Kirsten Berger, a children’s book designer in Peekskill, NY, and mother to 4-year-old Gabriel, says she’s not exactly sure what a mutual fund is. And because she’s expecting twins next month, it’s highly unlikely that she’ll find the time to learn anytime soon. She describes her husband, Ian, an English teacher, as “worse than me when it comes to money.” Yet each year, when the Bergers get their tax refund—last year’s refund was about $4,000—they begin to think about investing it. And then the fear of not knowing enough to make a smart decision overwhelms them. The refund winds up in their savings account or, even worse, their checking account, where it quickly evaporates. We wondered what the Bergers would do if they had an hour with famed investor Warren Buffett, even though Kirsten said she didn’t know who he was. “I don’t know where to begin,” she says. “If someone showed me a stock page from the paper, I’d be like, duh.” Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway who is often called the Oracle of Omaha for his investing prowess, wasn’t available. But we did manage to track down some experts who offer a four-step plan to set the Bergers on the right path and get them thinking about ways to put this year’s tax refund to work.

STEP 1
Remember to Stock your emergency fund Kirsten is unsure how much maternity leave she’ll take before returning to work, so the couple could be living on one salary for several months. Experts like Laura Wagner, a private wealth advisor with Ameriprise Financial in Phoenix, say it’s important to have as much as six months’ worth of routine expenses—mortgage, insurance (home, auto, health, life and disability) and car payments—set aside, especially if the couple anticipates living on one salary for a while. This money should be stashed someplace readily accessible, like a money market account, which, unlike CDs or even some mutual funds, doesn’t have early-withdrawal penalties and pays a relatively high interest rate—typically 3 percent to 5 percent. Don’t leave the money in a checking or savings account, Wagner warns, though it’s okay for the refund to go there automatically at first.

STEP 2
Add SOME money to a retirement account Financial planners agree that parents tend to spend a lot of time obsessing about paying for their kids’ college education and not enough thinking about their retirement. If your company offers a 401(k) plan or a 403(b), set aside some of your tax refund to create a cash pillow for spending so you can funnel extra money from your paycheck into your retirement account. A percentage of 401(k) plan savings is often matched by the employer, providing an automatic advantage, notes Linda Descano, CFA and president and chief operating officer of Women & Co., a unit of financial giant Citi. The other advantage of most 401(k) and 403(b) plans is that the money is set aside pretax, which can reduce your year-end tax burden, even if the employer’s match is skimpy or nil. “Visualize the life you want in retirement,” she says. “You can live thirty years in retirement, and you need to cover that, which means that you can never start too early.”

STEP 3
Select a solid mutual fund Investing in stocks—even from a surefire tip—means paying careful and consistent attention to the market. And since most parents don’t have that kind of time, financial advisors like Jill Gianola, a certified financial planner in Columbus, OH, recommend a “set it and forget it” approach to investing. Gianola, author of The Young Couple’s Guide to Growing Rich Together, recommends a balanced fund that diversifies a port-folio and “keeps it diversified, even if you ignore it for ten or fifteen years.” Among her top choices is the Vanguard Star Fund, which can be started with as little as $1,000 and has low expenses. “The annual reports are easy to understand, and investors can use them as learning tools,” Gianola says. In general, advisors say you should save at least 10 percent of your income each year. To make this a reality, it helps to automate the process. Most mutual funds will set up an automatic-deduction plan for you.

STEP 4
Consult a financial professional For a few hundred bucks, depending on where you live, you can meet with a financial planner who can get you thinking about the best steps to take. “Anytime you get a little windfall, it makes sense to take a bigger financial planning perspective,” says Peg Downey, a certified financial planner at Money Plans in Silver Spring, MD. “Even people who think they know a lot usually don’t have the framework for thinking about the logical way to proceed.” For example, don’t assume that planners work only with the wealthy: Plenty also focus on the far larger middle-income market. Downey says that for under $600, she can usually provide a basic framework to get couples going in the right direction. Before taking this step, however, get recommendations from friends and family. Money is such an intimate subject that you need to find a planner you click with, not just someone who happens to be convenient.