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Well, IRA stands for Individual Retirement Account. Basically, it is specific money set aside for retirement. From that point, however, all the other products come into play. Once you have set aside money, you can then choose what "vehicle" you want to put it in. CD's, Stocks, Bonds, Money Market accounts, ect. are all options. There are also two main types of IRA's, Traditional and Roth. Tradtional IRA's are accounts where the money is put into it before taxes are taken out. Roth IRAs are post-tax dollars. I would suggest a Roth if you have no current IRA funds, but it would be up to you to find out what would be best suited for you.
Other than that, hrdwareguy did a fine job describing those products.
It will make things a lot less confusing for you if you keep in mind that it is the actual money, not specifically the account, that is tagged for retirement. Basically, your IRA funds are mobile, you can switch what vehicle they are in.
One other thing to keep in mind is that although the money is generally used for retirement, there are exceptions that you can withdraw from the account(s) without penalty. One of the more popular exceptions is a first-time home purchase. If you think about it, it can be hugely advantageous. Let's pretend you have a 401(k) plan that matches 100% of what you put in up to a certain percentage. If you put $5,000 pre-tax into an account, you will have $10,000.00 for a down payment. There are many laws limiting it, but check into them if you are thinking of buying a home...
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Just in case you were wondering...
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