This article was originally posted on WSJ by an author unaffiliated with Capital Investment Advisors.

If planning for your retirement seems too overwhelming, take a break and focus instead on getting your teen children or grandchildren on the right course toward their later years. High-school students who earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars at a summer job probably aren't thinking of putting money away for decades. But you might plant the retirement-planning idea by funding a small Roth individual retirement account for the teen—or by offering to set aside, say, $2 or $3 for every $1 of taxable income the teen himself or herself contributes. The IRA contribution for this year can be as much as the teen's taxable pay from work or $5,000, whichever is less. The account can be set up and funded as late as the tax-filing deadline next April. There's no deduction for funding a Roth, but in retirement withdrawals will be tax-free. (The teen's earnings from work and any investments determine if a return is required.)

Daniel Wiener, a money manager and newsletter editor in New York, didn't impress either his wife or his teen son when he first opened a Roth IRA for the boy. They "looked at me like I'd just announced we were moving to Siberia," he wrote in his Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors newsletter. But Mr. Wiener says the move helped his son, now 27 years old, accumulate not just dollars but also an appreciation of compounding investment gains over time.

Read on Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904800304576471932731567342.html?mod=WSJ_RetirementPlanning_MoreHeadlines.   This article was originally posted on WSJ by an author unaffiliated with Capital Investment Advisors. As a part of our effort to disseminate important relevant information to our clients, we frequently post articles from other sites on topics of interest. The information posted in this article does not necessarily reflect the views of our firm.