<prompt> Human: Ive been doing a lot of reading on the topic of retirement. Im 21 years old and have been told it would be ideal for me to open up an IRA account right now to take advantage of compound interest. Financial experts and folks often speak about the benefits of having a retirement savings account. Ive been on the prowl to open up a good IRA Roth or Trad, not sure yet account, but what are the bad things about these accounts?My dad complains that the compound interest can be deceiving because I can lose money on these accounts. My cousin, whos a life insurance agent trying to sell me a lifetime plan even though I dont have any fucking dependents says that life insurance is a better investment when Im still young, and that insurance companies dont fold as often as businesses in the stocks. These cons sound ungrounded and speculative to me, so Id like to hear more about what rfinance thinks about whats wrong with these savings.  <response>: Insurance like what you describe makes money... For insurance salesmen. The approach I prefer is 401k Roth IRA. I Opening a Roth soon is likely a good idea since youre likely to be making less now than you will for most of your career. 