Hey- I am hoping we can talk a bit about some good types of investments for a college student; I'm sure plenty of us are in this boat. I have been making pretty good money playing poker (not bragging) and figure it's pointless to leave it sitting in a regular bank account. I have heard of Roth IRA's, but that's about the extent of my knowledge on investing money. I know I can google this topic, but thought it'd be good to generate discussion with people who have done some investing here. For a college student, what kind of options for investing are there? Which are more optimal? Sorry for the ignorance on the subject, and thanks for any advice.

go to https://www.schwab.com/ and open an account. there are no fees and they also have great free checking with interest. they will give you a free 30-45 minute phone consultation to all new members and this person can get you a great start. good luck

Thanks for the great response. I luckily have zero debt; my school is paid for, and I have no major expenses. I estimate at this rate I will make $75,000-$100,000 a year playing poker. I'm not sure what a good percentage of that would be to invest, which is another question I need answered, lol (I'm generally a smart person, but have zero experience with this). I'd rather not invest in something very volatile and risky. Instead, I'd like something that grows steadily and is relatively risk-free, and I don't plan on touching this money until much later years in life. Thanks again for the help

There are actually a lot of different investments you can do with poker winnings, and doing any type of investment is better than nothing. You can set up Individual Retirement Accounts which are either funded with pre-tax dollars, grow tax-deferred, and taxed upon withdrawal (traditional IRA) or are funded with after-tax dollars, grow tax-free, and are tax free upon withdrawal (Roth IRA). Both of these IRA's have limits of $5k per year and have withdrawal restrictions until 59 1/2.

Another good investment that a self-employed professional poker player can do is a SEP IRA. This is where you can invest around 20% of your net profit (up to $40k) per year, which acts just like a traditional IRA. A SEP IRA is a great investment for tax savings, retirement savings, and also has a much larger limit than other IRA's.<span> </span>All IRA's can be setup into most mutual funds and are just regular mutual funds with the tax benefits.

If you want a more liquid investment you can also do a straight mutual fund. With a regular mutual fund, you get the diversification of stocks and don't have age restrictions like with IRA's. A regular mutual fund is funded with after-tax money and if held for over 1 year, the earnings are only taxed as "capital gains", which is only 15% max per year. If you are worried about getting at your money for any reason, then regular mutual funds can be a really good investment.

I also believe that variable life insurance can be a great investment for a young poker player who has some extra money that can be put away.<span> </span>When you �front load� (put away a lot at once) a variable life insurance policy, you get the advantage of an investment into the separate account (which is ran by mutual fund companies) and life insurance.<span> </span>This takes care of both needs and also has tax free earnings and tax-free withdrawal.<span> </span>People who are 1) Younger 2) Have a significant amount to invest (>$10K per year) 3) Want life insurance 4) Want an Investment that is more liquid in terms of age than IRA�s, can benefit from variable life insurance.

If you ever have any specific investing questions I'd be more than happy to answer.

CardX

I'm assuming you're being sarcastic. Those numbers are conservatively estimated.

It's actually not hard to project expected income with a $25,000 safety gap.

Grrrr. Don't turn this into a PD post. His question has to do with investment advice. He doesn't owe capital budgeting explanations regarding his income to anyone here.

GRRRR. It's not about turning it into PD discussion. It's about getting this youngster to think beyond "I'm gonna make between 75k and 100k play poker and that's a conservative guess'. How long does he plan on playing poker? Is he graduating from college with a degree and if so what major? Is he gonna play full time? Does he only play online? What happens if there is more legisltion that makes internet poker even tougher?

You all want to tell him how to invest his money without knowing what his plans are for the future. Reckless IMO

i <3 that all of ot are mini detectives due to all the police tv they watch.....but just quit hating.....some ppl inherit well....some get lucky in different ventures.....the source of his money doesnt fucking matter

hell, maybe hes a liar, would that make you feel better?

and plus this post is interesting, i know next to nothing about investments

How do you know that some of the people posting here haven't worked for the companies you mentioned or similar firms? You don't. Maybe you should quit making assumptions.

How do you know that there is anyone here that has worked for those companies. Maybe you should stop making assumptions

alright, well is anyone out there qualified to give him advice? lets do it up

Dolphin, while I appreciate you bringing up the importance of considering the future, no one is telling me how to invest my money. I asked what the options were, and what may be optimal for a student in my situation. The responses simply lay out those options and give a good objective rundown on the various types of investments. For the record, I will be finishing school with a degree, and plan on playing poker for my primary income for the duration of my college years. I totally agree with you that it is extremely important to figure out where my future is headed before throwing my money around.

Your mom buying an aggressive mutual fund and A Void playing poker are independent events. He stated in his original post he doesn't want something too aggressive. A good planner will work with him regarding his timeframe and risk tolerance and take his thoughts about volatility into consideration, as well as educate him on the pros and cons of each option. Not sure how you're correlating those events and why you would ask questions about his income potential from poker and somehow equate it to your mom's buying an aggressive mutual fund. Taking your mom's feelings into considerations for setting up an investment plan for A Void is negative EV. IMO

Thanks again. I can assure you I have a good, grounded head on my shoulders. I do not think I will ever "conquer" the poker world, or that I am very talented. I do know that with consistent improvement and a certain volume I can and will achieve those numbers. I will take all investing advice and measures with caution.