@Ryan Bakke, CPA I am currently looking to scale my income, however, not very successful currently. That being said, the trading income would come in via 1099. I use prop firms to trade to avoid using my own capital and add leverage. Their payouts is provided via 1099. I can deduct the evaluation account fees but that is the extend of ways to reduce some taxes on trading income. I know there are short-term rental tax loop holes but I am no longer interested in short term rentals at this time.

Have you looked into opening a simple Brokerage Account? then invest monthly payments into the S&P500 or Nasdaq. I would invest as much as you are comfortable with to really benefit from compound interest. When it comes to a 401k, I am a contrarian and really think 401k are a scam, I call a 401k a Life Deferral Plan...you can't touch that money until you are 59.5, you still end up paying taxes on them, just later on in life. And in my opinion, taxes will only go up from here as well. With a brokerage account and automatic monthly transfers into the S&P or Nasdaq, that money is there and can accessed whenever you want (although should be kept for retirement age if that's your goal). If one day you decide to invest in RE instead, you have that money at your fingertip.