Case Study: A Solo Digital Marketer's Retirement Stacking & Augusta Rule Combo

The situation

Amara's income nearly tripled in a single year after landing two large retainer clients, and she was still contributing to retirement and running her business the same way she had at $95,000 of income — which meant a much larger share of the new income was about to be taxed at her new, higher marginal rate with no additional shelter in place.

What we did

• Increased her Solo 401(k) contribution to the new maximum, capturing both the employee deferral and a much larger employer profit-sharing contribution than her prior income supported
• Used the Augusta rule to rent her home to her S-corp for legitimate client strategy sessions and planning meetings for up to 14 days, at a documented fair rental rate, tax-free to her personally and deductible to the business
• Rechecked her reasonable salary figure against her new income level, since the old salary number no longer reflected a defensible benchmark at her new scale
• Set up quarterly income reviews going forward specifically so a future income jump would trigger a plan update immediately rather than a year later

The numbers

The result

The strategies themselves weren't unusual — the mistake being corrected was simply that nobody had revisited Amara's plan when her income structurally changed. A sudden income jump is exactly the moment a tax plan built for a different income level stops fitting, and it's also the easiest moment to miss if nobody's specifically watching for it.