Hey ivy, 
You mentioned that you and the DH are former military.
I'm retired from the federal government after 25 years of service.
10 years in the Army, 15 years as a DOD civilian. They offered me
an Early Retirement option with full bennies 6 years ago last month
(I was 44 at the time) and they didn't need to ask me twice.
I was GONE!!!
How did I do it? Two things: 1) Matching Contributions and 2) Compound Interest.
You have no idea how powerful matching contributions really are. You'll never have
to worry about stock market risk to achieve your long-term goals...and you'll sleep
like a baby at night, which is infinitely more important. 
When I worked, I got dollar-for-dollar matching on the first 3% and 50 cents on the
dollar for the next 2%. I had 50% of my 401(k) money (we call it a Thrift Savings Plan)
in the "C" Fund (US stocks) and 50% in the "G" Fund (US Treasuries). Thankfully, I
walked away with 6-figures in my TSP. However, given today's financial climate, if I
had it to do over again I'd keep 100% of my money in Treasuries and let the matching
contributions act as my annual return. This way, you have no market risk.
I know lots of folks I retired with who did just that. They contributed as much as they
could into the TSP (up to the IRS annual limit), dumped it into the G Fund and let the
matching funds compound their money. And this doesn't include the interest that the
Treasuries were paying them....and they still walked away with high 6-figure account
balances.
So don't let anyone try to underwhelm you about the importance of matching funds.
Lots of Americans have lost trust in Wall Street..and for good reason. This is why so
many people are selling assets and moving into cash. But everyone still has complete
trust in the full faith and credit of Uncle Sam. So if all your hubby does is dump money
into the safest fund his 401(k) offers and gets 50% matching contributions, you guys will
end up with so much money at retirement it'll make your head spin.
The current IRS annual limit for contributions is $15,500 per individual. I know you guys
have kids and college is looming around the corner within the next 10 years. But you can
start small with 100 bucks a month and increase that amount over time. 50 bucks of FREE
money for every $100 you invest is a great deal no matter how you slice it.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents. Investing can be scary if you're not sure where to start.
But matching contributions is your secret weapon, and you and the DH will be way ahead
of the game if you take advantage of it. Any other goals to be reached in 10 years or less
you can just keep it in cash, CD's, etc and you should be OK.
CanDo
"The right attitude is everything"