Now, you can't do this with yourself, your business, and certain family members, due to the prohibited transaction rules governed by the tax code 4975. 2) Some individuals have large pre-tax 401ks that they rollover and then convert to the Roth IRA, paying the taxes now so they dont have to pay later out of the Roth. 

You can also set up a self-directed Traditional IRA and fund it with a rollover from your 401k (if eligible for rollover). 

If your goal is to open a franchise, specifically, and aren't just looking for an investment for your IRA and your IRA is not a ROTH, you might research doing a different arrangement known as ROBS (RollOver as a Business Startup). 

I know I can switch or roll over to my current employer 401K (which I'm currently investing the minimum match). 

Account ClosedIt depends on what you mean by investing in a business.To invest in your own business, you must use a Rollover as Business Startup (ROBS) plan. 

Find a lender willing to be in 2nd position or find family or friends willing to invest in your project---if they have IRAs, they can roll over into a self-directed and invest in your project. 

This will give them ability to rollover other retirement accounts and make new contributions.

Should he just rollover and die?

In fact, I was able to rollover my 401k into a self-direct IRA which I use for RE.

Thus it limits a high-income individual's (like @Andrey Y.) ability to contribute to a backdoor Roth IRA to a pro-rata basis rather than the full annual limit ($5,500/year) unless he's willing to convert the rollover IRA into a Roth and take the one-time tax hit.Out of curiosity, do any of your investors with 1099 income use solo-401k's to fund their real estate ventures?