So the thing about the target date fund is that it gets more conservative over time and stays in bonds, cash, and money market funds as you approach retirement. That way if the market crashes a year before you retire you don't lose as much of your retirement savings.

Another thing to mention is it is going to be hard to outperform the target date fund without a lot of micromanaging that you might not have time for.

My plan is to keep most of my money in the target date fund and experiment more with say 10-20% of my account, but I do think you should have most of it in the target date fund, at least until you have a proven strategy which outperforms it.