Hello,

I have a client named Bob who works for a company and has $6,500 of earned income and defers 100% of his income into a Roth 401k the company offers. Bob also wants to make a Roth IRA contribution of $6,500 because he is under the MAGI allowance for Roth eligibility.

1. In this case, it is my understanding that whether its pretax or Roth or IRA or 401k, Bob cannot contribute more than $6,500 to retirement accounts in general because that is his total earned income. Correct? If its allowed, is there something from the IRS or an IRC code that says this?

2. One of our advisors came across the resource below that clients can contribute more than earned income if contributing to Roth sources. Thoughts?

Can You Double-Count Earnings for IRA and 401(k) Contributions? — Oblivious Investor

Things work differently, however, if it is a Roth 401(k) to which you are contributing at work. Specifically, the amount of wages reported in box 1 on Form W-2 is not reduced by the amount of Roth 401(k) contributions that you make. In other words, you can essentially “double count” your earned income by contributing to a Roth 401(k) and a Roth IRA.

Thank you.