A client recently was awarded a contract to do consulting for a federal agency so an individual 401k seemed like a no-brainer. After further review, the client has a contract with the federal agency but is actually a contract employee with the federal agency with traditional employment taxes taken out but the contact says that he has no access to any other benefits of a federal employee. A deductible IRA is a possibility, but is there a way to still do a 401k since he has no access to a plan? Seems like a hybrid situation where he has some of the elements of an independent contractor and some of the elements of an employee.