should constantly be going through your minds. One: Is this alternative available to me? Two: Will it help me achieve my savings goals in a less costly or painful manner than the other choices?
"I should point out now that it is not my intention to cover all the rules and regulations for each available plan. That would take days. However, there are several excellent books that you should consult, a couple of which I'll recommend before you leave today.
"Instead, my objective is simply to look at the major pros and cons of some of the main alternatives, and to give you some general guidance—to point you in the right direction, if you will.
"Let's start with the best known of all retirement plans: the IRA."
"I have one of those," Cathy announced, "although it's not very big, because I can only put in two thousand a year, right?"
"That is correct and, because of that restriction, an IRA might not be the most suitable savings choice for you. In fact, because of other restrictions, it may not be the most suitable choice for any of you. However, I'll let you make your own decisions after our discussion.
"IRA stands for Individual Retirement Account. IRAs are really nothing more than personal retirement funds set up by people who have earned income. You must have earned income, by the way, to open an IRA—earned through wages, salary, self-employment income, profes-sional fees, bonuses, tips, alimony—"
"Alimony!" Cathy and Tom exclaimed in disbelief.
"Hey, believe me—alimony is often the hardest-earned income anyone will ever come by," Roy chuckled.