Why would I want to open an IRA?

[TobDog]

There are 3 types of IRA's from what I remember being told, if your income is over a certain level(its like 120k) you dont qualify for the other 2, the most commonly used ones. Traditional IRA=you deduct the income for this year and pay it when you retire/take the $ out, ROTH=you pay taxes this year on the $ you invest, and the $ it makes is tax free, there are maximums for these per year and they are not very high, you will want to have a personal investment account too. What everyone else said here too, get some good advice from someone who does that type of thing for a living.