IRA stands for individual retirement account. Roth IRA is a more recently created IRA option, named after former Delaware Senator. Both options are long term retirement investment mechanisms established by Congress, broadly applicable to most tax payers. Distributions from traditional IRAs are taxed as ordinary income while distributions from Roths are not taxed at all.
IRAs are funded by individual tax payers, the investment decisions reside with those tax payers, and the ultimate value of those accounts lie in the combination of savings discipline and investment success.... no guarentees of results.
You may want to visit the site below and read some of the general articles on IRAs:
http://www.rothira.com