In the flipping business, deductions are crucial. Unless you have a handle on your expenses, and can accurately deduct them, the Internal Revenue Service can only tax you on your gross. If your record keeping is slovenly or you aren’t alert to the deductions you can take, even getting 90 percent of your deductions right is enough to murder you. That’s because when you are leveraged, just 10 percent of your gross receipts is enough to eat all your profits. If you aren’t claiming the deductions that accurately and fairly represent your business expenses, you’re going to wind up with little or no profit at the end of the day after taxes, and wind up quitting in frustration – even if your real estate investment decisions are sound.

As a flipper, you need both: excellent real estate investment and deal-making skills, and rock-solid record keeping.

First, a word before I begin, ahem, itemizing some often-overlooked tax deductions for flippers. You have to be very aware of the differences between a renovation or improvement on one hand, and a repair on the other.  You should also be exquisitely aware of the difference between taking an immediate first-year deduction on one hand and capitalizing an expense and amortizing it over a period of two or more years.

I’m going to concentrate on deductions you can take in your first year, unless otherwise noted.

I’m also going to concentrate on the self-employed investor. So, season to taste if you are the owner/employee of your own corporation.

Business use of your home. That’s the fancy-pants term for the “home office deduction.” It’s not just for offices, though. You can also deduct for space you devote to storage. So if you have a garage full of construction supplies that you use for flipping all year, you can deduct a corresponding percentage (measured by square footage) of your home expenses, including utilities. Remember: No mixed use. To take the deduction, the area has to be exclusively for business use. For instance, the dining room table doesn’t count if your family uses it to eat on! For more information, see IRS Publication 587.

To take the deduction, use IRS Form 8829.

Business use of your car. You can deduct the standard mileage amount for every mile you drive in support of your flipping and real estate endeavors (or any other self-employment context). However, to claim the standard mileage rate (56.5 cents per mile in 2013), you must also meet the following criteria:

• You must not operate five or more cars at the same time, as in a fleet operation.
• You must not have claimed a depreciation deduction for the car using any method other than straight-line.
• You must not have claimed a Section 179 deduction on the car.
• You must not have claimed the special depreciation allowance on the car.

Alternatively, you can deduct your actual expenses. I believe that unless your are flipping within a few blocks of your home and drive few miles, or unless you have some big repairs, most people are better off taking the mileage deduction for most years. Note: If you lease a car, and you want to use the mileage, you have to use the mileage rate for the entire period of the lease.

You can also deduct parking fees and tolls you pay, except for fees and tolls to your normal office (if you have one) or parking fees at your home office.

Note: If you took the standard mileage deduction, you can’t also deduct auto insurance premiums.

For more information, see IRS Publication 463.

Retirement Contributions. If your income is low enough, you can deduct any contributions you make to IRAs and solo/individual 401(k)s or SEPs (Simplified Employee Pension Plans) you create for yourself and any employees. This is a good way to shelter assets from taxes, at least until retirement (at which time you’ll pay income taxes on amounts withdrawn), while diversifying away from real estate at the same time. Limits vary depending on your income and the type of plan. See IRS Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements, for more information.

Assets converted to business use. Did you have a computer, a set of office furniture, a vehicle or anything else you owned for personal use before committing it entirely to supporting your business? You may be able to deduct the lesser of cost or fair market value at the time it was converted. You can’t take the deduction all at once, though. You will have to depreciate them over the useful life of the property or equipment.

Health insurance. If you’re self-employed, you can deduct health insurance premiums for yourself and your family members – as long as your deduction doesn’t exceed your income for the year. The main or primary insured on the policy must be the self-employed individual. This is true for owners of corporations, partnership interests and LLC owners. Note: This applies to major medical only. Disability insurance is not normally deductible unless purchased by the corporation as an employee benefit. Note: You can only deduct health insurance premiums against income for income tax purposes. It’s not normally deductible for the purposes of calculating self-employment taxes. Congress occasionally “patches” this one with short-term extensions and amendments, though, so check with your tax advisor for the latest.

Answering services. If you have trouble picking up the phone when you’re out wheeling and dealing, or you work a day job in addition to your flipping practice, this may be a worthwhile expense. It’s deductible.

Business gifts. Up to $25 per recipient per year is deductible. This doesn’t include meals, which are normally only 50 percent deductible.

Casualty losses. These are any losses due to such things as theft, vandalism, fire and flooding. Any loss you took that is not covered by insurance is deductible. To maximize your deduction, though, start with a good inventory.

Property insurance. Insurance premiums on investment properties are usually deductible. Title insurance premiums, though, are not.

Cell phone bills. You can deduct a prorated amount of your cell phone bill, based on the average percentage of phone time you used for business rather than personal use.

Contract preparation: Deduct. However, points you pay on a mortgage that are considered “prepaid interest” have to be amortized over the life of the loan.

Dues. Are you a member of a community service organization like Lion’s Club or Kiwanis? If so, dues you pay are tax deductible.

Net operating losses. Did you lose money on paper in 2012? Then you should be able to carry those losses forward on your 2013 tax returns. This is how companies can show billions of dollars in profits in one year, yet have no income tax due that year. They are simply recouping losses from prior years.

Education and seminars. Generally deductible if they are related to your current industry and will help you advance within it, and if the coursework or seminar will not qualify you for a new line of work. However… rules are more liberal for employee benefits. So if you are an owner-employee of your own corporation, your corporation can grant educational benefits to you and your other employees, up to $5,250 per worker, as of press time. See IRS Publication 570, Tax Benefits for Education.

Finders’ Fees. Did you pay someone to bring an investment idea to you? That’s a finder’s fee and it’s deductible. Commissions are deductible, too.

Long-term care insurance. This is deductible, up to a certain dollar amount, based on your age. It covers nursing homes, rehab facilities, skilled care facilities, and even hospice care (not normally covered by major medical insurance or even Medicare).

Purchases on Credit. If you purchased items for your business using  a credit card in December 2013, you can deduct that full amount on your 2013 taxes.

Brand new IRA contributions. The law allows you to deduct contributions to your 2013 IRA accounts made right up to April 15. So if you didn’t get around to contributing to your IRA last year, it’s not too late. Remember, you can only deduct traditional IRA contributions – not Roth IRA contributions – and then only up to certain limits, depending on your income and marital status. Again, see IRS Publication 590 for more details.

Interest Expense. Have a business credit card you only use for flipping? You can deduct interest on business expenses. You can also do this on a personal credit card but it’s much trickier as the burden will be on you in the event of an audit. However, you can only deduct interest on construction loans incurred before or after construction actually begins. Any amounts accruing during construction are added to basis and amortized, not deducted in the current year. You also can’t deduct “points” or prepaid interest on investment property in the same way you can for a personal residence. That has to be amortized over time, like other capital expenses.

Subscriptions. Any subscriptions to magazines, newsletters and the like, directly related to real estate investing, are deductible – provided you are actually in the real estate business (or you can ascribe it to start-up costs).

Books. Any books you buy related to your business are deductible.

Start-up costs. Just getting underway? You may be able to deduct up to $5,000 in new business start-up costs.

Self-Employment Taxes. If you flip a lot, chances are good you’ll fall under the IRS’s special rules for dealers. That means you’ll owe up to 15.3 percent right off the top, on much or all your profits, thanks to self-employment taxes. The remainder of your profit gets taxed at ordinary income rates, not capital gains rates. For a short-term flipper, it shouldn’t be a huge deal if you don’t have capital losses, because ordinary income and short-term capital gain rates have the same marginal tax rate. Just make sure you deduct what you pay in self-employment taxes (OASDI and hospital insurance) before you figure your taxes on what’s left.

Medicare Surtax. It’s the 3.8 percent tax that the Affordable Care Act levies on capital gains for certain high-income taxpayers. If you’re a dealer, though, you aren’t subject to this tax on any properties that aren’t eligible for capital gains treatment.

Property management fees. These are generally deductible. However, some expenses you pay through your property management company may not be deductible. For example, if your manager handles an improvement and sends you a bill, you don’t get to deduct the improvement costs simply because they’re on a management invoice. Those you’ll have to add to your tax basis and amortize over time – generally 27.5 years for residential property.

Private Mortgage Insurance Premiums. Deductible. Write “PMI” on line 9 of your Schedule E.

Repairs and maintenance. But not improvements or renovations! Those you must amortize over 27.5 years for residential property! EXCEPT…

Small Taxpayer’s Safe Harbor. This is a new one. The IRS recently issued a set of regulations designed to make things simpler for small landlords (and came up with 222 pages of fine print to do just that!) The rule now is that if the building’s worth less than $1 million (not counting land value), you can deduct anything you spend on improvements, repairs or maintenance up to $10,000, or 2 percent of the value of the building – whichever is greater. You can also deduct pretty much anything that costs $500 or less, under the de minimis expense rule – provided you have a written policy in place (Applicable Financial Statement) allowing it. If you don’t have a written accounting policy in place, you can deduct almost anything that costs up to $200. This helps prevent the absurdity of having to depreciate a 9-volt battery over 27.5 years.

Disability Access. Section 190 now lets you deduct up to $15,000 in improvements to accessibility for the handicapped or elderly in the first year. The improvements don’t have to be legally mandated to be deducted. Amounts spent over the $15,000 threshold can be added to basis. (Pro tip: If you’re spending much more than $15,000, split them between two tax years to maximize your deduction.)

Section 179 Expenses. These can be a very big deal in some circumstances, but are beyond the scope of this kind of article. See Section179.org for more details.

Note: Even though a deduction may ordinarily be allowed, the law may limit it in your particular case because of such things as hobby loss rules and passive activity rules. This article is for general informational purposes only, and is not intended to constitute tax advice. Our intent is to provide you with enough to jog your thinking and to present some concepts like the new safe harbor rules to the attention of your tax advisor. RealEstate.com does not give tax advice. For information related to your specific circumstances, you should retain the services of a tax professional licensed in your jurisdiction. 

original post by Jason Van Steenwyk on March 25, 2014, Realestate.com

The post Tax Deductions for Flippers! appeared first on BucksFU.

May 29, 2019

Managing student loan forgiveness programs is a major element of financial planning for health care professionals. Physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, especially, tend to have big student loan balances.

The median student loan balance for recent medical school graduates has now reached $200,000, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges. Nurse practitioner and PA programs from private schools are now pushing well into the six-figure range. The 33-month physician assistant program at the University of Southern California now costs $178,109 to complete.

The Rise of the School Debt Millionaires

Dentists are leaving dental school even deeper in hock than medical doctors: According to the American Dental Association, educational debt for all indebted dental school graduates in the Class of 2018 for public and private dental schools was $251,869 and $326,133, respectively. Additionally, 40% of the Class of 2018 left dental school with $300,000 in medical debt or more.

Photo credit: Pixabay.

And believe it or not, at least 141 people have education debt of more than $1 million.

Few of those folks will actually pay off those debts. Most of them will execute the “doctor’s loophole” strategy like Mike Meru. Mike’s a 37-year-0ld orthodontist and USC Dental School graduate profiled in the Wall Street Journal who owes $1 million in student loans. He’s currently earning $255,000 per year, or $21,250 per month, but he’s enrolled in an income-driven repayment program that caps his monthly payments at just $1,589.97.

If he makes all his payments on time remaining balance will be forgiven after 25 years. But because his payments are so low, they don’t even cover the interest on the loan. After 25 years, the taxpayer will be picking up a tab of $2 million – on a degree worth $601,506 in 2014 dollars.

Photo credit: Pixabay.

Plan ahead for the tax bill.

The forgiven amount is taxable as ordinary income. Doctor Meru is going to have a heck of an income tax bill on that forgiven $2 million. But with more than 20 years of only paying $1,589.97 on an income of more than $255,000 and growing, and by continuing to build equity in his home and by saving and investing on the side, he will probably be able to pay the income tax bill easily. And it’s still way better than paying the entire principal and interest.

If he had gone to work for a qualifying tax-exempt organization, he wouldn’t have to wait for 25 years. He could have his outstanding debt forgiven after just 10 years of payments, using the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. But he’d probably be earning less.

If enough of these stories surface, Congress is probably going to take notice and close the doctor’s loophole.

But existing borrowers will likely be grandfathered in.

What You Can Do

The combination of income-based repayment plans and eventual forgiveness means there are two optimal strategies to choose from for high-debt borrowers – and it doesn’t make sense to try to combine them; For most borrowers, the optimal strategy is an either/ or solution.

Strategy 1: Pay it off fast.

Option one is the direct approach: Aggressively pay down the debt as fast as you can. This generally means refinancing into the lowest interest rate you can find as soon as you can find it and making big, giant, hairy payments on it until it’s gone. This minimizes the interest paid and the lifetime cost of the loan.

The downside of this strategy is that when you refinance a federal student loan, you won’t be able to qualify for the 25-year loan forgiveness program or the 10-year federal public service loan forgiveness program. You may lose access to a number of consumer protections that don’t necessarily apply to private student loans, such as the option to put the loan into a temporary deferment or forbearance arrangement if you are having trouble finding work.

Read this before you refinance a federal student loan. 

Strategy 2: Maximize forgiveness.

The other option is to pay just the bare minimum – and enrolling in income based repayment plans that have the lowest possible cap that will still qualify for loan forgiveness. In this strategy, you’re paying the absolute bare minimum you can, and counting on eventual student loan forgiveness to pick up the tab.

The lifetime cost of the loan is much, much higher under this strategy. But you don’t pay very much of it. The taxpayer does.

Does the doctor’s loophole create a somewhat perverse set of incentives from a public policy perspective? Yes.

But we don’t make policy here – we just explain the options.

Max your pre-tax contributions

If you are going for strategy number 2, consider throwing everything you can spare into pre-tax savings accounts:

• Traditional IRAs (not Roths) if you qualify;
• 401(k)s
• 403(b)s
• SIMPLE IRAs
• SEPs (for self-employment/independent contractor income).
• Solo 401(k)s (also for those of you in private practice, or otherwise with self-employment/independent contractor income and who are owner/operators of your own corporations
• Section 457 deferred compensation plans
• Health Savings Accounts
• Flexible Spending Accounts

If you have your own corporation or LLC, look for other ways to convert ordinary income into reasonable and customary business expenses. Reinvest as much as you can into the business, so you can minimize Schedule C income or self-employment income.

Some planners may even look at the numbers involved in having married people file separate tax returns.

Why? The idea is to get your taxable income – your adjusted gross income after all these deductions – to look as low as possible, on paper, to both the IRS and to the Department of Education.

The reason has to do with the way the federal government calculates minimum payments under income-driven plans

You are expected to make an income-contingent payment of between 10% and 20% of your adjusted gross income over the federal poverty line for your family.

For Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), that percentage is 10%.

For Income-Based Repayment (IBR) your payment will be 10% to 15% of your adjusted gross income over and above the federal poverty line for your family size.

AGI vs. Gross Income

Your adjusted gross income and your gross income are very different things. Gross income includes everything you took in for the year that wasn’t capital gains income. Your adjusted gross income, or AGI, is your gross income minus all your deductions.

The more deductions you have in the current year, the lower your AGI will be all other things being equal, and consequently the lower your monthly payment.

It doesn’t make much sense to try to keep your gross income low. The more, the merrier, in the long run. The optimum course of action is to keep gross income high in relation to your AGI. The AGI is the bit you pay taxes on, and it’s the bit the government looks at to determine how high your required minimum monthly payments will be under an income-driven repayment plan.

Alimony and Child Support

If you are divorced or are in the process of getting a divorce, try to categorize settlement payments as alimony payments rather than child support. Especially if you’re in a higher tax bracket than your ex. Alimony payments are taxable to the recipient, and a tax deduction for the payor. So it gets that income off your books and onto your ex’s, where it won’t count against you when calculating your required income-contingent payment for the year.

With child support, it’s just the opposite: There’s no tax deduction for the payor, but the alimony payments received are taxable as income

So if you’re receiving payments pursuant to a divorce, try to negotiate a settlement in which they are characterized as child support payments, rather than alimony – especially if you’re in a higher tax bracket than your ex.

Tips and techniques

Filing separate tax returns as a married couple may be an extreme solution. You may lose a lot of other deduction opportunities by filing separately. But it may make sense if you have a lot riding on the income-driven repayment calculation if one spouse has a lot of medical expenses in a given year, and you want to be able to deduct as much of those expenses as possible or both.

Buy a home, rather than rent. This is because you can deduct home loan interest, but you can’t deduct any part of your rent on a personal residence.

Start a small business retirement plan.

Start a solo 401(k) or SEP IRA, if you own your own company or you have self-employment income. Unlike IRAs, none of these plans are means-tested, Money you contribute to either of these retirement plans is pre-tax. It’s invested for your future and compounding for you over time. Meanwhile, it’s not counted against you in the income-driven repayment calculation.

Hire family.

This a potentially huge benefit of having your own business: If you own your own business or private practice, you can hire non-spouse family members to help you run it. Every cent you pay them in compensation helps reduce your AGI because it gets income off your individual tax return or Schedule C and onto their personal returns. Meanwhile, the money stays in the family.

Take your losses.

If you have investments that have taken a loss, go ahead and sell them and do something else more productive with the money. You can use capital losses to offset any gains you realized during the year, and then up to $3,000 in income per year.

Photo credit: Baylee Gramling, Unsplash.com.

Note: You can’t just sell an investment at a loss and then turn around and buy the substantially identical thing immediately after. You have to wait at least 30 days before you can buy the same thing, or you can’t take the deduction, under so-called “wash sale” rules. But you can buy something very similar! For example, you can sell the Vanguard 500 fund and then buy Fidelity 500 Index fund, which has all the same companies in it, with substantially the same weightings!

Buy municipal bonds from your state. 

This can be a good move for those in hire income tax brackets — especially if your state has an income tax. Interest from municipal bonds is generally free of federal and state tax (with certain exceptions for private activity bonds if you’re subject to the AMT).  This also helps lower your AGI.

Track your miles. You can and should deduct for every mile you drive in your personal vehicle for business reasons. This includes mileage you drive from your principal place of business (your office) to hospitals and clinics, rehab facilities and anywhere you check on or meet with patients and staff, attend in-service or CME courses, conventions, etc. You can’t deduct mileage from your home to your principal place of business, but you can deduct miles you drive during the course of business day once you get to your office. As of 2019, you can deduct 58 cents per mile driven in your own vehicle for business purposes. That adds up surprisingly fast – and there are GPS apps that make this process a snap. 

Don’t cross the streams!

Every situation is different. But if you select strategy 2, it doesn’t do you any good to try to make extra payments on a loan that will eventually be forgiven anyway. You can’t bend the space-time continuum to make 10 years or 25 years come sooner. Paying ahead doesn’t do you any favors in the federal student loan forgiveness context. You don’t get brownie points.

Think beyond Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

The Federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is a great program – especially for doctors, dentists, and other high-debt professions. It can also be a very good fit for lower-earning professions such as teaching and social work. These people often work their whole careers with state or non-profit organizations that qualify for the federal PSLF program.

But it’s not the only one out there.

For example, many states have their own loan forgiveness programs specifically for health care workers identified shortage areas, under the auspices of the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) State Loan Repayment Program. 

For information on medical professional student loan forgiveness programs specific to your state, click here, and scroll down to find your state.

You can also scout out which states have the most advantageous student loan forgiveness programs for your situation.

Jason Van Steenwyk

Jason Van Steenwyk is an experienced financial industry reporter and writer. He is a former staff reporter for Mutual Funds, and has been published in SeekingAlpha, Nasdaq.com, NerdWallet, Value Penguin, RealEstate.com, WealthManagement.com, Senior Market Advisor, Life and Health Pro and many other outlets over the past two decades. He is also an avid fiddle player and guitarist. He lives in Orlando, Florida.

The post Student Loan Repayment Strategies for Health Care Professionals appeared first on BucksFU.

• Sell items you no longer need on online marketplaces like eBay, Amazon, or Facebook Marketplace. That’s not regenerating income, so it’s important not to spend it on something non-productive, but to use it to pay down credit card debt or put into savings right away. 
• Take on a second job. Wait tables, or take on a job as a barista or cook. Most places need someone who can work weekends or odd shifts. I wouldn’t bother with online applications, unless you already have an in, or you know they’re hiring en masse. The best way to find these jobs is to dress for success, print out some resumes, walk in a business you’d like to work at, ask for the owner or manager, and ask if they’re looking to hire great people. You’ll be way ahead of the online applicants. 
• Rent out a spare room on Airbnb—if your lease allows.
• Offer pet-sitting or dog-walking services.
• Freelance as a writer, designer, or photographer.
• Offer tutoring or coaching services in a subject you excel at.
• Take on odd jobs or gigs through platforms like TaskRabbit or Fiverr.
• Drive for Uber, Lyft, or Doordash. 
• Rent out your car on Turo, Aura, or SWYFT.
• Start an online business. 
• Participate in paid focus groups or surveys.
• Offer house cleaning or organization services.
• Rent out your parking space or driveway on JustPark.
• Sell handmade or vintage items on Etsy.
• Offer music lessons or performance services.
• Musicians: Walk into possible performance venues, ask for the owner, and book some gigs! Have some videos ready to go. Solo artists, be prepared to “audition” on the spot. 
• Rent out your camera equipment on ShareGrid.
• Develop and sell your own digital products, like e-books or printables.
• Offer meal prep or personal chef services.
• Participate in medical studies or clinical trials.
• Give Plasma to OneBlood.
• Rent out your bike on Spinlister.
• Offer landscaping or lawn care services.
• Get paid to do focus groups. Try User Interviews, Respondent.io, or Recruit and Field. 
• Rent out your tools or equipment on RentMyEquipment or GoEquipeMe apps right on your smart phone.
• Offer home repair or handyman services.
• Play an instrument? Go busking! 
• Sell stock photos or video footage online. Try Alamy, 500px Licensing, SmugMug, and Getty Images. 
• Help businesses master AI technology. 
• Offer virtual assistant services to busy professionals.
• Sell handmade or vintage clothing on Depop.
• Offer car washing or detailing services.
• Rent out your camping gear on Outdoorsy.
• Start a wedding and events band business and promote it. 
• Offer event planning or coordination services.
• Participate in paid taste-testing or sensory panel studies.
• Offer voice-over or audio recording services.
• Sell unused tech gadgets on Swappa. 
• Sell your artwork or designs on Society6 or Redbubble.
• Got a boat? You poor sucker! Rent it out Boatsetter until you can sell it. 
• Start a mobile car detailing business. 
• Offer makeup or hair styling services.
• Get paid to referee youth sporting events. 
• Sell your own products via your own online store on Amazon, Shopify, Bonanza, eBay, or Handshake.
• Rent out your storage space on Neighbor.com. 
• Offer personal shopping or styling services.
• Participate in paid online surveys through sites like Swagbucks or Survey Junkie.
• Rent out your parking spot or garage on SpotHero.
• Offer language translation or tutoring services.
• Sell your old textbooks or study materials on BookFinder.

The post 50 Ways To Make Extra Money Fast appeared first on BucksFU.

Career Wisdom from a Freelance Legend: Tommy Tedesco

Tommy Tedesco was a legendary studio guitarist in Los Angeles and Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a member of the famous “Wrecking Crew” of regular studio musicians, and played on thousands of recordings of all kinds. He was a reliable “first call” studio hand for television and movie soundtracks and all kinds of recording projects.

“Diversify your income streams. Don’t rely solely on one type of work, because the music business can be unpredictable.”

                        – Tommy Tedesco, studio musician

Tommy Tedesco was never a household name. But he was a consummate musician and a first-call, go-to person for the people who were household names at that time, and he made a great living as a musician for many years.

He was also very successful at creating multiple independent streams of income  for himself.

He received studio fees (he made double- or triple-union scale for much of his career)

He received royalty payments from thousands of recordings. Every time a rerun of M*A*S*H came on, or The Rockford Files, Green Acres, Batman, or Bonanza came on TV, the TV networks or production companies sent money to ASCAP and BMI, and those agencies sent him a check.

The same thing happened when any of the thousands of records he played on sold another new copy, or received radio play.

It might have been a few cents a play. But over a 40 year career, they steadily added up. 

Think big sellers, too, like Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin, The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Frank Sinatra, and many more. He played on all their records.

He also received additional income from doing clinics and workshops for music schools and colleges, and from book sales—which are great reading for anyone who seriously wants to pursue a career as a professional guitar player.

And his advice above, about diversifying your income streams, is great advice for anyone in any industry. 

In his book “For Guitar Players Only,” Tedesco advised young musicians that any gig should have at least one of four things going for it: 

• good money
• fun
• learning
• connections for the future

If the gig doesn’t offer at least one of these four things, Tedesco said, “move on.”

Decline the gig.

Without at least one of these four criteria, you’re better off working on your own project and developing your own business rather than working for someone else.

Also, what might be a crap gig for you might be a great opportunity for the next kid just starting out.

Let him have it!

Now, I’d add two more criteria to the list: 

• a good cause
• opportunity to teach, lead, and mentor or give back.

But I’ve found that if a job or gig has those two elements going for it, it’s almost invariably fun and personally rewarding. And good charity events almost always have lots of connections for the future, too.

So I’d say, as your career develops, stay very much involved in charity events and fundraisers. And as you gain experience and wisdom, don’t miss the opportunity to mentor and teach young people coming up.

It will come back to you sevenfold. 

The post How To Make a Living as a Freelancer: Lessons from a Legend appeared first on BucksFU.

Here are some of the other drains on millennial finances, according to the Bank of America survey: 

• subscription services: $91/month
• entertainment (concerts, etc) $95/month
• technology-related expenses (Internet, smart phones, devices). $139/month
• clothing and accessories $161/month
• alcohol $262/month
• travel  $124/month

The post How Much Do Millennials Spend Each Month on… appeared first on BucksFU.

The post Is College Worth It? appeared first on BucksFU.

• 8 percent of Gen Xers are living paycheck to paycheck. That’s even worse than the Millennials are doing (57 percent)!
• One-third of U.S. consumers say they aren’t currently saving any money; 

• 61% of U.S. consumers—about 120 million Americans—say they are living paycheck-to-paycheck as of April of 2023. 

• Of this group, 60% have no significant savings.

• 57% of Americans don’t have enough in savings to cover a $1,000 emergency expense.

• 40% of Americans who earn $100,000 or more per year say they are living paycheck to paycheck. 
• Six out of ten people can’t cover a $1,000 emergency.

• Of Millennials who make over $100,000 per year, 60 percent of them say they are living paycheck to paycheck, according to career management company Zippia.

• Less than 4 in 10 Americans have at least three months worth of expenses saved up.  Looked at another way, the average American cannot survive 90 days of unemployment.
• 22% of Americans have no emergency savings at all.

The post Paycheck-to-Paycheck Statistics appeared first on BucksFU.

The post Not Having An Emergency Fund Can Kill You. appeared first on BucksFU.

The post Hello world! appeared first on BucksFU.