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agreement, which looks similar to a new account agreement at a bank. However, there is one key component that needs to be considered carefully, and completed accurately.

Your "Beneficiary Designation" not only determines who inherits your IRA when you die, but also at what rate they have to withdraw the money and pay taxes on it. This is one of those areas that you should definitely seek an accountant or attorney's advice on.

3. Fund your Traditional IRA.

Once you've got the account open, you've got to put money into it. A convenient feature of all IRA's is that you can delay funding them for any calendar year, until April 15th of the following year.

However, procrastination usually leads to under-funding your IRA, and it is good practice to fund it each month through an automatic withdrawal from your bank account. Failure to do so may leave you scrambling to find available funds in April of each year.

4. Make Your Investment Selections

Proper investment selection goes well beyond the scope of a single article and should be done with great care. Not only can you slow your retirement accumulation through under-performing or costly investments, you also cannot add more money later to make up for money you've lost.

If investing is not at least a passionate hobby of yours, consider using a balanced mutual fund or seeking out professional help. You should, at all costs, avoid investing your IRA according to "hot tips" or incomplete information.

5. Make sure to add your IRA paperwork to your collection of important documents.

In the event of your death or disability, the paperwork used to establish your Traditional IRA will help family members make proper decisions about your care as well as your assets.

6. Make sure to include your Traditional IRA contribution on your tax return.

You went through all that work to open up, fund, and invest your Traditional IRA, so make sure you get the deduction as well! Your Traditional IRA contribution will generally lower the amount you owe the IRS, or increase your refund, as the case may be.

Here are some additional articles and resources to help you understand more of the intricacies of IRA's:

E-PersonalFinance.com IRA Section:
http://www.e-personalf inance.com/401-k-IRAs/#S90

IRS Publication on Traditional, Roth, and Education IRA's:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/i rs-pdf/p590.pdf

Learn more about this author, Ken Clark.
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