Different type of retirement accounts?

Question

Can someone name ALL the different retirement accounts, and a little bit about them? heres the ones i know so far

-401k-company sponsored account that usually matches some of your contribution, but you are limited to the company's you can invest in.

-Traditional IRA- tax-deferred gains (not exactly sure what that means)

-Roth IRA-tax free gains

Answer 1

Yahoo Finance and Investopedia.com, among many other sites, have this information.

Answer 2

Traditional IRA -  Money is invested in stocks or mutual funds

any interest grows tax free.   When we retire and start  taking a monthly income from the IRA, Federal income taxes are withheld.  

That is the only one I am familiar with.

Answer 3

Along with the others already mentioned, many companies are now offering a ROTH 401(k) option.  Like a ROTH IRA,  your contributions are after-tax dollars, but grow tax free and distributions at retirement are all tax free.

Annuities are another type of retirement account.  These are typically used when all other options have been max'd out.  Contributions are on an after-tax basis and the earnings grow tax deferred.  That is, when a distribution is taken, only the earnings will be taxed.  Some 401(k) plans also offer after-tax contributions to be made where the earnings are tax deferred.

If you are young, any ROTH option is ideal.  As you grow older and move into your peak earning years (40-50 years old), a traditional IRA or 401(k) may be preferred to lower your yearly tax hit

Answer 4

You don't need to know.

You only need to know the options available to YOU.

i.e. You are either a government employee or you are not.

Answer 5

There are also

456 (similar to 401K, but for government employees)

403b (similar to 401K, but for employees of non-profits)

SIMPLE IRA - actually less simple than a regular IRA

SEP - simplified employee pension