Carry.com Solo 401(k) Review: What It’s Like After Switching

If carry com solo 401 is on your radar, this short guide cuts through the noise. Here is what is worth knowing, and how to put it to work today.

Key Takeaways

• Share This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, advisory, or brokerage services.
• We may earn compensation from some links on this page.
• For years, my solo 401(k) was held at Vanguard.

Share

This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice, advisory, or brokerage services. We may earn compensation from some links on this page. Learn more.

For years, my solo 401(k) was held at Vanguard. It wasn’t flashy and the interface was dated, which longtime Vanguard users will recognize. But it was low-fee and reliable.

When Vanguard shut down its solo 401(k) program, existing plans were automatically transferred to Ascensus.

I gave Ascensus a fair shot, but the experience felt clunky and harder than it needed to be. Not long after the transfer, I started looking for another option.

I first heard about Carry when the company was called Ocho. We had done an educational webinar together in 2023, so I was familiar with the team and the product. 

After some more research, I moved my Solo 401(k) to Carry in December 2024. 

Below is my review of Carry’s flagship product, their Solo 401(k). 

While that’s the main focus, I’ll also touch on the other accounts and services Carry offers and how they can work alongside a Solo 401(k).

4.6/5

Carry works best for higher-earning business owners who qualify and want to make advanced tax moves with a high level of portfolio customization.

Its biggest strength is how simple it makes strategies like Mega Backdoor Roth contributions and access to alternative investments. Compared to most solo 401(k) providers, these transactions are simpler, more guided, and involve far less paperwork.

In my experience, the rollover process was straightforward on Carry’s end. How smooth the transfer feels still depends on the provider you’re coming from, but Carry’s side of the process was streamlined.

The flat annual fee, starting at $299, is not the cheapest option in every case, but it is reasonable. For smaller accounts or investors who only want to purchase a low-cost ETF and leave it alone, lower-cost options are typically a better fit.

Pros

• Supports plan designs that make Mega Backdoor Roth contributions workable in a Solo 401(k).
• Allows a higher degree of plan and investment customization than off-the-shelf Solo 401(k)s.
• Simplifies administrative steps around contributions, rollovers, and plan setup.
• Assets are held with regulated third-party custodians, not on Carry’s balance sheet.

Cons

• Can be expensive than zero-fee solo 401(k)s at large custodians
• Does not replace a third-party administrator; the plan owner remains responsible for compliance.
• No phone support, with assistance handled through chat and email.
• Roboadvisor does not support recurring investments.

About Carry

Carry was founded in 2022 by Ankur Nagpal, a repeat founder best known for founding Teachable, which he later sold. 

After that exit, Nagpal spent several years managing his own wealth and working through tax planning challenges common among business owners and high earners.

The idea behind Carry came from that experience. 

Numerous tax strategies available to self-employed investors already exist in the tax code, but they are frequently difficult to execute in practice. 

Carry was built to make those strategies easier to implement, track, and maintain without relying on manual paperwork or fragmented providers.

Carry is structured as a financial technology platform, not a bank. Client assets are not held on Carry’s balance sheet. 

Depending on the account type, assets are custodied with regulated third parties such as broker-dealers, banks, or trust companies. 

The company launched under the name Ocho before rebranding to Carry. 

While a young firm, its focus is narrow: helping business owners use retirement accounts and tax-advantaged structures more effectively, rather than offering a broad consumer investing platform.

What Carry Offers

Carry is best understood as a tax-focused platform built around retirement accounts, not a traditional brokerage.

Its main purpose is to help people with self-employment income use tax-advantaged accounts more effectively, typically starting with a Solo 401(k) and then building from there.

This is not a platform most people would use just to open an IRA from scratch and invest $500 a month into a target-date fund. 

Numerous of Carry’s features are designed to work in combination, especially for business owners who want to coordinate retirement accounts, taxable investing, alternative investing and tax planning in one place.

At a high level, here’s what Carry currently offers.

Carry Account Types

• Solo 401(k).  Carry’s primary product. Designed for self-employed individuals  who want flexibility and support for advanced strategies.
• IRAs (Traditional and Roth). Standard IRA accounts that can be used alongside a Solo 401(k), primarily for backdoor or rollover strategies.
• Taxable brokerage accounts. Used for investing beyond retirement account limits, typically as part of a broader tax-aware strategy rather than casual trading.

Carry Investment Options

• Equities. Self-directed investing in stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds, with trades executed and assets held by DriveWealth LLC. You place the trades through Carry, but DriveWealth is the underlying brokerage that executes the orders, custodies the securities, and provides SIPC protection.Smart Yield. A cash-management feature that invests idle cash in tax-aware money market funds and automatically allocates to the option with the highest expected after-tax yield based on your location and tax bracket.
• Roboadvisor A risk-based portfolio option that invests across a diversified mix of funds based on your risk tolerance.
• Crypto (inside self-directed IRAs only)  Direct ownership of cryptocurrencies inside a self-directed IRA, with assets held in custody by third-party providers and all trading occurring within the retirement account.
• Alternative investments (self-directed). Use a Solo 401(k) or IRA to directly invest in assets like real estate, private companies, and private funds, with you sourcing the investment and your retirement account holding the asset for tax-advantaged treatment.

Most users will not need or benefit from every feature. The platform makes the most sense when the Solo 401(k) is the starting point and other accounts or services are layered on to support broader tax efficiency.

You might also like: INVESTING Best Crypto IRAs Compared: Fees, Security, and How to Choose Read More

Carry Tax and Business Services

• Tax filing. Personal and business tax filing handled by third-party tax professionals integrated into the Carry platform. Pricing starts at $1,299, with the final cost based on the complexity of your return.
• Tax planning. Ongoing, strategy-focused guidance designed to coordinate income, retirement contributions, and account structure. Pricing varies based on scope and is quoted separately from filing.
• Bookkeeping. Monthly business bookkeeping intended to keep records tax-ready and support retirement and tax planning for self-employed users. Pricing starts at $199 per month, based on business spend and complexity.

What Does Carry Cost?

Carry charges a flat membership fee. There’s no percentage taken out of your account based on how much you have invested from Carry.

 You pay a fixed monthly or annual cost to use the platform.

For the sake of comparison, assume 0% ETF expense ratios. That lets you isolate what Carry itself costs.

On that basis:

• At $100,000 invested, a $299 annual fee works out to about 0.30%.
• At $50,000 invested, the same $299 fee is closer to 0.60%.

In reality, if you use Carry’s robo-advisor or Smart Yield, you’ll still pay the expense ratios on the underlying ETFs. Those are typically very low.

Frequently Vanguard ETFs with expense ratios

Final Thoughts

The bottom line: a little research on carry com solo 401 goes a long way. Compare your options, watch for seasonal offers, and never pay full price when a better deal is one click away.

Originally published at thewaystowealth.com.