Thanks for this and the other help Exterous. It's a huge load off. Will keep in mind that there's no need to jump ship in ten or fifteen years as well. So that I am clear--my only option with this employer is through a TIAA 403b. Am I correct in assuming that the link I posted a second ago lists as options a whole bunch of investment plans that would be available to anyone, including outside of TIAA? In other words, going into my meeting with them, your words of caution could be answered if I stick to one of the Vanguard options, since TIAA is just administering the plan at the advertised fee rate?
So as a bit of a step back - most people have to deal with crappy 401k\403b options and sales people who are highly incentivized to move people into certain funds whether its in the best interests of the customer or not. TIAA just had a reputation for being 'one of the good guys' which seems to no longer be deserved. That doesn't mean there are no good options with them just that you should be aware that the investment world has a lot of incentives for people who are 'helping you' to maybe help you a little bit less to line their pockets a little bit more. Companies change too so don't blindly trust one because they've been ok in the past. Its good that you are taking the time to learn about this so you are less likely to be taken advantage of.
In regards to the links you mentioned:
Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund Institutional Plus Class is a Small and Mid cap fund. Cap tilts may have their place in a portfolio based on methodology but I would not make it a substantial commitment and not without understanding the risks\rewards behind doing so.
Vanguard Balanced Index Fund Institutional is potentially a good mix of stocks and bonds depending on your risk tolerance (too safe for my tastes but thats me) but only US stocks and bonds. The prevailing recommendation is to have between 20-40% in international stocks and 0-20% in international bonds. You could, of course, make up the difference with a different fund in this account or a different account.
Vanguard Institutional Target Retirement 2045 Institutional is a good set and forget option as it will 'rebalance' for you as you get older. This means it will decrease its domestic and international stock portion and increase your bond and TIPS portion. This reduces volatility and preserves capital to make sure your retirement account balance is where you need it to be when you retire. There is some debate as to whether it has the right mix of domestic\international stocks and the stock to bond ratio (Even vanguard has tweaked it a few times) so many people choose to go their own route if appropriate funds are available
So if I click on "Show More" on your TIAA site I see these funds are also options:
https://www.tiaa.org/public/tcm/min...ce/nonpropmutualfunds/profile?ticker=22893353
https://www.tiaa.org/public/tcm/min...nce/nonpropmutualfunds/profile?ticker=6906193
https://www.tiaa.org/public/tcm/min...ance/nonpropmutualfunds/profile?ticker=316335
A bond index, an international stock index and a domestic stock index. These would create the popular 3 fund portfolio which comprises indexes that consistently beat 75-90% of the mutual funds in the same category
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three-fund_portfolio
They would also form the base of more complicated options that start to gain exposure to REITs, Small or Mid cap tilts etc:
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Lazy_portfolios
Something you will want to figure out is what you want your various asset weights to be. How much in domestic stock, now much in international, bonds etc. This is not an exact science so people have different methodologies and risk tolerance. As you get older you will generally want your investments to get safer. That said everything in investing has caveats and this "rule" is no different. For longer retirement time frames (over 30 years) you will want to have a higher stock allocation to deal with your increased withdrawal timeframe. That said here are some very rough guidelines:
Stocks: 60-80% domestic large cap 20-40% international large cap
Stock\Bond allocation: Between 20-60% in bonds based on age - the older you are the more bonds you generally want to have
TIPS\REITS\SmallCap etc: 5-10% IF you chose to do this. Weightings less than 5% are not worth your time. Weightings more than 10% get significantly more risky for minimal return\diversification
Keep in mind that some of the asset balance needs to be related to your risk tolerance. It can be a gut punch to watch your portfolio crumble before your eyes and you will be tempted to sell. Everyone says "I won't do that" but millions did in 2008\2009 and royally screwed up their accounts. If you need a higher bond portion or want to include TIPS for that piece of mind or to not panic and sell, giving up some gains to prevent that is a very good trade off.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you will want to balance your investments across ALL of your and your wife's funds. This can be complicated depending on your options but well worth the time and effort to do. Depending on your goals and fund options you may be able to keep certain accounts only invested in one or two funds. For example my wife's 403b is only one international stock index. I have a 401a that is only one domestic stock index. However my 403b and 457 accounts have several funds which allows me to keep my desired allocation by adjusting how much I contribute to the funds in response to our increasing age and the performance of the funds (So if domestic stocks are doing much better than bonds I have to increase my bond contributions in those funds while decreasing my stock contribution to keep my over all portfolio ratio in line. The general rule of them is rebalance once your allocations get out of sync by more than 5 points. My desired international stock percent is 35% so I don't typically do much unless it hits 30-31%)
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