Ha, you are still reading this blog after I made that horrible roth Star Wars joke? Impressive. well the second part of this IRA savings special is about Traditional IRA. These retirement accounts are often tax deductible. Traditional IRAs take advantage of the tax benefit immediately. The internet is a great location where you can calculate your IRA’s balance at retirement.

I strongly suggest you play around with both of the Java Calculators (see last week’s post) and determine which version of retirement account is better for you. The main purpose of personal finance is to plan for the future so this decision should not be taken lightly. But what I found is that the younger you are when you start your IRA the better Roth looks (other variables the same). for me the difference was over $100,000. The older you are when you start the better a traditional IRA is. It is important to always try to make max yearly contributions (around $4k, or $333 a month), in the grand schemes of things this is not that large of a price for a more comfortable life after retirement and peace of mind.

Read Also

• Roth IRA
• The Power of a Savings Account