If maximizing your IRA is important to you, you may want to learn these five important strategies from Sue Stevens.

Strategy 1: Start early.

Get your IRA contributions working as soon as possible.

Strategy 2: Plan which investments to hold in your IRA.

If you plan to hold inflation-linked bonds, hold Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities in your IRA; If your portfolio includes assets in a company retirement plan, such as a 401(k), use IRA assets to further diversify your entire portfolio.

Strategy 3: Convert part or all of your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

The Roth IRA has one huge advantage over the traditional IRA: You never have to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) at any age. And when you choose to take distributions, they are tax-free.

Strategy 4: Stretch out your IRA by choosing the right beneficiary option.

As part of your overall estate planning, you'll need to think about whom you want to name as your beneficiary. Naming a spouse as beneficiary to your IRA allows him or her to roll over your IRA after your death into his or her own IRA and name a new beneficiary. That can be an excellent way of stretching out the number of years over which you can take distributions.

Strategy 5: Use your RMDs to rebalance.

If you have a traditional IRA, you'll need to take annual distributions once you are 70 1/2 years of age. Use those distributions as part of your rebalancing process.