Once you choose to save, you have several account types from which to consider.  You might have a workplace retirement account such as a 401(k), 403(b), or 457 plan.  If you're self-employed, a myriad of other plans such as SEP-IRAs, Keoghs, and SIMPLE-IRAs are available.  Furthermore, virtually any worker can contribute to a regular IRA and most to a Roth IRA. Once those decisions are made, you then need to actually invest the money, of course.

How do you do that?

We're moving along in the How to Save for Retirement With an IRA series. Previous steps included:

• Step 1: Learn Your IRA Contribution Limit
• Step 2: Choose a Regular IRA or Roth IRA
• Step 3: Open an IRA

With those steps complete, now it's time to fund the account.  While writing that check might be difficult, remember you're not spending this money. Instead, you are putting it away for your retirement, something you'll be very happy about in the years to come. Of course, writing a check is no longer the only way to get money into your IRA.  Read Fund Your IRA for all your options and considerations.

Many people dream of an early retirement.  Along with presumably better health in which to enjoy life's finer pleasures, comes the assumption of great wealth.  For a fortunate few, this occurs. For many others, early retirement arrives as an unplanned layoff in their mid-fifties followed by a long, periodically unsuccessful and quite trying, job search yielding a significant or total income loss.

Think about the people that you know who have retired before their normal retirement age (these days, that's 66).  Did they do so voluntarily? How did it work out?

Opening an IRA isn't rocket science. Still, whether it's procrastination, fear, or some other reasons, well too many Americans lack one.  Without opening an IRA, you can't save in one for retirement. As such, it's the necessary Step #3 in learning How to Save For Retirement With an IRA.  When you're ready to open an IRA (because you've already learned your IRA contribution limits and chosen either a Roth IRA and regular IRA), be patient and ask questions.  It is not the time to be shy.  Any customer service representative will be glad to help you answer any questions you don't understand - it's their job to help you get this done. Don't let any uncertainty get in the way of saving for retirement.  Open an IRA now.