I didn't say to invest solely in the stock market. Some in stock funds. Some in international stock funds. Some in bonds. Some in a bank savings account. It's called <i>diversification</i> for a reason. You can buy <i>more than one</i> Vanguard fund almost as easily as you can buy one.<p>Time to plug Bernstein again:<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Four-Pillars-Investing-Building-Portfolio/dp/0071385290" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Four-Pillars-Investing-Building-Portfo...</a><p>What you don't want to do is spend all your time reading hysterical ravings on the Internet and then somehow conclude that it is actually <i>safer</i> to blow all your money at the track, or on some crazy scheme to "double your money in two years". I don't care how scary the stock market is: It is less scary than whatever you plan to do to double your money in two years.