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When you’re self-employed, there’s a lot of challenges that come with taking that career choice. However, having a career that can work around you can certainly be something that provides you with a better balance of work and life. Unless that is, you’re someone who loves to work! Here are some tips worth considering when you’re self-employed.
Get Insurance If Relevant
Insurance is definitely something worth getting when you’re self-employed because whether you’re running a business yourself or freelancing your skills, there is always something worth protecting. For those who work in a trade like building or electrics, for example, and they work self-employed, they need tradesman insurance. When you’re with a company, you don’t necessarily need to think about those things because they’re covered by the business. However, when you’re doing it on your own, there’s going to be some costs that are worth thinking about in order to ensure your safety and security remains well protected. Insurance is the best thing to have, so it’s worth looking at the options that you might need.
Have An Emergency Fund
An emergency fund is something that anyone should have, regardless of their work position. We all need to have an emergency fund because things can go wrong, and it’s at that point where we need financial help, that emergency funds can come in useful. When you’re self-employed, you have the uncertainty of one month being really good and another being terrible. It’s important that you consider an emergency fund and if you haven’t got one already, then it’s definitely a good time to have one. Any extra profits you can make, go straight into that fund for those times where you may be seriously struggling.
Pay Yourself A Salary
When you’re self-employed, you’re essentially a one-man-band when it comes to your work life. That’s especially so if you own a business and you’re the only employee. A good way to make sure you’re doing it right is by paying yourself a salary. This can make it helpful for you when it comes to divvying up all your expenditures and incomings. By giving yourself a salary, you can then use the other profits to pay towards other expenses, pop some in that emergency fund and reinvest into whatever trade you are in. Whether that be new tools for your tradesman services or outsourcing for your online business.
Start Planning For Your Retirement
As much as it may sound morbid when you’re young and way off your retirement age, you should start planning for retirement as soon as you can. This means that you should be putting money into a pension pot as soon as you start earning. By shovelling money into a pension pot, both public and private, it’s going to help you later on in life when you need it. It’s never too early to be putting these plans into place.
Being self-employed has it’s advantages and disadvantages, just like full-time employment. Use these tips to help make it a little easier!
