Finding a dream solo 401(k) to match his dream job

Joshua is living the dream. A digital nomad and solopreneur, Joshua is the owner of BERK Labs, a marketing agency focused on helping startups and fellow entrepreneurs with everything they need to find clients, understand their market, and achieve their missions.

When he’s not kite surfing in Tunisia or scouting for street art in Morocco, you’ll find Joshua hunting for a good WiFi signal and connecting with clients and collaborators from all over the world.

“Going into business for myself changed my life. Time and freedom are the greatest forms of wealth anyone can have. Now I have the opportunity to be anywhere I want in the world—helping a diverse set of founders achieve their own dreams of entrepreneurship. It’s all been incredibly rewarding.”

Equally rewarding for Joshua?

“My Solo 401(k) and the power of compound interest are helping me fund my future, but I’m also saving so I can help fund the future of the planet.”³

With plans to contribute to conservation charities, Joshua’s wealth-building efforts take on even greater meaning. That’s why it was particularly painful when his dream job was interrupted by an eight-month-long 401(k) headache.

“I know it wasn’t intentional and I have real empathy for startups struggling to scale, but I missed out on thousands of dollars in 401(k) contributions because of a software glitch.” After six months of back and forth with support and product teams, the error still wasn’t corrected.

“I spent the bulk of that six month period waiting for a response to their contribution errors, but I never did get one. It felt like maybe they were preoccupied with their larger accounts? My impression was that their support teams weren’t well resourced and being a solopreneur, I was always last in line.”

With over $20,000 in missed contributions, Joshua decided to cut his losses and look for a new 401(k) provider.

“I did heavy research on 401(k) providers before making a move. Guideline’s more competitive fees initially caught my eye, but it was their mobile app and customer service quality that impressed me the most.”

For Joshua, it was less about the features themselves, and more about how they reflected Guideline’s values and priorities.

“Guideline feels customer centric. You can tell genuine effort is put into making the customer experience positively pleasant—which is not a phrase we’d typically see describing business software.”

Alongside a pleasant and easy-to-use product, Joshua switched to Guideline looking for:

The impact of full-service 401(K)⁶ that’s as smooth as butter? Less work for a busy solopreneur.

“It’s been night and day. For me, Guideline’s value is visible in everything I don’t have to do. No endless email threads. No waiting for support responses. No untangling admin issues. It’s basically no more 401(k) stress. And I’d estimate I’m saving upwards of 10 hours a quarter since making the switch.”¹

So what’s Joshua doing with all that reclaimed time?

“I’m able to spend the time helping my clients solve big problems. I’m growing my own business. And hopefully I’m able to cultivate some karmic goodness by mentoring other aspiring digital nomads and entrepreneurs."


However Joshua ends up spending his new found free time, we just hope he saves a spot for kite surfing.