NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - I contribute fully to my company retirement savings plan each year. Because I have limited investing knowledge and time to devote to my plan, I've decided to enroll in a target retirement fund. Do you think that's a smart decision?

-- David, Boston, Mass.

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I'm not going to say this is the absolute best move that someone can make in their 401(k) or other retirement savings plan. But for someone who doesn't know much about investing and doesn't really want to take the time to bone up on the subject, I think a target retirement fund (aka a "lifecycle" fund) is an excellent choice.

In fact, I think a lot of investors who believe they do know a lot about investing (but in reality don't know quite as much they think) would probably do better taking the route you've chosen, especially if they're among that "knowledgeable" breed that thinks they can outsmart the market by constantly moving their money around from one fund to the next in a vain search for tomorrow's top performers.

Before I lavish too much praise on you for your sage decision, however, let me step back for a moment and explain for the benefit of the non cognoscenti just what a target retirement is and how it works.

Basically, these funds come with a variety of target retirement dates, typically in five-year increments ranging from 2005 to 2050. You choose a fund that roughly corresponds with the date you plan to retire -- if you're 40 years old, that might be 2030 -- and you get a fund that invests in a mix of stocks and bonds that's appropriate for someone your age. (Actually, they usually invest in other stock and bond funds.)

The younger you are, the more that mix tilts toward stocks; the older you are, the more bonds you get.

But the really nifty feature about these funds is that the mix you start with automatically morphs more toward bonds as you age, making the portfolio more conservative as you close in on retirement. What's more, this gradual shift from stocks to bonds goes on behind the scenes. You don't have to do a thing. The fund manager does it for you.

Essentially, these funds eliminate two big hassles of investing: picking a diversified blend of assets, and then making sure that mix of assets doesn't get out of synch as different assets earn different returns over time.

From the investor's point of view, this is a no-muss-no fuss solution. And, all in all, I think a pretty good deal, which is why a lot of 401(k) plans are making target funds the default choice for people who don't specify a fund choice for their contribution.

That said, there are some drawbacks to these funds. One is that you're not getting an asset mix that is customized to your situation. Everyone in the fund gets the same blend of assets. And if you already own other funds, target funds can be tough to work into your portfolio since they own a variety of different types of assets and the proportions will shift year to year.

Frankly, I don't see these as very big drawbacks for most investors, especially those who wouldn't have a coherent strategy in the first place, although I'm sure legions of financial planners will disagree with me on this.

While all target funds are basically the same in concept, you should be aware that they can differ dramatically when it comes to the details of how they operate.

Some target funds invest more aggressively than others -- that is, have more of the portfolio invested in stocks -- even though their target dates may be the same or very similar. Some invest solely in index funds, others limit themselves to actively managed funds and some have both. And the fees can vary all over the place, from razor-thin to moderate to a few that I would charitably describe as blimpish.

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And since you probably have no choice of which fund family's target fund you get to invest in through your 401(k) or other company savings plan, I think it's important that you know what you're getting into.

If you'd like to learn more about target funds and why they're becoming so popular, I suggest you check out a story I did on them in my column in MONEY Magazine a few months ago.

All in all, though, I have to say that if you really have no interest in learning about investing and don't want to take the time to manage your retirement investments -- and you don't want to pay a pro to do this for you -- target funds are a smart way to go.

Walter Updegrave is a senior editor at MONEY Magazine and is the author of "We're Not in Kansas Anymore: Strategies for Retiring Rich in a Totally Changed World."