You Can Put $72,000 Into a Mega Backdoor Roth This Year. The Better Question: Should You?

The moment “maxing retirement” felt wrong

You just closed out your best year ever.

Revenue is up. Margins are healthy. You finally paid yourself what the work is actually worth. And when you sat down with your CPA in March, she did what good CPAs do — she told you to max your retirement.

So you did. Roth IRA, funded. Solo 401(k) employee deferral, maxed. Profit-sharing piece, calculated and contributed. You wrote the checks, filed the forms, and on paper you are doing everything a financially responsible Christian business owner is supposed to do.

And something still feels off.

Not wrong, exactly. Just… off. Like the money you just locked into a retirement account is money you actually wanted to deploy for something else. Sooner. While your kids are still under your roof. While the ministry you've been quietly supporting is in a season of growth. While you're still young enough to watch the generosity land.

You can't quite name it, but the math feels like it's pulling you one direction while your convictions pull you another.

Before we get to what to do about that tension, there's a piece of the tax code worth knowing exists — because depending on which side of a particular line you're standing on, it's either one of the most powerful tools available to you, or a surprisingly effective tool for sophisticated, indefinite postponement of what God may actually be leading you to do.

It's called the mega backdoor Roth. And here’s what you need to know about it.

The $72,000 most owners never touch

Here's the mechanic in plain English.

Your solo 401(k) actually has three contribution buckets, not two:

1. Employee deferral — up to $24,500 in 2026 (or $32,500+ if age 50+).
2. Employer profit-sharing — up to 25% of compensation, depending on your entity structure. Your CPA probably ran this number for you.
3. Voluntary after-tax contributions that are quickly converted to Roth — the secret sauce of today’s conversation.
   1. Why speed matters: You already paid taxes on the contributions, but any earnings accrued before the conversion are taxable. Converting immediately minimizes this tax hit.

The IRS sets a total limit across all three buckets — the §415(c) limit — $72,000 in 2026 (or $80,000 if age 50+). Most business owners and business owners hit buckets one and two, land somewhere around $40K–$50K in total contributions, and assume they're done.

They're not done. They've just used the buckets their plan document told them about.

The third bucket — voluntary after-tax contributions — can fill the rest of the way up to that $72,000 ceiling. And here's where it becomes a "mega backdoor" Roth: once those after-tax dollars are in the plan, you do an in-service rollover to a Roth IRA. The conversion is typically tax-free (recall that bucket 3 is “after-tax contributions”), and from that point forward, the money can grow tax-free for life.

For a business owner already maxing the basics, that can mean tens of thousands of additional dollars per year flowing into Roth — the exact amount depends on your profit-sharing contribution and your plan's structure.

Two catches worth naming:

• Most off-the-shelf solo 401(k) plans don't allow it. The big-name brokerage solo 401(k)s — the free ones — almost universally exclude after-tax contributions and in-plan conversions from their plan documents. To run a mega backdoor Roth, you generally need a custom or "open architecture" plan document, which costs money to establish and maintain.
• It only works cleanly if you have no W-2 employees. Once you have employees, the rules get a lot tighter, and you’ll want specialist guidance before you try to run this.

That's the mechanic. It's real, it's legal, and for the right person it's genuinely powerful.

But "for the right Entrepreneur" is doing a lot of work in that sentence — and it's the part of this conversation almost no one is having with you.

The question behind the question

A lot of financial literature and advice assumes the goal is obvious: “More tax-free growth = more good.”

But that’s assuming quite a lot, because it skips the real stewardship question:

Are you still on the “build” side of enough, or are you on the “beyond enough” side?

• If you’re not at enough yet, extra Roth space can be a gift. It lets you build future stability without handing “Caesar” more than you’re required to.
• If you’re already past enough, “maxing every available retirement bucket” can quietly become a way to delay generosity, delay risk, delay obedience — while telling yourself you’re being responsible.

And yes, I know the pushback: “But it’s not hoarding if I plan to give later.”

Sometimes that’s true. But sometimes “later” is just fear disguised as careful planning.

Jesus doesn’t condemn planning. Proverbs doesn’t condemn storing grain. The issue is never “Do you have savings?” The issue is what your savings is for — and whether “wisdom” has actually become a lifelong habit of reluctance to release.

So before you ask, “Can I do a mega backdoor Roth?” ask the better question:

Should I?

Because for some people, this is a welcome gift.

And for others, it’s sophisticated postponement.

Same income. Different answer.

Let me sketch two people with dramatically different net worth.

They’re both in the same age range. Same income ballpark. Same lifestyle and family size.

Both love Jesus. Both want to be wise. Both could technically execute a mega backdoor Roth.

But the right answer is different.

If you’re still building

This person is doing well, but they’re still building the foundation.

• Cash flow is strong, but not bulletproof.
• Emergency reserves are “pretty good” but not truly sturdy yet.
• Retirement savings are underway, but they’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
• Giving is happening, but it still feels reactive — not anchored to a clear plan.
• The business is their engine, and the engine still needs reinforcement.

For Entrepreneur A, the mega backdoor Roth can be a high-quality tool if the basics are already maxed and the plan document supports it.

Why?

Because funding Roth space here isn’t locking money away for a fantasy retirement. It’s building future margin.

It’s buying options. It’s buying stability.

It’s giving their future self the ability to be generous without panic.

And if you’re thinking, “But I want to give more now,” that’s a good desire.

Just don’t let the pendulum swing to the other side and confuse generosity with irresponsibility. A person who gives away tomorrow’s rent is not more faithful — they’re just moving the burden to someone else later.

So for Entrepreneur A, the decision might sound like:

“We’re not at enough yet. We’re building. We want tax-free growth as a tool for future generosity and stability. We can fund this without strangling today’s giving, today’s family needs, or today’s operational capacity.”

If you’re already there

This person is in a different season.

• The business is mature and reliably profitable.
• They’ve built real reserves.
• Retirement projections already clear their future retirement and needs.
• They have margin — not just on paper, but in their actual life.
• The big question isn’t “Will we be okay?” It’s “What is this for now?”

For Entrepreneur B, the mega backdoor Roth can still be allowed… but it may not be necessary.

Because at this point, the mega backdoor Roth can become a very clean way to say:

“I’m going to keep stacking… just in case.”

Just in case what?

If the answer is “because I don’t trust God,” you already know that’s not stewardship.

And if the answer is “because I haven’t actually decided what enough is,” then the Roth is being used as a substitute for clarity.

For Entrepreneur B, a better move might be:

• Increasing regular giving now (not someday)
• Funding a donor-advised fund (DAF) as part of a clear giving strategy
• Supporting a ministry or church expansion in a meaningful, present-tense way
• Freeing up time (buying back hours) to be more present with family and church
• Aligning investments with convictions (and getting specific, not vague)

In other words: if you’re already past enough, the question is not “Where can I put more?”

The question is “What does faithfulness look like with this margin?”

And this is where the mega backdoor Roth exposes something in a good way:

It forces a conversation about whether your default mode is stewardship… or accumulation disguised as stewardship.

Same tool.

Same tax bracket.

Different season.

Different calling.

Different answer.

And if you’re married, you don’t get to treat this like a solo decision — which is exactly what we’ll talk about next.

The conversation this forces at home

If you’re married, a mega backdoor Roth isn’t really a “retirement strategy” decision. It’s a values decision.

Because you’re not just deciding where money goes.

You’re deciding when it’s available, what it’s for, and who gets to say “yes” to it.

Here are three questions worth asking out loud before you execute anything:

• “What are we trying to accomplish with this money?” Security? Freedom? Future generosity? Or just a vague sense of “we should do more”?
• “Are we funding this because we’re pre-enough… or because we’re avoiding making an ‘enough’ decision?”
• “What present-tense good would this money do if we didn’t lock it up?” (Giving, time, margin, debt payoff, a needed hire, a family priority.)

This is where couples get sideways: one spouse hears “tax strategy,” the other hears “we’re delaying life again.”

If you’ve felt that tension, you’re not crazy. Name it. Then decide together.

Three moves before you do anything

You don’t need a 19-step flowchart. You need clarity.

1. Check your plan document. Does your solo 401(k) explicitly allow after-tax contributions and either in-plan Roth conversions or in-service rollovers? If not, you don’t have a mega backdoor Roth option yet — you have a “maybe someday” idea.
2. Run the “enough line” math. Before you chase more tax-free growth, ask: Are we on the build side of enough, or beyond it? If you can’t answer that in numbers, you’re not making a strategy decision — you’re outsourcing clarity to the tax code.
3. Have the spouse conversation. Use the three questions above. Don’t skip this. A technical win that creates relational friction is not a win.

One final note: talk to your CPA and a qualified advisor before implementing. The mechanics matter, and the wrong setup can create tax headaches you didn’t intend.

If this hit a nerve, here’s the next step

If you read this and thought, “Yes — that’s exactly the tension,” you’re the person I had in mind.

Not just “Can I do the mega backdoor Roth?” but:

• Are we actually pre-enough or post-enough?
• Are we making a wise plan… or delaying obedience because we’re unaware of our true financial picture?
• If this is the right tool, what’s the cleanest way to set it up and keep it from becoming a mess later?

I started Openhanded Wealth to help Christian business owners draw that “enough” line in numbers and make decisions with clarity — not vibes, not guilt, not Reddit threads.

If you want to talk it through, reach out.

Email Me or Schedule a Call. Initial consultations are complimentary; ongoing advice and investment management are provided for a fee.

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