[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith Mother’s Day around the corner, you might wonder if you should go beyond chocolates and flowers this year and give Mom something that can help her far into the future. What sort of financial gift can improve her life?

You could, for instance, encourage your mother to fund her IRA. As long as she has any earned income, she is eligible to invest in a traditional or Roth IRA (although a Roth IRA does have income limits which, if exceeded, will reduce and eventually eli...