I'm sure it's been covered many times l, but thanks tor the insight.
My girlfriend wants to finally start saving for retirement and we're thinking an IRA is a good place to start.  My question is which one would be better for her. She is 26 and Shes in school and makes very little money right now. (Like less than 20k). Half of that is 1099 if that makes a difference at all.  I suggested a ROTH only because that's what I know and have, but someone suggested a traditional because it could potentially lower her AGI and maybe help keep With medicaid.
Is there any other helpful info that would help decide?
As you can imagine she won't me contributing a whole lot each year so maybe it really doesn't matter.  

Thanks for any help!

Roth.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/retirement/roth-traditional-ira-calculator.aspx

Roth.

Is there a reason why Roth is the clear choice?   Is Roth just generally better or for her situation it's the right choice.
I'm always trying to learn as much about this stuff as I can.

http://www.rothira.com/traditional-ira-vs-roth-ira

The return is the same on both if she is at the same tax rate. It's just a question of will she be at a higher tax rate later compared to now?

This ^^^

IMHO, she isn't going to be at a lower tax rate later in life than she is at now (with very little income) so the clear winner is Roth. Traditional only wins out if, and ONLY IF, she is trying to get other benefits etc and she needs the AGI reduction to qualify. IE, she makes $20k per year, she would qualify for XYZ benefit, a $4k value if she made less than $15k. In that case she would be better to do a traditional IRA, contribute at least $5k, and take the benefits. If she isn't concerned about benefits and wants the best option for long-term account balance, I just don't see many possible ways she could benefit by going traditional.

Obviously that all changes when income levels change. IE, my wife and I, on certain years (depending on my OT and her side-business) bump over the limit for the child tax credit on federal income taxes. In those years I contribute additional to my 401-k (similar platform to a traditional IRA) in order to lower my AGI to the point that I qualify for the Child Tax Credit.

Thanks everyone.  This helps a lot!