There is no high-income restriction on contributing to a traditional IRA. Only the possible tax deduction is limited, however earnings on any contribution are still fully tax deferred.

>, you won't be able to sell that in any year where you make income above 40K because of "capital gains"

Let's clarify: for U.S. tax purposes, if your taxable income (which is much lower than gross income) as a single filer is below about $40K (double that if married filing jointly), your tax rate on long term capital gains is zero (for now). But even if you go over that, you still receive a highly favorable rate of only 15%, it doesn't go higher than that until taxable income gets up around $450K, so if you must sell with a gain, it's still quite tax-friendly. (Unfortunately, some states such as California have no special capital gains tax rate).

  Most importantly, try not to pick winners. that's a fools errand. 

But start with index and etf because if you start with individual stock you are already over 10% ;)

This series of articles https://www.investopedia.com/articles/basics/11/3-s-simple-i... gives a good overview of how to start investing. However, it don't cover country specific things like taxes and 401k.

Edit: Disclaimer: I know probablay less than throw8383833jj about finance so This is NOT financial advise.