Elizabeth Richardson <erichktn[at]worldnet.att.net> commented upon the
Vanguard Life Stategy Growth Fund (VASGX) thusly:

- quote -

I concur with Ms. Richardson. Sounds like the original poster has other
demands on his time, what with a new wife and family. He should invest as
much as he can afford in this fund, and let the pros worry about his asset
allocation.

If he's trying to get his finances squared away, he should also (a) pay
off all debt except his first mortgage, (b) have a cash reserve equal to
six months living expenses, and (c) consider life insurance. But those are
issues for other threads.

- quote -

the opportunity to lighten your risk as you near retirement by moving from
Growth, the most aggressive fund of funds, through Moderate Growth,
Conservative Growth, all the way to the Income Fund if you like.

The Life Strategy Growth Fund includes 15% of Vanguard's International
Growth Fund, as well as 25% of the Asset Allocation Fund. The Asset
Allocation Fund is actively managed and will change it's allocation of
stocks/bonds depending on the manager's research. The remainder of the
LifeStrategy Growth Fund is invested in Vanguard's Total Stock Market Fund.

It seems to me that, if you choose to invest in this fund, you probably
don't really need any other fund, but that is my take on it. This is the
fund both my husband and I use for our Roth IRAs, which we don't expect to
use for 20+ years. I also have my Traditional IRA invested in the
LifeStrategy Conservative Growth Fund, which we will be drawing on in about
4 years.

Elizabeth Richardson

In article <1133142170.323606.97390[at]g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> ,
"scottnunn[at]ec.rr.com" <scottnunn[at]ec.rr.com> wrote:

- quote -

Dump the "life strategy" stuff. That normally means that they
mess with allocations over time, something you said you don't
want. Avoid Putnam like the plague--high, high fees and low,
low results.

The other 3 choices are OK. I'd like to see a large chunk
in the index 500, maybe 1/3. Some large cap and some value
based funds would be nice. The capital opportunity sounds
like a value fund. Emerging markets sounds like an international,
but it sounds high risk. Maybe split it in two and put the
other half into the international fund.

An investing pro might have different opinions, so don't
jump based just on my opinion.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

After being a single guy and blowing my 401-k savings (that's a whole
other story) I'm now married with a child on the way and have started
back in my 401-k. I have at least 20 years till retirement and have
very little savings so I'm willing to go all stock to try to catch up.
My main options are Vanguard funds. right now i'm 25% in each of the
following:

Lord Abbett Small Cap Value
Vanguard life strategy Growth
Dodge and Cox Stock
Templeton Emerging Markets

Here is my overall choice of funds. Any thoughts on allocation
suggestions would be appreciated. Also, any funds on this list to
always avoid?

Bond Funds
Dodge & Cox Income %

Balanced Funds (Stocks and Bonds)
Vanguard Asset Allocation Fund Inv %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Consrv Grwth %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Growth Fund %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Income Fund %
Vanguard LifeStrategy Mod Growth %

Domestic Stock Funds
Dodge & Cox Stock %
Lord Abbett Small-Cap Value Y %
Putnam New Opportunities A %
Russell Equity Fund %
Vanguard 500 Index Fund Inv %
Vanguard Capital Opportunity Inv %

International Stock Funds
Templeton Instl Emerging Markets %
Vanguard International Growth Inv