457 International Fund/ TDIF

Hey All! Of these options, which is the international fund that is recommended? My department also offers a TDIF. As I read some of the pre-arranged portfolios and it doesn’t seem to fit the mark? 2060 Fund, third link down.

International options

TDIF

@Richie_Avella
The “socially responsible fund” doesn’t look like it’s a true international fund - the majority of the fund consists of US companies that are considered socially responsible. If you’re strictly looking at “what is the international fund?” Then the “intl-equity-fund” is the only true international fund in between the two funds that you presented.

Jeremy’s thought on socially responsible funds are here if you haven’t had the chance to review it: Should I only invest in socially responsible companies?

I think the “intl-equity-fund” would include most if not all of the international companies in the 2060 TDIF fund. The 2060 funds’ performance seem to align with the market’s return - more or less - so I think the TDIF you have is fine. But if you want a specific allocation, then you would need to do it outside of the TDIF. For your comparison, my TDIF has 57% in US index, and 41% in international (Blackrock LifePath 2055), and I’m spoiled with low expense ratio of 0.083%. Different fund managers will have different allocation strategies because they have different sets of data for analysis. Fund managers use average data (I think) to determine what the one best TDIF allocation is for EVERYBODY in that age group, so TDIF may not be the best option for everybody in the same age group. I only have 25% of my 401k in TDIF, and I invest the rest with still a 40% international allocation :laughing: - some may say that is counterintuitive to not just invest everything in TDIF, but I personally prefer it this way (a part of the reason is because my TDIF has the highest expense ratio). Currently, investment advisors are telling me to increase my bond index holdings to 13% of my portfolio, but I haven’t made the change yet because I don’t fully believe in that advice yet lol. So if you talk to different people, they will have a different belief in what the correct allocation should be in a portfolio or TDIF. The question is, whose advice do you trust most and who understands your personal situation and risk tolerance best. :slightly_smiling_face:

All that said, I’m a little confused by the allocation of your 2060 fund, the total allocation is stated to be 101% (1% in fixed income and 100% in equity, the total allocation should add up to 100% - unless I’m interpreting the info incorrectly) :laughing:. That may be a typo or their rounding is off. But having 99%+ in equity is the way to go for a 2060 fund - so there’s no big issue there.

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Thanks for the thorough response! I agree that the TDIF was confusing by its allocations! They also spread it across small and mid-cap equities. I think I am going to personally go 70/30 or 60/40 with the Large Cap/International equity fund.

I would recommend having small, mid, and large cap in your portfolio - the whole US market - even though large cap is the majority of the market. That’s why I think your 2060 fund allocation is fine. But that’s just me. :slight_smile:

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I do like the idea of the TDIFalthoug I don’t know if it follows the principles of the course as it is more diverse than the traditional TDIF on Vanguard/Fidelity.