Hi Laura,

I have a little Bitcoin and Steem Power/Dollars, and I have thought about Ether, but I think that this Steem system can do a lot of what Ether was made to do.  Dan talks about it here: https://steemit.com/steem/@dantheman/how-anyone-can-build-custom-apps-on-steem-right-now

The thing that makes Ether valuable is the ability to run programs on the system as well as exchange currency.  In Dan's article, he explains
>It is fully possible to deploy an Ethereum Virtual Machine as a subchain on Steem... Everything you think you like about other blockchain platforms can be implemented as a Steem Subchain. These subchains would almost certainly be faster, easier to use, and cheaper than anything else out there.

I think once people start programming Steem subchains, money may flow out of Ether and into Steem.

Another coin to think about investing in, is Bitshares.  It was created by Dan before he made Steem.  You can read this article as an introduction: https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@fyrstikken/bitfinex-is-gone-bitcoin-will-recover-i-am-buying-more-bitshares -- then check other articles that are tagged BitShares: https://steemit.com/trending/bitshares

Good luck in whatever you decide to invest in!