Traditional IRAs for Beginners

Retirement Planning - United States

© Shelley Elmblad

Do you think Individual Retirement Arrangements, better known as IRAs, are confusing? Find out what an IRA is in simple terms and learn about traditional IRAs.

In Simple Terms: What is an IRA?

An IRA is not an investment in and of itself. Think of an IRA as a container that holds stocks, bonds, mutual funds, property or gold bars - anything that is considered an investment. The IRA "container" defines your tax benefit, with different types of IRAs having different tax benefits and different rules for contributions and disbursements. The investments in the IRA define the kind of returns you get on your contributions.

The two most popular IRAs are Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. Traditional IRAs are covered in this article.

Traditional IRA Income, Age and Contribution Limits

Traditional IRA Deductions

Traditional IRA Withdrawals

Tax codes occasionally change so check with the financial institution you will open an IRA with, an accountant, IRS Publication 590 or contact the Internal Revenue Service for the most recent rules governing Roth IRAs before investing in one.

How is a Roth IRA Different from a Traditional IRA?


The copyright of the article Traditional IRAs for Beginners in Building Personal Savings is owned by Shelley Elmblad. Permission to republish Traditional IRAs for Beginners must be granted by the author in writing.




Post this Article to facebook Add this Article to del.icio.us! Digg this Article furl this Article Add this Article to Reddit Add this Article to Technorati Add this Article to Newsvine Add this Article to Windows Live Add this Article to Yahoo Add this Article to StumbleUpon Add this Article to BlinkLists Add this Article to Spurl Add this Article to Google Add this Article to Ask Add this Article to Squidoo