IRA (Individual Retirement Account) come in two flavors, Roth and Traditional, with somewhat different rules regarding tax treatment during the years you are building up your nest egg and during withdrawal years. There are other rules, including contribution limits that apply to each - and there are good resources that explain these issues. Placing your IRA with a good firm - a discount brokerage, full-service brokerage or mutual fund account - is an important decision to make at the start of this process. There are certain characteristics that the best IRA firms possess that will not only provide with better net returns, but also let you sleep peacefully at night.

The best firms for handling your IRA and act as a trustworthy custodian of your money would have:

1. No annual custodian fees for maintaining your account. After all, you are placing substantial money with the firm already, and unless the company's only job is to provide security for your money, there is no reason to charge you a fee for this service.
2. Accounts must be SIPC insured so that your money is safe in the event of bankruptcy of the firm.
3. Easy ways to deposit and remit money from your account. Most brokerage houses and mutual fund companies allow for direct deposit to and from your bank account. Wire transfers as well as postal instructions should work as well.
4. Have a few physical branches where you can walk-in and talk to a person face to face easily. This helps increase trust and the knowledge that you can get to speak someone personally.
5. Access to portfolio management tools - which can help track transactions, tax implications, maintains transaction history, and helps with asset allocation.

Once you these basics down, the remaining characteristics depend on your investment style. If you are going with a mutual fund directly, it is important that they have the best characteristics for a mutual fund. Vanguard and TIAA-CREF are good examples here. Going with a discount brokerage or full-service brokerage, you should expect a wide-variety of investment choices - stocks, bonds, mutual funds and they should be easily tradable online or through the phone. TD Ameritrade, ETrade are good discount brokerages and Merrill-Lynch is a good full-service brokerage. For frequent trading, look to Interactive Brokers as a low-fees brokerage house.

The best IRA firms tend to treat their customers very well, making it extremely simple to move money and conduct trade. They are often backed up by excellent customer service as well, and they are well insured.