Another dumb question. Why would anybody trade futures outside of their IRA if they have the cash to live on and are good at trading? I'll have to check on Monday to see if this is possible at IB. I thought my Roth IRA was cash account only. This would save me a ton of taxes.
your cash is cash. your IRA is your IRA. They are basically unrelated. For example, someone with little in their IRA cannot just dump all their cash into one. your are limited to a max contribution each year. Once in your IRA, it is a pain to get out, and someone may have minimal cash. When starting out with lots of losses, it is better to trade your cash. You cannot deduct IRA losses. In your IRA, if you have cap gains, no tax! Your taxes are deferred until you start withdrawing money to live on.