Is an IRA the way to go?

My daughter is looking for a better way to save for her future. She asked me about IRA’s and I sent her a couple of web sites that I thought she might be interested in looking into. Right now she is in a position where she can save some money and she has been putting it into a savings account. She knows that she will not make much money leaving it in a savings account so she has been investigating IRA’s. Here are some of the websites that you might give you some answers. Day by day 2-day, here you go.

I want to start an IRA account but I don't know anything about it. I am 29 years old and have no kind of savings for retirement. I don't know if I should get into money market accounts, CD's or and IRA. Any suggestions? Gwynne http://stretcher.com/stories/00/000508b.html
http://stretcher.com/stories/00/000508t.cfm

Starting an IRA
Consumers with hefty retirement accounts at their bank might soon sleep better knowing that more of their deposits will be insured should the bank fail. A new federal law will raise, to $250,000 per person, the insurance coverage provided for retirement accounts by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/bank/20060220a1.asp

Investing mom's retirement nest egg My father died recently and I am helping my retired mother with her finances in retirement. She currently draws a teacher retirement of $24,000 per year, and after debts and other related expenses due to the death, she will have about $450,000 to live on for the rest of her life. Her monthly living expenses are currently about $1,500. She is 54. http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/DrDon/20060227a1.asp

Investing for retirement when you're young I'm a 26-year-old college graduate with student loans and the uncertainty of how to prepare for retirement. At my current job and potential career, I will never be able to have the opportunity for a 401(k), so my question is how I go about saving for retirement as well the immediate future i.e. house, car etc. http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/DrDon/20060303a1.asp?prodtype=grn

Savvy consumers are always on the lookout for ways to save money. But it isn't easy to find the time to stay up to date on the best ways to cut your spending, hang on to more of your income or to follow interest rates. Let Bankrate do the research for you -- for free. http://www.bankratemail.com/index.shtml

I had a question on asset allocation. My present age is around 30, I maxed out my retirement investing through 401(k)s and Roth IRAs. The remainder of my savings is invested in a taxable mutual fund account. Given my age, almost all retirement funds are in equities since these funds can bear the risk of stock-market volatility over 30 years. http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/DrDon/20051128a1.asp

Roth IRA Contributions: Confused about whether you can contribute to a Roth IRA? The IRS suggests checking these simple rules: http://stretcher.com/stories/04/04mar01c.cfm

Note from Lucy: I should be back to the world of the living by tomorrow morning. I take the tax information to the "man" tomorrow afternoon. I have probably had only about four hours of sleep each night since Monday. I am looking forward to a full night sleep tomorrow night.