This is a great comprehensive breakdown of your retirement strategy! I wanted to add one more consideration that might be relevant given your income levels - the timing of your solo 401k contributions throughout the year. Since you're making significant quarterly estimated tax payments on your 1099 income, you might want to consider making your solo 401k contributions quarterly as well rather than waiting until the end of the year. This can help reduce your estimated tax burden and improve cash flow. Also, with your combined income approaching $500k, you're definitely in territory where tax-loss harvesting in your taxable investment accounts could provide meaningful benefits alongside your retirement contributions. The tax savings from harvesting losses can be substantial at your marginal tax rate. One more thought - if your consulting business continues to grow, you might want to explore whether converting to an S-Corp election could provide additional tax savings on the self-employment tax portion, though this adds complexity and requires careful analysis of the tradeoffs. Really solid planning overall though! The combination of maxing traditional retirement accounts while doing backdoor Roth conversions gives you great tax diversification for the future.

Great question about quarterly contributions! You can absolutely make employer contributions to your solo 401k throughout the year - you don't have to wait until year-end. The key is making reasonable estimates based on your expected annual profit. If you end up contributing too much based on your actual final net self-employment earnings, you can always correct it before the tax filing deadline. Many solo 401k providers allow you to set up automatic monthly or quarterly contributions, which really helps with cash flow management and dollar-cost averaging into your investments. Regarding S-Corp election, the general rule of thumb is that it starts making sense when your net self-employment income is around $60,000-$80,000 or higher. At your $312,500 level, you could potentially save thousands in self-employment taxes. The basic idea is that you pay yourself a "reasonable salary" (subject to payroll taxes) and take the rest as distributions (not subject to SE tax). However, S-Corp election is a year-long commitment and adds complexity - you'll need payroll processing, quarterly payroll tax filings, and potentially more accounting costs. You'd also lose the ability to make solo 401k contributions based on 1099 income (since you'd now be a W2 employee of your own S-Corp), though you could potentially do a SEP-IRA or corporate 401k instead. Given your income level and the complexity of your situation, I'd definitely recommend running the numbers with a tax professional who can model the total tax impact across multiple years. The savings can be substantial, but the decision depends on your specific circumstances and long-term business plans.

Quick question - if my excess 401k contribution was returned in April 2026 (after tax filing deadline but before extension deadline), can I still avoid the 6% excess contribution penalty? Or am I too late since it wasn't returned by April 15th?

I went through this exact same situation last year and it was such a headache! The key thing to understand is that when excess contributions are returned from a Roth 401k, only the earnings portion is taxable, not the original contribution amount since you already paid taxes on that money. Your employer should have calculated the earnings on the excess amount and provided you with a breakdown. If they just returned a flat amount without separating the earnings, you'll need to ask them for the calculation. The earnings portion gets reported as taxable income in the year of the distribution. Make sure your 1099-R has the correct distribution code too - it should be code "P" for excess contribution corrective distributions. If it shows a different code like "1" or "J", contact your plan administrator immediately to get a corrected form. Filing with the wrong code can trigger unnecessary penalties and IRS notices. The good news is you caught this and got it corrected, which is the most important part. Just make sure all the paperwork is right before you file!

I totally feel your pain! I went through something very similar a couple years ago when I had to amend for a forgotten 1099-MISC. Those 971/977 codes are definitely standard for amended returns - the 971 just means they're going to mail you a notice (usually just a boring confirmation letter), and 977 confirms they got your electronic amendment. The fact that you filed the amendment only 4 days after your original is actually great timing! There's a real chance the IRS hadn't even touched your original return yet when the amendment came in, which means they'll likely process everything together. That's way faster than having to stop an already-started return and restart. I know waiting for $2,400 when you need it for car repairs is super stressful. While you're in limbo, definitely call around to repair shops about payment plans - you'd be amazed how many will work with you if you explain you're waiting on a tax refund. Some will even hold off on major repairs until your refund comes through. Since you e-filed, you're probably looking at 8-12 weeks from when those codes appeared (much better than 20+ for paper). Keep checking your transcript weekly but try not to drive yourself crazy with it. The money will come through - the IRS is just painfully slow with amendments. Hang in there!

I've been in this exact situation before and I know how stressful it is! The 971 and 977 codes are actually pretty standard for amended returns - the 971 just means they're going to send you a notice (usually just a confirmation letter), and the 977 confirms they received your electronic amendment. The timing actually works in your favor here. Since you caught the error and filed the amendment only 4 days after your original return, there's a good chance the IRS hadn't even started processing your original yet. When this happens, they often process everything together which can be much faster than having to stop and restart processing. I know $2,400 is significant when you need it for car repairs. While you wait, definitely call around to repair shops about payment plans - many are surprisingly flexible if you explain you're waiting on a tax refund. You could also prioritize just the most critical repairs for now. Since you e-filed the amendment, you're probably looking at 8-16 weeks from when those codes appeared (way better than 20+ for paper amendments). Keep checking your transcript weekly for updates. Don't panic if a 570 code shows up - that's just the official refund hold. You'll know things are moving when you see a 571 (hold released) followed by an 846 (refund issued). The waiting is definitely the hardest part, but your refund will come through! Hang in there.

This is such a great thread! I had a similar experience earlier this year and was initially worried my employer made an error. It's reassuring to see how normal this actually is. One thing I'd add for anyone in this situation - make sure to keep track of your total wages across all employers if you have multiple jobs. The FICA cap applies to your total earnings, not per employer. So if you work two jobs and together they put you over $168,600, you might end up overpaying Social Security taxes and need to claim a refund when you file your tax return. The IRS will credit you back any overpayment, but it's easier to track it proactively.

This happened to me last year and I was completely panicked thinking payroll messed up! Turns out it's totally normal once you hit that Social Security wage cap. One thing that helped me was setting up a simple reminder in my phone for January 1st to expect the Social Security tax to start coming out again. It's easy to forget and then wonder why your first paycheck of the new year is suddenly smaller. Also, if you get any bonuses or irregular pay between now and the end of the year, those won't have Social Security tax taken out either, which can make those checks feel extra hefty. Just remember it all resets in 2026!

Just wanted to add my experience since I went through this exact situation last year! I was on an HDHP through June 2023, then lost coverage when I switched to a new job with a traditional PPO plan. The key thing that helped me was getting a letter from my former employer's HR department confirming my exact HDHP coverage dates. This became really important when I filed my taxes because Form 8889 asks for specific months of coverage, and I wanted to make sure I had backup documentation. I ended up contributing the remaining prorated amount in February 2024 (before the tax deadline) and had no issues. My HSA provider (HSA Bank) just needed me to specify it was for tax year 2023 when I made the contribution online. One thing to watch out for - if you do get audited, the IRS will want to see proof of your HDHP coverage dates, not just your employment dates. Sometimes these don't match exactly if there's a waiting period or if coverage extends beyond your last day of work. I learned this from a tax professional who said employment records alone aren't sufficient proof of health plan coverage. Your calculation looks exactly right for individual coverage. Go ahead and make that contribution - you're legally entitled to it for the months you were covered!

This is exactly the situation I found myself in last year! You're absolutely correct about the prorated contribution limit - since you had HDHP coverage for 7 months, your maximum contribution for 2024 is indeed $2,421 (7/12 * $4,150). The good news is that you can definitely make up the difference with personal contributions. The IRS allows HSA contributions for any tax year up until the filing deadline (usually April 15th of the following year), regardless of whether you currently have HDHP coverage, as long as you were eligible for some portion of that tax year. A few important points to remember: - When you make the contribution, specify that it's for tax year 2024 - You'll report this on Form 8889 when filing your taxes - Personal HSA contributions are "above-the-line" deductions, so they reduce your adjusted gross income - Keep documentation of your HDHP coverage dates (July 31, 2024 end date) in case of any future questions Your math looks spot-on. You should be able to contribute that remaining $1,371 without any issues. Just make sure your HSA provider (Vanguard) processes it correctly for the 2024 tax year when you submit it.