Trading Futures in a 401K

Real Money said:
Hi guys. I have a company 401(k) at T-Rowe Price that is starting to show a balance of about $6000. My question is this:

When I quit my job and the vested amount (let's call it $7,000) is released from the company investment scheme, is it realistic to have this transferred to a U.S. broker and then be allowed to trade CME, CBOT products?
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I would seek advice from Midland IRA. They are truly a good company to work with, and I would consult with them about your tax issues. Not all FCMs provide the same margins requirements for IRA, so you ned to be sure that your IRA meets their needs. We can help if necessary as we know each FCM's policy.
 
I did not like Midland as they charge per withdrawal otherwise they are the same as Mellennium. Hopefully someday I will take monthly withdrawals...:p

ES

MattZ said:
I would seek advice from Midland IRA. They are truly a good company to work with, and I would consult with them about your tax issues. Not all FCMs provide the same margins requirements for IRA, so you ned to be sure that your IRA meets their needs. We can help if necessary as we know each FCM's policy.
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ElectricSavant said:
I did not like Midland as they charge per withdrawal otherwise they are the same as Mellennium. Hopefully someday I will take monthly withdrawals...:p

ES
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I respect your personal experience.

Midland has an organized back office, and we know their office manager in Chicago who expedites the process for us. They get things done rather fast and pleasant to work with.
I do not have the same experience with Millenium (sadly). I hope they have improved, but we will stick with Midland for now.
 
Anybody know what kind of margin requirements there are for something like ES or MES in an IRA with futures available? I read on IB's website it says
  • Futures trading in an IRA margin account is subject to substantially higher margin requirements than in a non-IRA margin account. Margin rates in an IRA margin account may meet or exceed three times the overnight futures margin requirement imposed in a non-IRA margin account.
Hmm, I'm starting to think it doesn't make sense to do this because the IRA funds can't really be levered like a normal margin account. This would imply that the benefit of faster accumulation of savings due to tax deferral would be moot because the money would have reduced buying power anyway....
 
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IBs IRA futures margin is high at 3x, the ES for example requires $27,000 to hold overnight. TD Ameritrade is much lower at 1.5x, the ES overnight is $10,395.
 
We work with FCMs that allow low day trading margins on IRAs. Each FCMs has its own policy. PM me for more details.
 
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