Core 4
The Bogleheads site (or google : Core 4) explains (in way more detail than I could in a single post) the historical and mathematical reasons that allocating your investments in four low cost (cost- expense ratio) is a primary indicator of the success of future returns. Similar to target retirement, but you do the balancing once a year or whenever you feel your allocations are out of 'balance'. Total Stock market index; total international stock index, total bond index. The 4th is up to you-some people believe REIT fund should go there. In bonds, maybe some TIPS. But all low cost.
Individual picking of stocks or funds or funds sectors rarely works - how do you know when to sell or buy ? How would the average investor know more than Wall Street?
But Target Retirement funds are still way better than trying to game the market. Watching tv, reading kiplinger....everybody already knows that info and the markets have already responded to it. We the investors lose (esp with expense ratios over 1.0!)
Some great non partisan authors : John Bogle; Larry Swedroe; Rick Ferri
Read them, invest, sleep soundly (sleep soundly is a big one for me).
Regards
G