Hi, amanda1357!

Please don't type in all caps; it's hard to read. It's considered to be the equivalent of shouting. Be polite, capitalize right!

A balanced fund is a combination stock and bond fund. The fund manager buys and sells as necessary to keep the two assets in balance (i.e. one of them does not grow to dominate the other).

Why have you decided you need bonds? Laying out your reasons should make things a lot more clear.

Is this a taxable or tax-deferred account?

I'M A LONG TERM INVESTOR SO DON'T WANT TO MAKE ANY MISTAKES
Guess what -- you WILL make mistakes. It is impossible to avoid. In fact, perfectionists can get hurt really badly when investing because it's harder for them to admit they made a mistake in the past, and move on.

Switching funds isn't the end of the world.