Named for the savvy Delaware Senator who in 1997 dreamed up a simple twist in the tax code to create something truly worth shouting about — the Roth IRA is one of the most powerful tools regular people have to get ahead.
Yes, the brilliant switcheroo that Senator William V. Roth Jr. made was to take the traditional upfront tax break we're used to getting with our retirement savings, and instead put it on the back end. What this did was allow most people to pay less tax initially, and then to NEVER pay tax on that money again — offering the peace of mind to know that your growing balance will be all yours (and not the IRS's) when the time comes to make withdrawals.