I have a 401K account with my company. Is it possible to move the money in my 401K to an IRA account so that I am able to trading futures in that IRA account? The only investment option in my 401K is buying mutual funds, which really sucks. I have no plan to change my job at this time. Thanks. - Clearpicks
It can be done, but I don't know about the timing. I converted my 401K to direct rollover IRA (which is good to go for futures) after I left the company with whom I had the 401K.
Some companies are offering self-directed 401(k)'s - it wouldn't hurt to ask your HR about it. Don't mention futures in your conversation, though. If they hear that word they likely won't hear anything else beyond that point.
Some companies (specially the big ones) do let their employees invest their 401k money with a specific broker. You might want to ask your 401k representative/HR if there is any such plan offered. Also remember to ask if any fees associated with it. If you have worked with other companies previously but still have 401k money with them, you can certainly roll them over to a rollover-IRA (i.e., non-contributory traditional IRA).
If you don't have one already, why don't you just trade a traditional or Roth (if you qualify) IRA? If you don't have one yet then you can contribute $3000 for the year. That's enough to trade one contract in lots of products. It's a start. If a trader can't make it happen trading 1 contract, it's not going to be pretty when s/he's trading many... but that's just what I think.