Qualifying for a Solo 401k

[Gabe C.]

I talked to the always helpful @Dmitriy Fomichenko a while back about SoloKs, SDIRAs and Checkbook LLCs and despite the SoloK being the obvious best choice, I came to the conclusion that since I don't make any schedule C income, that I just didn't qualify. 

That was a few months ago when it was more exploratory. Now I'm ready to pull the trigger, and it pains me to have to go with a SDIRA when the perks of the K are so much better. I plan on getting a non-recourse loan and I'd love to avoid UBIT. I thought I'd make one last ditch effort to see what others who previously didn't qualify for a Solo 401k have done to (legally) qualify. Maybe there's something I have within my means to creatively make it happen?

Is there a minimum amount of money you have to earn? I saw in another post that you don't need an entity necessarily. I have a few skills that I could probably turn into side money, but I'm not sure what the target is exactly or what I need to earn for how long. Has anyone figured out an easy solution to this?

I searched around like crazy for this topic, but for some reason "solo 401k" only brings up 1 forum post... and none of the posts were as deep divey as I wanted. Search fails me from time to time. :-\