solo k with spouse

[Guest RRoberts]

Can a self employed individual that has hired his spouse, create and contribute both his deferral and his wife's deferral into one investment account or must each individual open and maintain separate deferral accounts? The business owner intends to manage the investments as the trustee. Tks for any input.

[Bird]

It's ok by me. It actually depends on what the plan says, whether participant accounts are self-directed or not, but there's nothing inherently wrong with pooling the money.

BUT - who, if anyone, is going to allocate earnings and keep track of how much is for each participant, so that 5 years down the road, you know who has how much of the account? If you don't have a third party administrator involved, then you're probably better off with separate accounts.

[Guest RRoberts]

It's ok by me. It actually depends on what the plan says, whether participant accounts are self-directed or not, but there's nothing inherently wrong with pooling the money.

BUT - who, if anyone, is going to allocate earnings and keep track of how much is for each participant, so that 5 years down the road, you know who has how much of the account?

True, the accounting issue would pose a problem in the future. In the perfect senario both H & W contribute equal amounts and stay happily married. Thanks for your response.