Most self employed people should be looking at SEP-IRAs, instead of traditional IRAs because you can sock away much more per year. It's really a huge difference between the $4,000 traditional limit and 25% SEP limit (up to $42K).
Remember, an IRA (whether it be regular, Roth, SEP, etc.) is just an account "wrapper." What you buy inside of it also matters greatly. You can buy mutual funds, stocks, bonds, CDs, etc (but not most derivatives)... all depending on what your custodian offers. That's why many people prefer to open their IRAs with a brokerage company (like Schwab, e*Trade or TD Waterhouse) and not bank or insurance company -- where you are often limited to proprietary inhouse products and with ridiculous fees (hidden or not).
For those who are inexperienced, visit a solid no-load mutual fund company (Vanguard.com, or Troweprice.com) and have them hook you up.
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