[WSSix]

Well, I haven't been able to research stocks as much as I had hoped to by now but that's ok. I'll get to it soon enough. It is however the beginning of the year which for me means it is time to max my Roth IRA out for this year. It also means it is time to check out what my Roth has done over the past year. I have my Roth set up with Vanguard in their Target Retirement 2045 account. The good news is it is up. I've had this account since 2003 and haven't maxed it out each year. I've added what I could when I could. Now that I actually have a career, I can max it out with $5000 a year. According to the info on my account, since inception in 2003 my average annual returns have been (drum roll please)..... 5.32%

Honestly, I haven't a clue if this is any good or just how much my investment has returned as a whole ie I've put in a total of X and it's now worth Y which means my return is Z%. I'm having trouble reading the website and finding the info I want. Then again, is it important or is what I need to know the 5.32% part and that's it?

Over a 5 year period I've had both growth and dividend/earnings. More dividends/earnings than growth but only slightly.