger in August 2011 after a seven-year stint in Hong Kong. There, she worked for the Wall Street Journal Asia, where as lifestyle editor, she launched and edited Scene Asia, an online guide to food, wine, entertainment and the arts in Asia. Prior to that, she was an editor at Weekend Journal, the Friday lifestyle section of the Wall Street Journal Asia. Kiplinger isn't Nellie's first foray into personal finance: She has also worked at SmartMoney (rising from fact-checker to senior writer), and she was a senior editor at Money.
-
-
Fed Raises Interest Rates Yet Again: What the Experts Are Saying
Federal Reserve The Fed's quarter-point rate hike was welcomed by the market and market pros, alike.
By Dan Burrows • Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Swing Higher After Powell Presser
The Fed raised rates by 0.25%, as expected, and Powell promised to "stay the course until the job is done."
By Karee Venema • Published
-
The 5 Best Actively Managed Fidelity Funds to Buy Now
mutual funds In a stock picker's market, it's sometimes best to leave the driving to the pros. These Fidelity funds provide investors solid active management at low costs.
By Kent Thune • Published
-
The 12 Best Bear Market ETFs to Buy Now
ETFs Investors who are fearful about the more uncertainty in the new year can find plenty of protection among these bear market ETFs.
By Kyle Woodley • Published
-
Don't Give Up on the Eurozone
mutual funds As Europe’s economy (and stock markets) wobble, Janus Henderson European Focus Fund (HFETX) keeps its footing with a focus on large Europe-based multinationals.
By Rivan V. Stinson • Published
-
10 Bond Funds to Buy Now
Investing for Income Bond funds have seen sizable losses so far this year, but yields are now rising to attractive levels for income-starved investors.
By Adam Shell • Published
-
Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Profits from ESG Leaders
mutual funds Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock (VEIGX) favors firms with high standards for their businesses.
By Rivan V. Stinson • Published
-
Kip ETF 20: What's In, What's Out and Why
Kip ETF 20 The broad market has taken a major hit so far in 2022, sparking some tactical changes to Kiplinger's lineup of the best low-cost ETFs.
By Nellie S. Huang • Published
-
ETFs Are Now Mainstream. Here's Why They're So Appealing.
Investing for Income ETFs offer investors broad diversification to their portfolios and at low costs to boot.
By Nellie S. Huang • Published
-
Do You Have Gun Stocks in Your Funds?
ESG Investors looking to make changes amid gun violence can easily divest from gun stocks ... though it's trickier if they own them through funds.
By Ellen Kennedy • Published