You're darned tootin' this stinks! But, remember, it is YOUR money, not his. Tell him you have changed your mind and get the money back. PERIOD!

Others have given you good advice going forward. I truly understand the "no time to read 3-4 books ASAP" .. however there are still things you CAN do to take charge here.

My 401K at work is with Fidelity and (thankfully) one of the offerings we have available is Brokeragelink where we can go self directed with only a transaction fee of $7.95 per trade. That said, you don't sound ready to walk off that beam yet. BUT .. Fidelity also offers a 401K rollover program which is no fee, low per trade charge, automatic and free dividend reinvestment and it has a number of relatively low cost/no cost places you can park that money until you are ready to stick your toes in the investing waters. (ie. a money market sweep account, so you will at the very least collect a little interest on the money) You can then look into investing into some ETFs or start looking at high quality dividend paying stocks such as (NOT specific recommendations and in no particular order) Kraft Foods at $31 which pays 3.76%; Kelloggs at $53 which pays 3.07%; Proctor & Gamble at $64 which pays $3.01%; etc. Start looking at companies whose products you know and may use regularly.

Remember: 1) Breathe; 2) This ain't rocket science ... you don't need an advanced degree in anything to learn it; 3) You've got a great support mechanism here ... use it; 4) Breathe

Best wishes
DP (also from CT)