Avoid the PDF black hole. This educational roadmap helps you organize eligibility, provider paths, account steps, documents, deadlines, and CPA questions before you open anything.
It is a planning workspace, not a provider recommendation, tax filing service, legal document service, brokerage, custodian, or investment adviser.
Use these prompts to locate your stage and prepare a clean question packet for your CPA, provider, bank, attorney, or retirement-plan specialist.
What type of self-employment income do you have? Any full-time employees other than a spouse?
Considering, choosing provider, waiting on documents, opening accounts, funding, or annual upkeep?
Standard brokerage, custom provider, self-directed/alternative asset path, or professional review first?
Eligibility, provider choice, account titling, contribution math, deadlines, crypto rules, or document storage?
The roadmap frames provider paths neutrally so you can ask better questions before opening accounts.
| Path | Often considered by | Questions to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Standard brokerage Solo 401(k) | People who want mainstream investments and lower setup complexity. | What plan features are supported? Roth? Loans? Rollovers? Employee/spouse participation? What forms are required? |
| Custom plan provider | People who need more flexible documents, administration help, or specific plan features. | Who prepares the plan documents? What ongoing admin support exists? What are setup and annual costs? |
| Self-directed structure | People evaluating real estate, private investments, crypto, or other alternative assets. | How are accounts titled? Is checkbook control involved? What prohibited transaction guardrails and records are required? |
| Professional review first | People with employees, spouse questions, multiple businesses, high income, unusual assets, or compliance anxiety. | Which facts could change eligibility, deadlines, contribution limits, plan design, or filing requirements? |
This is the first useful version: enough structure to reduce confusion before setup, without collecting sensitive data or pretending to be regulated advice.
Use this to make your next CPA/provider/bank conversation more concrete. Do not include private account details.
Want the deeper guide when it opens?
The $29 playbook is still checkout-closed until payment and delivery are verified. For now, use the roadmap and preview the playbook contents honestly.