Does Contributing to a Roth Solo 401K Affect My Roth IRA Eligibility?

You're right to be confused! Your tax professional seems to be mixing things up. Roth Solo 401k contributions and Roth IRA contributions don't directly impact each other's eligibility. The Solo 401k (whether Traditional or Roth) has its own contribution limits based on your business income and the annual cap ($23,000 for 2025 if you're under 50). Meanwhile, Roth IRA eligibility is based on your income falling below certain thresholds ($153,000 for single filers in 2025). With your AGI around $31,500, you're well below the Roth IRA income limits. You should be able to max out both accounts as long as you have enough earned income to cover the contributions. The only limitation would be if your total contributions across all retirement accounts exceed your actual earned income for the year, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

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I think your tax pro might be confusing the rules for SIMPLE IRAs with Roth IRAs. With SIMPLE IRAs, there actually are some limitations when you have multiple retirement plans. But for your specific situation with a Solo 401k and Roth IRA, they're completely separate contribution limits as others have said. The Solo 401k falls under the 401k annual limits ($23,000 for 2025) and the Roth IRA has its own limit ($7,000 for 2025 if under 50). The only things that would prevent you from contributing to a Roth IRA would be: 1. Having income above the eligibility threshold (which you're nowhere near) 2. Not having enough earned income to cover your contributions 3. Being over 73 with no earned income (new RMD age

I wonder if your tax professional is thinking about the "overall contribution limit" which is $69,000 for 2025 across qualified plans. But that's mostly relevant for people with very high incomes who max out both employee and employer contributions. With your income level, there's no way you'd hit that limit. You should definitely be able to contribute to both your Roth Solo 401k and your Roth IRA as long as you have sufficient earned income to cover both. Just make sure you're tracking your business profit carefully, since your Solo 401k contributions can't exceed your actual business profit (after deducting the employer portion of self-employment tax).