Thanks for the reply Paul. Maybe my portfolio isn't well aligned with my time frame, as you pointed out. It was developed by a financial planner I met with a couple years ago. But, as I told him, the 6-8 years could be closer to 8-12. I know it's best to have a well defined plan but to be honest, it's hard for me to say where I'll be then and exactly when I'll need the cash for a home. I started investing because I didn't want all my funds -- some are in savings accounts and CDs -- to get eaten up by inflation.

How would you suggest I shift my portfolio from 70/30 to a more moderate allocation? I have some new money to put in bonds or other safer areas but probably not enough to make a big shift in the allocation. Plus, if I start investing more during these erratic times I plan to invest regularly in very small increments. If I sold some of my stock funds now and moved the money to bonds, I'd be taking a pretty sizeable loss.

I didn't think any of Vanguard's index funds were actively managed. Which were you referring to?