Good advice, so far. I would add - be very careful about the administrative costs of any MF you are considering.

Pay close attention to fees with any investment. You would be amazed at how much more your return will be in an index fund where the fees are .20% versus a load fund which can cost as much as 3%. (This is one of the very good arguments for index funds).

Many financial websites (Kiplingers, I think for one)have calculators which illustrate this principle very well.

Good luck!