Tune into any personal finance TV or radio show these days and you'll hear many praises for starting a Roth IRA. Simply put, a Roth IRA is a personal retirement account that allows qualifying individuals to put after-tax money into an account and (hopefully) withdrawal tax free funds at retirement. There are some income requirements and contribution limits that change from year to year. For additional information visit: IRS.gov.

So, you may be thinking that's all well and good, but what if the government decides to change the current Roth IRA laws and charge you tax in the future? Many people consider this highly unlikely, but it is possible and there's really nothing to protect those of us contributing to Roth IRAs. If you're like me, you may have approximately 30-40 years until retirement. Many things can change in this country in the course of 40 years.

When listening to people sing the praises of Roth IRAs, you'll rarely hear that the government can change these laws at any time. Just keep in mind there are no guarantees in life. What may seem beneficial now, could turn into a future detriment.

About 9 months ago I began investing in a Roth IRA through Fidelity. What attracted me to Fidelity is the ability to make monthly contributions and not need a typical $2,000+ initial funding. Since I have quite a few years until retirement, I have invested in the Freedom Fund 2040. Fidelity names their funds after your "projected" retirement date. Over the course of 9 months and contributing $1800 I have managed to lose about $80, most of which occurred this year '08. I think there's a great benefit to investing into my fund monthly. Some months are up, some months are down, but by buying in every month, I'm not locked into paying what may be a high rate at the beginning of the year. If the market goes down as is predicted this year, I will continue to buy on the way down and hopefully be better off in the future when the market heads back up.