Greetings ranger,

I am considering reallocating my IRA. I am in my mid 30s and currently have all of my IRA in a Balanced Fund. I have read about Index Funds here and am considering moving a portion of my IRA to one.

There is such a thing as a Balanced Index fund such as Vanguard's Balanced Index(VBINX) that I would note.

What percent do people recommend?

This isn't the key question from my view. The better question is what asset allocation do you have and which asset classes, eg large US stocks, small stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, do you want to index?

Also, what about a portion in a Growth Fund?

Well, most blend funds have a portion in growth stocks, eg all the stocks of Vanguard's Growth Index are in the 500 Index. Or do you have a different definition of Growth Fund?

Aren't Vanguard's Growth Index(VIGRX) and Small-cap Growth Index(VISGX) both growth funds AND index funds? If not, please explain to this Fool as I'm 99% sure they are both or you use different meanings than I do.

I was considering 50% Index Fund, 25% Balanced and 25% Growth. Or would I be better off being out of a Balanced Fund?

Vanguard has 20 index funds that break down like this: 11 US Stock funds, 5 Foreign funds, 4 bond, and 1 Balanced so indexing is merely a strategy that a fund can use to invest, IMO.

Just a few notes,
JB