What exactly is a Roth IRA? Is there a better investment plan available?
A Roth IRA is a protected retirement savings account in which you invest after tax money. When you withdrawal money at 591/2 or later it is completely tax free. You can always withdrawal principle that you put in, but you can not withdrawal gains without a penalty. Currently you can contribute $5K per year. You can still put money in for 2008 until April 15th. This is superior to a normal IRA or a 401K because the money is taken out with no tax, rather than just tax deferred growth. A regular IRA or a 401K makes more sense when you have a higher income bracket to reduce your taxes. If your real job does a match on the 401K they offer at least max to the match (Usually 50% match up to 5%, some companies do a dollar for dollar up to 5%). See if your company has a ROTH 401K. This is a relatively new savings device that allows you to put in up to $15K per year of after tax money. The same as a Roth IRA, except it has a higher total allowance of contributions. Save as much as you can. Also,
