Your plan to fund the two ROTHs first (before the TSP) is the best plan.
If and when you begin working, you can fund your ROTH (or his ROTH) up to the limit.
If you don't know how to invest (you said you were "clueless"), then I would strongly suggest investing your ROTHs with a "full service broker". My recommendation would be Edward Jones (www.edwardjones.com). Look up the nearest office to you and schedule a free appointment. They are very good at helping investors like you understand your options, select appropriate funds, and help you stay the course. They have been in business for over 90 years, and are highly reputable. It will cost you a little more to invest with them, but you will be able to pick up the phone, or visit the local office and speak with someone face to face.
If you REALLY don;t want to use a "full service" like EJ, then just open your ROTHs at any of the online "discount" brokerages (Vanguard, Fidelity. E*trade) and invest in a single Target Date Fund. TDFs are managed professionally, invested in an age appropriate asset allocation, and automatically rebalanced without additional fees.
The link below explains spousal IRAs. Virtually all of the major mutual fund companies offer IRAs. I'd recommend looking at Vanguard and T. Rowe Price due to their low cost funds and wide selection of funds.
P.S. "Investing For Dummies" is a great starter book on investments. I keep it on my shelf.
Has anyone got any experience with them? We had decided to max out a regular ROTH and then contribute the rest of the the year to my husbands military ROTH TSP account, however, I just read up about spousal IRAs and was thinking we could max a ROTH out for my husband and myself and then contribute the rest towards his ROTH TSP account. I see that the maximum a year for each (my husbands and the spousal) is $5,000 ($10,000 total) and my husband can set it up for me as I am a non-working spouse. Once I start working again then I would be able to take it over and contribute myself?
Also, we are looking for recommendations on who to go through for the ROTH IRAs. As I've said in previous threads, we are a little clueless with investing and would love a firm that could guide and help us. Thanks!
