EV of SEP IRAs?

[Jinx]

This is my first year filing as a poker pro, so this is the first year where I have the option of putting money into a SEP IRA. Looking at it, if I max out my deposit to 44k, that should save me roughly 15k in taxes, and since I would put most of my extra money into index funds anyways, it seems like a smart bet. My initial plan was to max out deposits for 3 years or so, which would ensure I have a decent sum for when I'm 60.

However, how smart is it really to put money into a place where I wont be able to touch for 37 years, since I'm only 22 years old. I certainly don't know the future of the US economy, and I don't know where my life will take me. I have no immediate business or any other money making plans. However, I'm a decently smart guy, and I think that if I had some extra capital I could make good use with it.

So my question is, do you guys think for a person in my position the tax money saved from putting in into a SEP IRA is worth the fact I won't be able to use that money for other ventures when I'm say, 30 or 40 years old?

[mtgordon]

How much other investment money (that you would have access to) do you have now and how much would you guesstimate having when you are 30-40?

[Dazarath]

I would think so. If you're able to stock away 44k/year, then you're making almost 200k/year playing poker, right? I'm sure for most things that you needed, you could pull it from the remaining income, and this way you'd get the tax benefits on the money you put in the SEP.

[ilikeaces86_]

If your worried about having enough money after contributions maybe don't put the max in? Put in like 30k and that will give you an extra 14k a year to spend. Just a thought, you don't have to max it out.

[Jinx]

mtgordon: since I just started playing right now I'd have almost nothing else for investments. If poker doesn't go away and I can maintain my current salary I'd have like maybe 700k when I'm 30 before you factor in yield from funds and inflation.

ilikeaces86_: Well, I figure if I am gonna do this, I might as well put it in as fast as possible. And since I won't be doing any business ventures for most likely at least 5 years, there's no real difference between putting 30k a year till 100k and putting in 45k a year till 100k.

[stoxtrader]

I think you can only contribute up to 25% maximum of your income, so that would mean you needed to make 220k or so to max out the SEP.