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too much taxes and of course you probably are not planning for retirement. Participating in a 401(k) plan should be your first stop on the road to investing. Note: some 401(k) plans allow for after-tax contributions although most people take the pre-tax route. Also the allowable contributions to a 401(k) plan may differ for highly compensated individuals.

403(b) - Also named after the corresponding IRS regulation section, the 403(b) plan is somewhat similar to 401(k) with the exception that it is mainly offered by the government and non-profit organizations to their employees. With this type of plan you can only invest in annuities and mutual funds and the maximum contributions are the lesser of $30,000 or 25% of income. If you don't have a 401(k) plan available at your place of work, you may have a 403(b) plan available instead.

SARSEP / SEP IRA - Well, if you are out of luck with 401(k) or 403(b) and if you are self-employed or work for a small company (25 or fewer employees), you may have a Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SARSEP) available. This plan also works by making pre-tax deductions from employee paychecks. This type of plan is much simpler to administer (for the employer) than 401(k) or 403(b). The plan usually allows its participants to choose from several investment options such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds or a combination of them through an IRA (hence SEP IRA) account. As IRA accounts go, you cannot borrow against your funds in a SEP plan.

KEOGH - This plan is for self-employed individuals and comes in different flavors. The plan works like an IRA. Contributions are tax deductible and the gains are tax-deferred until the distribution age of 59 1/2. KEOGH plans generally allow for higher contributions but they take some paperwork to setup with the brokerage of your choice. …