The Roth IRA is misnamed.

It’s not that it honors the wrong person or is a snoozer of a moniker.

It’s the Individual

Retirement

Arrangement part. It’s so much more than a retirement account.

Today is Roth IRA Movement day, an idea promoted by Illinois-based

. You'll find more than 100 personal finance bloggers

today extolling the virtues of this savings account.

And that's It's Only Money's key point. It's time to stop thinking of a Roth as retirement account. Instead, think of it as a versatile savings accounts.

Savings for Emergencies, College, Home and Heirs.

First, a Roth is a no-brainer for any young adult. It's also a no-brainer for your minor children, as

and

point out. A Roth allows them to

AND withdraw the savings tax free after age 59-and-a-half. ... If they want.

Such tax-free withdrawals are especially appealing given our large national debt, for which we'll likely require higher tax rates to pay down, as

.

It's true that unlike with traditional IRAs, you can't deduct Roth contributions from taxes. The tradeoff is that your withdrawals are tax-free in retirement, which should be much more valuable.

How can Roths be used as

Let us count the ways:

Emergency savings account.

Aside fro tax-free withdrawals in retirement, here's the other big Roth advantage: You can ALWAYS withdraw your Roth contributions. There's no waiting period. There's no penalty. What you put in is always yours to take out, largely because you've already paid taxes on that amount. This is not true traditional IRA and 401(k)s.

Home savings account.

You can use up to $10,000 in principal or earnings from a Roth to buy a home, provided you've had the money in your Roth for five years and you haven't owned a home in two years. Your spouse can also put $10,000 of a Roth toward the same home. That's up to $20,000 for a downpayment.

Backup college savings account.

Remember, you can always withdraw your contributions. You can also withdraw earnings on education-related expenses for yourself or extended family members without paying a 10 percent penalty, provided you've held the Roth for five years. You'll pay taxes on the earnings amounts, though.



Inheritance account for heirs.

You don't have to take required minimum withdraws after you turn 70-and-a-half, so you can pass on a large account balance in your Roth to beneficiaries when you die. Their withdrawals, or distributions, also are tax free, provided they follow

.

Another emergency-savings aspect: You can also

on Roth IRA withdrawals if you use the money toward health insurance premiums while you're unemployed, medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income or to set up distributions of equal and periodic payments over the course of the rest of your life. Before undertaking that last option, talk to a financial planner or tax consultant.

It's Only Money's 2010 column "

" focused on whether you should convert a traditional IRA or 401(k) into a Roth. It came at the time of a unique tax break that has since expired. But the pros and cons listed in the column still apply today.

In pushing this day,

partnered with a website that promotes opening Roths at certain discount brokerages. It's Only Money doesn't approve or disapprove of this. You should know, however, that you can open a Roth at your bank or credit union. They just won't give you access to as many investment options as discount or traditional brokerages will.

For more specifics on Roths, read the Internal Revenue Service's rules for Roths in

.

offers unusual Roth IRA strategies. Wealthier taxpayers can't contribute to a Roth, but there is a way around that.

--Follow It's Only Money on

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