Re: Brand Spanking New
 

another great read is Real Money: Sane Investing in An Insane World, by Jim Cramer....that deals with individual stocks...but if you want to jump in with some index funds or mutual funds, Fidelity Contra Fund, run by William Danoff is considered the best mutual fund in the world...and i would expect to have them finish the year out strongly

Re: Brand Spanking New
 

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I thought you couldn't put money in a regular or roth IRA unless it was earned income(like from a job)? So a SEP-IRA would probably be the best option?

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That's correct. If you have no earned income at all (or poker is the lion's share of your income), then you'll probably be declaring as a professional, and all the poker income would become self-employment income, and a SEP is a good choice.

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Poker income is "earned income", atleast according the following cardplayer article:

Link

So my understanding is that it can be used to fund a Roth or whatever. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Re: Brand Spanking New
 

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I thought you couldn't put money in a regular or roth IRA unless it was earned income(like from a job)? So a SEP-IRA would probably be the best option?

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That's correct. If you have no earned income at all (or poker is the lion's share of your income), then you'll probably be declaring as a professional, and all the poker income would become self-employment income, and a SEP is a good choice.

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Poker income is "earned income", atleast according the following cardplayer article:

Link

So my understanding is that it can be used to fund a Roth or whatever. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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There are different ways to treat poker income. You can treat it as self-employment income (assuming you can demonstrate that you are a "professional") in which case it is qualified for IRA contributions, including a SEP.

Or you can treat it as a gambling prize, a la a slot machine jackpot. If you do it that way, then no, it doesn't qualify for IRA contributions.

EDIT: BTW, the tax code has changed a ton since that law suit. I think the article is borderline misinformation.

Re: Brand Spanking New
 

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Here are some of my favorite stock market/money management books:

The ABC of Stock Speculation (Written in 1903)

How I Made 2,000,000 in the Stock Market by Nicolas Darvas


Stock Market Profits Without Forcasting by Leon Allen (Written in the 1930's)

Investment Survival by Gerald Loeb

The Richest Man in Babylon


Good Luck

P.S

Ed is 1000% right about penny stocks.

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Do any of these books teach the basics about the stock market? I have a 401k, I have an IRA, I know the difference between diversification, large carp, small cap, etc.

What I don't know about are stocks (buying and selling), shorting, options, bids and calls (wtf are these?), PE ratios, stuff like that.

I guess I need something like a stock market dictionary that would explain these things in words that don't include other market terms that I don't know.

Re: Brand Spanking New
 

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I guess I need something like a stock market dictionary that would explain these things in words that don't include other market terms that I don't know.

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The web is a wonderful place, you might start at investopedia to learn some of the basic terminology.

Re: Brand Spanking New
 

Not sure if this has been mentioned:

You don't start with penny stocks and work your way up.
You start out with the exact same stocks someone else might invest in, just smaller amounts.

Think of this as like playing $.50/1 Holdem, then working your way up to higher limits.

Buying penny stocks is more like switching to Blackjack out of boredom.

Penny stocks are very speculative, very volatile low value stocks; the vast majority of which are worth jack [censored].

Every once in a while, a low value stock takes off and a few people make good money off it. Most often, they go even lower or the companies they represent go under completely.

There are people who make big profits pimping essentially worthless penny stocks to the gullible (seen the movie Boiler Room?).

Just as you wouldn't advise someone to play Pai Gow then switch to Holdem, don't start with penny stocks

Re: Brand Spanking New
 

Thanks for the advice... noted... [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Brand Spanking New
 

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books teach the basics about the stock market?

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Motley Fool is free. (See links in section "Investing Education" in the green headline.)