Compass Investors has repeatedly reminded subscribers how necessary it is never to just “set-it-and-forget-it,” and our HORIZON™ service continues to out-perform even the best Target Date Funds (TDF) over the long-term. Our long-term average annual investment return in excess of 12% is nearly double that of the best TDF and have positioned workers old and young alike to have a financially secure retirement.

It is a simple mathematical exercise (or use our Retirement Goal Calculator) to understand how the average long-term returns of Target Date Funds (between 5% and 8%) will leave many investors well short of being able to afford retirement without additional sources of income, especially given the ever increasing average life expectancy.

All that said, toward the end of the US News and World Report article, Coppola allows that the concept of an adaptive portfolio may very well suit investors in their later years. A retiree may allocate a portion of their savings to a Target Date Fund—or even more conservative investments like bonds and annuities—while putting the remainder to work (again, adapting to market conditions) using one of our HORIZON™ plans.


If an adaptive investing approach such as HORIZON™ is not yet available at your company, please contact us to learn how to incorporate such an alternative into your overall retirement saving strategy.