The core difference between a Traditional and a Roth IRA comes down to one question: do you want the tax break now, or later? Everything else about the accounts follows from that choice. * A Traditional IRA gives you the tax break up front. Contributions may be deductible on your tax return the year you make them, lowering your taxable income right away. In exchange, the money grows tax-deferred, and when you withdraw it in retirement, both your original contributions (if deducted) and all the growth get taxed as ordinary income. * A Roth IRA works in reverse. You contribute money that's already been taxed — no upfront deduction — but in exchange, qualified withdrawals in retirement are completely tax-free, including all the growth your investments earned over the decades. To count as "qualified," you generally need to be 59½ or older and have held the account for at least 5 years. * There's a structural difference beyond taxes, too: Traditional IRAs require you to start taking Required Minimum Distributions once you hit your RMD age, whether you need the money or not. Roth IRAs have no RMDs at all during the original owner's lifetime, which makes them useful for people who want to let the account keep growing, or pass more of it on to heirs. * Neither account is universally "better" — the right choice depends heavily on whether you expect to be in a higher or lower tax bracket in retirement than you are right now, which nobody can predict with certainty. Many people split the difference by contributing to both types over their working years.