You're the employee and the employer. Contribute as both.
A Solo 401(k) is the best-kept retirement secret in freelancing — two contribution layers that together dwarf any employee plan. See your max for the year.
Tax data last updated: July 2026. Sources & methodology
Your numbers
1099 income minus business expenses, before retirement contributions.
Every pre-tax dollar of it comes off this year's taxable income.
- Employee deferral (up to $24,500)
- $24,500
- Employer share (~20% of adjusted comp)
- $13,687
- Total you can put away
- $38,187
Assumes a sole proprietor or single-member LLC with no employees (spouse on payroll changes the math — in your favor). The employer share is computed on net earnings after half your SE tax, which is why it's 20% here and not the 25% you see quoted for corporations. Not financial advice.
How this is calculated
Layer one is the employee deferral: up to $24,500 in 2026, or your full compensation if it's lower. Layer two is the employer share — as a sole proprietor, that's 20% of your net earnings after subtracting half your self-employment tax. Combined ceiling: $72,000, before catch-up contributions.
The often-quoted "25% employer contribution" applies to corporations paying W-2 wages. For Schedule C filers the same rule works out to 20% of adjusted net earnings — it's the identical formula, just measured against a base that already includes the contribution. Our calculator handles that circularity for you.