I have 2 college degrees which I am proud of but they really did not teach me anything about creating wealth - which I am now finding is pretty important in the real world! 

There are so many ways to educate yourself on BP from the books, podcasts, webinars, and participating in forums.

It took me 2 hours to replace one of those test button outlets last weekend and I was pretty proud of myself… I have no way of knowing if they’re trying to rip me off or do unnecessary work.

The retirement account cannot be the participant's employer.

@Patricia MillerIf one spouse is self employed and therefore capable of sponsoring a Solo 401k, the other spouse may be able to participate in that Solo 401k, so long as they are a compensated employee of their spouse's business.If they were required to setup separate plans, then no, the spouse with the IRA could not lend money to their spouse's Solo 401k, as that would be a disqualified party transaction.  

These are partnerships / syndications where you have limited risk outside of your invested dollars but can participate alongside experts who did this for a living.  

How the family member expects to participate in the investment and how you plan to hold your investment will be large factors in how you set up the arrangement, and things you'll want to be armed with before talking to a lawyer or accountant (anything you can do to lower the amount of decisions they need to make/ask about should help keep their bills lower).  

Also since 2008 the labor participation rate has been steadily dropping up until 2016 when we've started to see somewhat of an improvement finally.

@Jeremy KarjaThe following IRA link covers the 401k participant loan rules. https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/retirement-plans-faqs-regarding-loans

The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (IRA LLC) must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control from the onset;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan;It is prohibited to borrow from your IRA;The Solo 401k may be invested in life insurance;The self-directed IRA may not be invested in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2016, the solo 401k contribution limit is $53,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of the solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;When distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)