Double Dipping on Your 401(k)? Here's What S-Corp Owners Need to Know
We were sitting down with a married couple who both happen to be owners of an S Corporation. They each have their own solo 401(k) accounts that the S-Corp can contribute to, which is great. But here's where it got interesting: the spouse also had access to a 401(k) through their other employer. And they wanted to know… can they do both?
Short answer? Yes. But there's a catch.
Your spouse can absolutely contribute to another 401(k) plan through their employer and still receive profit sharing (that's the employer contribution side) from the S-Corp. That part is totally fine. The S-Corp can still kick in its share.
But here's the thing you have to watch out for. The employee contribution limits still apply across both plans combined. For 2026, that's $24,500. And if you're over the age of 50, you get an extra $8,000 on top of that. That limit is per person, not per plan. So if you put $10,000 into the S-Corp solo 401(k) and $10,000 into the other employer's plan, you're totally fine. But you can't blow past that $24,500 ceiling (or $32,500 if you're 50+) when you add both plans together.
Now here's the really cool part, and this is what we walked them through.
You don't actually have to contribute anything on the employee side from the S-Corp to still get the employer profit sharing contribution.
Read that again. The S-Corp can still make its employer contribution to your solo 401(k) even if you put $0 of your own salary into it.
What does that mean in practice? If your other employer is going to match your contributions over there, you should absolutely take full advantage of that match. Max it out if you can. Then, you can adjust your W2 salary from theS-Corp to be a bit lower to make up for that difference, all while the S-Corp continues to contribute on the employer side to your solo 401(k).
In a sense, you're doubling up on 401(k) benefits that you didn't even realize you had access to before.
This is exactly why tax strategy matters. It's not just about filing your return at the end of the year and hoping for the best. It's about having someone in your corner who can look at your full picture and say, "Hey, did you know you could be doing this?"
Because most people don't know. And that's okay. That's what we're here for.