<prompt> Human: I just put a lump sum of 5,500 into my Vanguard IRA. As I am 27 I was considering simply buying VFFVX, setting an auto deduct from my checking account and not thinking anymore about it. Then I saw the fee was .16! for 5,500 thats over 800. So my question. By my back of the envelop math, if I buy four Vanguard ETFs two equities, two bonds and replicate the target date fund 90 equities, 10 bonds Id only pay about 400 in maintenance fees. The fees for ETFs are somewhere between .05 and .12 depending on the fund. Of course Id have to maintain the ETFs and manually allocate cash to each throughout the year, but I feel like that isnt rocket science and certainly not worth an additional 400. What am I missing? Are there additional risks i am not thinking about?  <response>: 0.16 of 5500 is 8.80. I think its ok : There are cheaper options, but the target date fund is already a pretty good deal and very convenient. 