The reasons for choosing a traditional or a Roth IRA are likely to ebb and flow over time. In the early days of your career when your earnings, and thus your tax rate, are lower, investing with after-tax dollars in a Roth IRA essentially locks in that low tax rate for those dollars. Choosing a traditional IRA when you are in your power-earning years might ultimately give you a tax break of 10 percent or more if you experience a significant drop into a lower tax bracket after you retire.

These are generalities. If you are clever enough to amass a really juicy pot in your IRA, either as a result of starting to save early or perhaps with a combination of very well performing investments, you might not see any drop in your tax bracket when you begin to take the legislated minimum required distributions (MRD). In this case the Roth IRA would be preferable, because you will not have any minimum required distributions. Clearly, to make sure you are going to be ready to live with all the consequences of your investment decisions, you need to review where you are and what you are doing with some regularity.

How long you think you will be in retirement, what changes in income you anticipate, and how much cash you project you will need are all factors in choosing retirement vehicles. The fact that you do not ever have to withdraw a nickel from a Roth retirement account makes it an interesting feature in your estate planning. You can make your spouse a beneficiary and she can roll over your Roth IRA money to her account tax-free upon your death.

Perhaps you want to provide for a child or other people besides your spouse. These beneficiaries can opt for one of two ways to receive your Roth IRA account.

• Life Expectancy — The beneficiary may elect to receive payments beginning no later than 12/31 of the year following the death of the IRA owner to be taken over their life expectancy as given in the IRS uniform distribution table using the non-recalculation method.

• Total Withdrawal — The beneficiary can take the full account at any time.

Best of all, Roth IRA distributions by non-spouse beneficiaries remain tax free.