At a party a few weeks ago, a friend turned to me and said, "I'd love to invest on my own, but I don't even know how to begin." You can't really blame her: She faces myriad investing choices, layers of fees, and the possibility of losing her shirt when things go wrong. That's why so many investors flock to financial advisors, attracted to the peace of mind that their guidance can offer. To be sure, many advisors offer valuable services, but others are less helpful. In fact, many academic studies have shown that investors working with advisors have fared worse than those who go it alone. That's partly because unwitting investors can end up with second-best portfolios, because brokers are sometimes paid to hawk certain funds over others. Higher fees also hurt. Advisors generally add sales charges or annual fees on top of those charged by mutual funds. So, all things considered, it often makes sense to grapple with your portfolio on your own. Not only is it generally cheaper, it's not much more difficult, and you don't have to worry whether your advisor is looking out for your best interests. In this article, I discuss three ways that investors can get started without the middleman or the associated fees.

The Bunny Slope
For those in search of simplicity, target-date retirement funds are about as low maintenance as it gets. Available at most of the larger fund shops, including Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, AllianceBernstein, and Fidelity, these all-in-one funds own a mix of stock and bond funds and slowly shift more heavily toward

It's 2008, and fears abound in the market. A housing meltdown, credit crisis, and $100-per-barrel oil weigh on investors' minds. Political turmoil overseas, global warming, and a wide-open U.S. presidential election further cloud the future. A recession may be around the corner, and the risk of inflation could tie the Federal Reserve's hands. Although these fears may be valid, at Morningstar, we emphasize that truly great companies will produce outstanding long-term returns, regardless of the political climate, the Fed's latest move, or when the housing market recovers.

At the start of any year, we often see articles that attempt to zero in on the "Best Stocks for the Coming Year." For 2008, many will emphasize recession-proof stocks, companies unconnected to the housing market, or stocks that can benefit from the booming commodities markets. However, such a short-term focus can be borderline backward-looking, and many stocks featured in such articles may wind up better known as the "Best Stocks of 2007." We're in it for the long haul, and we use forward-looking valuations to seek out firms with sustainable competitive advantages that currently trade at a discount to what they're really worth. With a little patience, we can take advantage of the market's disquiet to root out long-term opportunities.

We've compiled a list of five companies with stocks that are well-positioned to outperform in the coming

Market slumps often take big chunks out of the value of stock funds, tempting long-term investors to take remedial action. They might want go to cash. They might feel compelled to rotate to defensive areas like bond or value funds.

It's probably a big mistake -- not so much the move, but the timing.

Since the market's high in October, the Nasdaq composite is 14% off its high. The S&P 500 is down 11%. And the average U.S. diversified stock fund tracked by Morningstar was off 9.57% for the three months ended Jan. 7.

But whether you're a pedal-to-the-metal growth investor or a follower of modern portfolio theory with assets spread from here to kingdom come, reacting to short-term market fluctuations can be harmful to your financial health.

Why? Because it increases your chances of buying high and selling low. And that just about guarantees worse results than a long-term buy-and-hold strategy.

Timing disrupts the natural process of compounding earnings, and bad timing destroys it. Take a fund that earns an average annual 10% a year. It may fall 10% or more in any given year and rise 12% or more in

Standing at the starting gate of the moving obstacle course called 2008, Bob Doll surveyed the field and the events likely to shape it, and for the most part he liked what he saw.

The vice chairman and chief investment officer of asset manager BlackRock, with $1.3 trillion under management, is optimistic about the economy and financial markets. One big caveat: a recession, which he sees as a mild possibility.

Doll made several predictions for the coming year. Most are predicated on the U.S. avoiding a recession.

He says global growth will slow but developing markets will still expand at a healthy clip, fueling those companies that have business outside the U.S. Exports will also be boosted by the weak dollar, though he feels the dollar's slide will slow and possibly reverse.

Both factors will help counteract economic weakness.

In addition, the Federal Reserve's recent rate cuts, adoption of a bias toward easier credit conditions and move to provide liquidity will help keep the markets afloat.

Doll concedes that housing market woes are a problem but argues that jobs and wages are more important to fuel consumer spending. Household net worth is still up, despite the hit from falling home

Even though the Roth IRA has been around for more than 10 years, people still have a lot of questions about how it works. Today, I'll review 10 frequent questions about the Roth, with the hope of helping you better understand this valuable IRA option.

Q. Can my 16-year-old make a Roth IRA contribution?

A. As long as your child has earned income with which to open the Roth IRA account, and as long as he or she falls under the adjusted-gross-income (AGI) limitations, then he or she can make an IRA contribution regardless of age. The key is having earned income, such as from working a job. See more on this point a few questions down.

Q. Can my 73-year-old parent convert a regular IRA to a Roth IRA?

A. Again, age is not a determining factor. If your parent's AGI is less than the $100,000 limitation, then your parent is eligible to make the conversion. Any required minimum distributions that your parent must take from a regular IRA will not count against the $100,000 AGI limitation.

Q. I'm retired and drawing Social Security. Can I contribute part of my Social Security benefits to a Roth IRA account?

BOSTON (AP) -- The fourth quarter usually is the best time of the year for IBM Corp., but rarely does it look this good.

The technology company said Monday that its earnings per share in the quarter blew past analysts' expectations by 20 cents. IBM's executives felt the numbers were too good to sit on, so they released a peek at the results in advance of Thursday's full report for the quarter.

The news sent IBM shares up 5.4 percent, or $5.26, to $102.93 Monday.

The results were especially surprising given that economic conditions are not considered favorable. Recessionary fears loom. Hesitation on technology purchases by financial services companies -- IBM's largest customer segment -- hurt its third-quarter results.

So how did IBM stun analysts? Partly by betting big overseas, where most of the company's revenue comes from.

IBM would not elaborate on the quarterly results until Thursday's detailed report. But the company has made clear that it has been increasing its investments in developing countries with high growth rates, like China, India, Russia and Brazil.

IBM disclosed last month that its employee head count in those countries is nearly 100,000, up from