Thanks flea and Ginger.

sj, if you're willing to drive down to CT, I can recommend a wonderful, honest, and very smart financial advisor. She works out of her home, and I've been working with her for a decade.

Also, if you do have a significant amount to invest, you might want to go to a financial advisor. They can help you figure out how much risk you can tolerate, what your long-term goals are, etc.

This. Even if you don't have a lot of money to invest. I started seeing J. when I was 22 and got my first job. I could only invest a tiny amount from every paycheck, but ten years of doing so has yielded an impressive amount of money. I would have been utterly lost without her guidance.

My gyno is handsome and young (that is, only a few years older than me, and when I was 28 and pregnant for the first time, he seemed awfully young). I was fine with it though, because my cousin is an RN who's spent most of her career in ob/gyn, labor and delivery, and maternity, and she said all her nurse friends in my town thought he was the best OB on staff.

I was fine with it, until I met with him in his office (as opposed to an exam room), after my first pre-natal exam, and saw a picture of him with a boy I had a huge crush on, in high school. That boy is his brother-in-law.

I was fine with it, until I met with him in his office (as opposed to an exam room), after my first pre-natal exam, and saw a picture of him with a boy I had a huge crush on, in high school. That boy is his brother-in-law.

HA!

I would bet that my gyn is about my age...maybe even a few years younger (that's a scary thought!). He's a resident, so...

Bwah! Oh Cindy, that's hysterical.

I have to remind myself that at least the picture isn't in an exam room.

I have to remind myself that at least the picture isn't in an exam room.

Now I'm picturing it painted onto one of the ceiling tiles to be the "pretty" you look at while you're flat on your back. That would make gyny visits, well, interesting.

Thanks, Anne. I've been doing some reading, and I do know not to mess with it too much because of the long-term gains. It looks like a Roth IRA at Vanguard with their Target Retirement Fund is the best bet to get started right now. I think contributing for 2006 will be a really good idea, especially because of the five-year rule that will magically hold from January 1, 2006, rather than right now. After that, I can start looking at regular investments and contributing for this year.

Exactly, P-C. Since I made like $1000 last year, I opened a Roth IRA last week as part of doing my taxes.

I recently discovered that I hadn't signed up for employer contributions. So, I signed up AND they made it retroactive. Wooo!