Background: I am 26 and working for the UK subsidiary of a US based consultancy. I am currently contributing to the company's UK retirement scheme and share purchase program, but would like to kick off a US IRA as well.

Question 1: Am I able to open up and contribute to a Roth IRA, given that I only have income earned abroad(UK) in 2001? What if I do not or (or cannot) exclude all of that 2001 foreign earned income on IRS Form 2555? Does that give me the AGI I need to be eligible?

Question 2: My income was under the $110K maximum for Roth IRA eligibility in 2001, but may exceed this amount in 2002. What does this mean? Am I better off just going with a Contributory IRA? Or even with index funds not part of a retirement / tax deferred scheme? Does the fact that this is foreign earned income (see above) change the equation (as $76k could be 'excluded')

Question 3: How much would it cost for a financial advisor to sort this out!!?

I saw a previous exchange between Barbara_Frew, Jana, and Amy A on this subject from June 2001 and was wondering if any of those folks were still around, and what they had learned.