Taxes question on investing with poker money

[Sniper]

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Fish won't have any earned income, unless he has a summer job or something, so he can't contribute to the IRA.

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But, Fishhooks is estimating roughly 10K income for the year.

[tshort]

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Fish won't have any earned income, unless he has a summer job or something, so he can't contribute to the IRA.

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But, Fishhooks is estimating roughly 10K income for the year.

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I think OP was assuming poker earnings are unearned income. I think they used to be unearned, but are now earned.

[FishHooks]

I'm pretty well versed on the investment side of things, taxes is where my trouble lies. However I'm thinking of investing in index funds in a general account not IRA, my thinking is I would like to have some money when I get out of college while I search for a job, furnish an apartment/house etc. Does that make sence, or do most people still feel an IRA would be best?

My parents are paying for my college (dorm, books, food), I have scholarships to cover tuition, and they dont itemize on taxes. Would it be beneficial for me to then "pay" for it myself so I can deduct that from winnings maybe (while letting them just transfer the funds into my bank)?

Also I'm not clear on how bonuses should be claimed, is there a book or some site that has tons of info on this.

[Ed Miller]

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Ed, that's very good advice. One problem, though, is that you can only contribute up to your earned income to a Roth IRA. Fish won't have any earned income, unless he has a summer job or something, so he can't contribute to the IRA.

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He can Schedule C his poker.