A retirement savings account will never be named as such, but there are certain types of investments that simply work best when saved for retirement. Among them - The annuity. Many annuities have maturation periods that go until retirement, and most have a surrender fee that must be paid if money is taken out of there early. IRAs. The IRA is a retirement account that is named a retirement account, but investors should know the difference between the IRA and the Roth IRA, and the instances in which they could take advantage of both types.