<prompt> Human: Hey all,My wife put 17498.47 last year into her companies 401k. We just got a check back 5332.91 from the 401k account. This is 6472.52 withdrawn minus 547.05 withheld for taxes and minus what the company over contributed.My wife contacted the company in charge of the 401k, and they directed her towards a person that handles this at her company. My wife contacted this woman, and she was told that the company failed the IRS screening due to the discrepancy of pay in the company and that they had to cap 401k contributions at 12,000 for 2017.My wife and I were both under the impression we were able to both contribute 18,500 to our 401ks every year. Is this not the case? My wife and I have already decided if it is to renegotiate her pay to make up for the lost opportunity cost if this is the case.Lastly, if this is the case, any suggestions on where to put the the approximately 6000? We max our Roth IRAs already. Thanks so much in advance.Edit Thanks so much for the responses!Assistant: 18.5k is just the legal maximum. Each 401k plan can further limit its own participants on how much can be contributed. This is usually done to comply with fairness rules.Ask the 401k person if they considered the 401k safe harbor program.Human: Are they allowed to change the limit every year? Apparently this year the limit is 12,000 and last year was 14,000. They dont seem to be invested in making sure the plan is compliant.My wife is going to ask if the 401k falls under the safe harbor program. I did a quick google-fu and the first, and all the results say its used most frequently by small businesses. I dont think the company my wife works for would qualify as a small business.  <response>: Yes. 401k plan has to pass inspection every year. The corrective action for a top-heavy plan is to return the excess contributions. 