Hello All Of Those In Fooldom, In particular a special hello to some of the people who have been of extraordinary assistance--you know who you are. OK, here is the jist of it: I've got over $40 K that I'm going to invest in Vanguard Mutual Funds. These are for retirement, I do not need an income stream from them, nor can I forsee any need to access the $$ for at least 13 years. I was thinking about putting 50% in VTSMX, 25% in VEXMX and VFINX. E/R's average about .20%, two are "average" risk, VEXMX is listed as "above average" risk. I'm planning on staying on the roller coaster for the whole ride, I fully realize there are no guarantees and there will be many hills and valleys in the next 13 or so years. Can anyone see why, if the market behaves normally, that in 13 years or so I should be not be looking at a statement showing a return of between 9 to 11% on my investment? I'm ready to pull the trigger on this, I have done all of the reading, thinking, scenario projections, and as Jethro Bodine used to say, "cipherin'", that I can tolerate. The time has come to do the deed-- any last minutes thoughts, votes of confidence, abstensions or ridicule, would be deeply appreciated. THANKS AGAIN , Aidendey