Wife & Husband in the same SOLO401K Account?

Wife & Husband in the same SOLO401K Account?

Daniel DietzPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Reedsburg, WI · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 857 votes

Hello all, 

We are getting ever closer to our purchase of 12 units from a retiring friend of ours and getting pretty excited! One of the areas we are still working on is in HOW we want to hold them - some with conventional loans, some in SDIRA/SOLO 401K Accounts etc... 

I am going to be calling a couple of you Pros on here in the Self Directed Field this next week to decide on a provide but thought these questions might help other readers also.

The three main remaining questions come down to this;

1) Can a wife & husband who are both owners in the same LLC business, but only one of them takes an income from it (in the form of a K-1) BOTH contribute into the SAME Solo401K account? I thought I read where this is possible, but am having trouble finding it. The thought is to combine funds to be able to purchase a more expensive property. My understanding is that existing Traditional IRAs can be rolled into a Solo401k, but existing ROTHs are NOT allowed to be rolled into a Solo401K. As a side note, once Traditional IRAs are rolled over, THEN they can be converted into a 'Sub Account' of ROTH IRA, with the taxes being due of course. Does this seem correct?

2) I currently have a ROTH SDIRA account that owns 1/3 of an LLC that holds properties for rent. I would like to simplify things now that I know about Solo401Ks but cant roll that ROTH into one. Is there any way that I can "sell that 1/3 ownership" to myself by buying if WITH my Traditional IRA Funds - in essence switching out my ROTH finds with Traditional IRA funds?

3) It # 2 is not possible, as the LLC goes forward buying more properties, can "my 1/3 slice of the pie" be a combination of both my ROTH funds for the existing properties and a newly formed Solo401k for the yet to be bought properties?

Thanks, Dan Dietz

0Reply
10 views

1 Reply

Jump to latestLatest
  • Solo 401k Expert · Anaheim Hills, CA · Member since 2012 · 18k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    9y

    Dan, to answer your questions:

    1) If both husband and wife are involved in the same business they both can participate in the Solo 401k plan. This will give them ability to rollover other retirement accounts and make new contributions. Contributions can only be made from the earned self-employment income. If the plan allows for Roth conversions then you are correct - pre-tax funds can be converted to Roth.

    2) No, you can't.

    3) If I understand your question correctly the answer is no to this one, transactions involving your retirement account must be 'arms length'. You mentioned in #2 that you want to simply things, what you are proposing here is the opposite of simplifying. 

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.