<prompt> Human: Im 24 yo and Ive been putting anything extra I can spare into vanguards Target retirement 2055. From what I understand this is a good one stop shop for people who dont know a ton about investing. I am also splitting any extra money into my student loans 6.5. Should I just worry about maximizing my IRA instead of investing in a normal stock like SP500 AAPL whatever else? Ive heard the SP can yield a bit higher returns than target retirement.  <response>: Please read the information found in the FAQ particularly I Have X ... What Do I Do With It?! and the Long-Term Investing Start-Up Kit You may find Your 401k and You: Basic Information and Your IRA and You: Basic Information worth a read as well.Should I just worry about maximizing my IRA instead of investing in a normal stock like SP500 AAPL whatever else? Ive heard the SP can yield a bit higher returns than target retirement.You should not speculate on individual stocks at all. The SP 500 is not a stock, it is an index. The SP 500 can yield higher or lower returns than a target retirement fund. 