Well, I don't think this is OT at all, Thiman. Face it, were it not for $$$, savings etc., we wouldn't be able to fund our gardening addictions! Like yourself, I've been watching my 'nest egg' investments take a dive, but I've also held my positions and some are showing signs of re-newed life these days. Fingers crossed, nonetheless, the best laid plans .......(oh, I am such a pessimist!). Concurrently w/the money crash, I had a health crisis, so along w/watching my 'nest egg' diminish, I had mega-medical bills, cash out of pocket. Not a good combo. I think I'm getting it under control and sorted out now - finally! Sorry about your Apple-sauce debacle -ain't hindsight 20/20 a wunnerful thing?! Sorta similiarly, I have a small holding in a telecommunications stock - too little to bother with, too much to ignore - and I've held tight despite 'SELL' admonitions from the talking heads. It will never be an 'Apple', but maybe someday it will be gobbled up by a big player, and gain some traction. A merger/buy out with a beneficial stock split would please me greatly! I do think things are improving, and am happy your investments are rising to the top. Let's just hope it continues in a concrete, valid recovery.

Ole Joyful has the training and instincts to be a good advisor. Most people don't. If you have bad instincts and can be panicked by the media headlines, you are NOT going to be a good investor. You could have all the knowledge in the world, but your emotions will drive your decisions. You will probably buy high and sell low, the exact opposite of what you should do. A lot of times a good advisor has to say "no" to clients. "No, you can't plan to withdraw 10% per year, your money will run out too fast." "No, being 100% in bonds and Treasuries is not a guarantee against losing money." A good advisor positions his/her clients for the mid- to long-term, based on their risk profile. The reason for that has to do with logistics. Here's what's involved with trade decisions in the CFP office I used to work in: 1) Quarter ends (let's say it's 3/31/2011, sometimes written as 1Q11). 2) Reports from the brokerages don't come on-line to the advisor's office until 2-5 weeks after the quarter ends, or approximately 4/30/2011. 3) To generate individual reports for each client requires a massive back office op; it took 5 people (two CFPs, one analyst, three clerks) to produce reports for the 140 clients, as many had multiple accounts and a separate report is generated for each account. It took us a minimum of four weeks as this CFP liked to heavily customize his services. Some clients preferred to see a different set of benchmarks used; for example, one liked to have the Wilshire 5000 instead of the S&P 500, and another always wanted to see the Russell small cap index benchmark included. So that 4 weeks now brings us to 5/31/2011, when we are stuffing envelopes and mailing the reports out to the clients. I'm sure some have by now switched to paperless, but that doesn't subtract more than a week and maybe one person, off the process. Let's be generous and say going paperless gets you your 3/31 quarterly report by 5/15. 4) You read your report, with its recommendations for any portfolio changes, the very next day, 5/16. You're so organized, you even already have your quarterly meeting date scheduled in advance, so you're going in to talk to the CFP the very next week. This is unusual, most clients didn't schedule a meeting until they had their report in hand, so often we were scheduling July meetings to discuss that 3/31 report. Some clients would call and okay the portfolio changes, but most liked to come in and chat with the CFPs, because they were like family. Every meeting took at least 90 minutes, and some that were family accounts, were known for taking 2 to 2-1/2 hrs. 5) Once we got the client's okay, the analyst was given permission to execute whatever trades we had recommended for that client, on that 3/31 report. Still with me? We're mostly through the second quarter, sometimes even shading into the third quarter, before we get the client's okay to change the portfolio. Now, why does it take so long? Because the CFP is looking at those mid- to long-term trends, not the short-term 'next 3 months' that a commissioned broker is 100% focused on. In almost two years of working at the CFP's office, and four years of working with another independent CFP who handles MIL's portfolio, NO TRADES ever take place without client permission or outside the routine quarterly reporting system. There are no tips for "hot sectors" or "above average returns at little risk". This is why it's a whole different world, when you find an advisor who is worth working with. Because a good advisor will happily bend your ear for hours, teaching you as much as you want to know. A bad one never has enough time for you, unless he wants you to write a check!

Laurie, while you think everything will work out the way you're both planning.. you should plan for it not. Things happen, I don't like that there is no child support figured out.. what if at some point you & your ex are not so cordial and you have to go back to court? Any clue how expensive it will be to change it? I can tell you it usually costs me $1,000 or more (usual is $2k-$3K) every time we have to go to court. You also should do something in writing about medical for your child. If he ends up fracturing something or falls down the steps like my girl did; you could be left with high medical bills. In the last few years, I've paid over $15,000+ in uncovered medical expenses. He is supposed to reimburse me 75% after the 1st $250 but he does not. Also, he's screwed me with the deductible he picked which is very high - $800 alone just for my daughter. He's also lowered the tier on dental. Please protect yourself/child. Who gets to claim your child on income tax? What we did was my ex claimed her, I would claim head of household. I don't know if that will apply to you. When I remarried we alternated the deduction - odd years me, even years him. Even though your name was not on the deed, it sounds like you lived there for your whole marriage - in NJ the house would be 1/2 yours regardless. The way they figured it out was they went back to when you would have moved in to find a value; then they would figure out how much the house was worth when you moved out, plus deduct what he had already paid on the house before you moved in IIRC. There was a formula used. From things you are writing, it sounds like you are not getting the correct credit. Are you sure your attorney is looking out for your best interests? I'm glad you guys can be so civil right now but make sure you do research to make sure you are getting what you really deserve. I have one more question. I hate to sound naive, but I was a stay-at-home mom for 16 years, so I didn't start earning a paycheck until December, 2007. My husband has always done our taxes. Piece of advice - get copies of all the income taxes that have been filed. You also want a copy of the marriage license and any other documents. Make sure you have his social security number on file.

Well, I am 26 and my partner is 30. We just purchased a house in the city here in Cleveland. We lived at a house in the exurbs that is probably 160 years old...it was my partner's Grandma's so we lived for "free"...he had been living there a while alone before I moved in. We bought the house here in the city because of the tax credit, I wanted a house, it was a great house in great condition, old with lots of character, in an interesting and up and coming neighborhood. It will not be our forever home and we didn't plan on it being our forever home, either. It's a great place for where we are now in life, but not for longer than maybe 5 or , at the longest, 10 years. The "old" house is a candidate for our "forever" house when my Partner inherits it, but it requires renovation...of course it's free, so, whatevs. lol. Or if we want to stay in the city, we could live in a nice old house with a bigger yard. Or we could build a house on some land we have. Dunno. But we are happy here for now at this stage in our lives. Concerning moving for career, it isn't an option for my partner or I. Too much of our family lives here, and even when they are gone, we will have too many roots here, and we love Cleveland. So, moving for career is not an option. Short answer, no, our first home is not a forever home, but we were very careful to purchase a home that we loved for now and that we will be able to sell, if we need to, for at least what we paid. Life is tough!