I've got a four-letter word for you: Roth. It's not one of the first words a non-native English speaker would want to learn. And it's certainly not as sexy a word as, say, sexy, but it can be worth a lot of money.

Combined with the word IRA, Roth can legally get you out of paying taxes on at least some of the cash you'll earn in this lifetime. How often do you legally get out of paying taxes?

The Roth is the most interesting of the 11 varieties of IRAs available. In non-alphabet soup terms, an IRA is simply a personal retirement savings plan. The Roth IRA, introduced in 1997, is one of two most frequently used types of IRAs.

Here's how it works: Earn your paycheck, pay your income taxes and contribute to an IRA. Your investment grows, and when you retire, you can pocket the earnings without having to pay federal income taxes on them. You can also withdraw your original contributions (which you've already paid taxes on) at any time without being taxed or otherwise penalized.

A traditional IRA, the other of the two most popular IRA options, allows you to deduct contributions from your taxable income the year they are made. If you make $40,000 a year and contribute $4,000 toward a traditional IRA, your taxable income would drop to $36,000. It's a quick way to potentially shave a little off your tax bill, but it won't get you out of paying taxes on the money your money earns. Only a Roth can do that.
 
“The Roth IRA is a great vehicle,” said Joseph Montanaro, a certified financial planner with the local financial services giant USAA.

With a traditional IRA, you have to pay taxes on your earnings as they are withdrawn during retirement. And you usually have to pay a 10 percent penalty to withdraw your contributions early. With a Roth IRA, Montanaro said, “Whatever you contribute to it you can always access without any taxes or penalties.”

That's making the Roth IRA an increasingly popular dual-purpose investment, he said. Someone could easily invest their income and allow it to grow over time, using the principles of compounded interest.

They could then pull out their initial contributions to send a kid to college, put a down payment on a house or take a dream vacation while leaving their earnings in their account to continue making money.

Of course, the Roth isn't perfect. If you're single and make more than $100,000 a year, you're limited on the amount you could invest through a Roth account.

For everyone else, it can be a great moneymaker, especially the younger you are when you start. Why not give your money a little more time to make you a lot more money and save your tax dollars if you can?