Can anyone enlighten me whether we, individual traders, can use part of our earnings to contribute to a traditional IRA? I heard that our income is not "earned" and therefore does not qualify, but I'm not sure. How about a Roth IRA or other similar retirement-related schemes? Where can I look to get the definitive answer or some authentic information source that does not cost $hundreds per hour? Any suggestions or insights will be very welcome. TIA.
If you operate your trading business as a sole proprieter like most do, then no, you can't contribute to a retirement plan. That's because, as you said, you have no "earned income." If, OTOH, you trade under a separate entity, such as a corporation or LLC, then yes, you can contribute to a retirement plan. Here's a page with some info on this stuff: http://www.traderstatus.com/retireplan.htm