Fulltime Freelance
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- Knuckleberry
Sorry if this is a bit intrusive, but for all of you full-time freelancers out there in the USA, how much of your income do you save for taxes?
I was told 50% by a CPA and that seems absurd, I was told 25% by other designers.
I have an opportunity to cut ties and work from home full-time but I want to make sure it is a smart move as I have kids, wife, & rent.
-Joshua
- JackRyan0
I would save around 30% to be safe. But, if you do in-house work at larger agencies a lot of them treat you as a temporary employee and take the taxes out for you.
- moldero0
hook up with a freelance account dude, this way you can just focus on the work and not have to spend time looking for it.
Taxes save 50% just in case, write everything off and you'll pay 25%-ish
- monospaced0
35%
- doesnotexist0
why not just send the gov't all your money
- freedom0
~30%.
Always save 10% of everything you make too.
- colin_s0
33%
last year i ended up only needing i think about 25% but, better safe than sorry.
- Knuckleberry0
Thanks for the help you guys or girls, I feel like I am on the edge of a cliff and I want to make the right decision for my family.
- pinkfloyd0
Are you sure this freelance ft thing will be ongoing?
- Yeah, I have known him for a while and it is a steady thing.Knuckleberry
- exador10
i did this for about 3/4 of a year, and financially it was just fine (and was in the same boat as you, wife kids mortgage etc...)
if you have a fairly steady stream of clients or projects, and bill as regularly as you can, it can be quite excellent....you just have to learn to figure out the whole billing situation....some clients can wait as long as 30 to 60 days to process your invoice.....(most are pretty good about it though)
so you have to learn how to live with that...it's not a steady income...it can be feast and famine, depending on how often the cheques are coming in....
fortunately my wife was awesome at helping me keep the books straight, and we decided on 30% for taxes and the like.....which worked out just fine (ended up being a bit more than i needed to keep aside, but it was a nice safety margin)getting a good accountant is very important as well...one that knows exactly what write-offs you can make etc....
it's hard work, and you end up working way more than you would for a ft job at someone elses company....BUT....it kinda feels nice knowing that ALL the hardwork you put in is for YOU....
one of my closest friends from college (both of us were in advertising/design classes) has been doing this for about 15 years, and my guess is that on average he probably makes about 150k a year....some years going to 200k....some years dipping to 100k....
but he's pretty happy about it...owns his own home (and a nice one at that) has top of the line gear, drives a nice bmw etc etc.....i was apprehensive at first as well, since there's a fear about 'not having a fulltime job' etc...
once i realized how much potential work i had coming in, and how many great connections I'd made over the years and years of working....well....i wasn't that worried any more.....the only thing i worried about really was having enough hours in the day to get all the work done....and that's the NEXT big lesson you have to learn....how to say 'no' to some clients if you're too busy.....
that's a hard one...- it's not that harddoesnotexist
- thanksKnuckleberry
- lol, it's not that hard saying no to clients. Just say no, and turn on the xboxpinkfloyd
- if they want discounts then just pull back the deliverables. they'll walk away on their own.doesnotexist