After taking a beating in the press for their 2008 performance, target-date funds gained positive coverage in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend.

"While the bear-market performance of many target-date funds was surprisingly bad -- they're supposed to get more conservative over time, adjusting their investment mix as shareholders approach retirement -- there's still plenty about them prudent investors should like," wrote Dow Jones' Daisy Maxey.

Maxey noted that the AllianceBernstein 2010 Retirement Strategy Fund was down 33 percent last year but is up around 51 percent since March. The Vanguard Target Retirement 2010 Fund, for its part, gained about 35 percent.

She offered suggestions for investors looking at target-date funds. Among her tips: before anything else, examine a fund's glidepath and if the investor deems a fund too risky or conservative, he or she should just select a different year.

The other funds mentioned in the article include Oppenheimer Transition 2010, Wells Fargo Advantage DJ Target 2010, T. Rowe Price Retirement 2010, Fidelity Freedom 2020, Vanguard Target Retirement 2020, T. Rowe Price Retirement 2020, Principal LifeTime 2020, American Funds Target Date Retirement 2020, Wells Fargo Advantage DJ Target 2020 and American Funds Target Date Retirement 2040.  

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