In 1997, the Roth IRA was introduced. Since then, many people have converted all or a portion of their existing traditional IRAs to a Roth IRAs, where interest earned may be completely tax-free. This benefit applies as, once a taxpayer has held the account for five years, no taxes will be owed when the money is withdrawn at retirement. This is the opposite of a traditional IRA where a tax break is received in the present, but income taxes are paid in retirement.