[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by jeffmem

The IRA thing, in his opinion the IRA rates are low, and the amount of income I am claiming is not high enough to make the MMA's interest taxable. He suggests putting the money into other things such as stocks and mutual funds. As for a tax sheltered account, I have no idea what that is so I need to check.

I have no idea what he means by "the IRA rates are low."

An IRA is not a type of investment. It is a type of account. Think of it as a basket. There is a wide variety of options for what you can put in that basket. You can fill it with individual stocks, bonds, CDs, mutual funds, even real estate. So to say that "IRA rates are low" doesn't make any sense.

Money invested in a traditional IRA gets you a tax deduction if you meet certain income requirements. Then, once the money is in the IRA, it grows tax-free until you withdraw it in retirement. That's what I mean when I say it is tax-sheltered.