There is no doubt that being self-employed has quite a few benefits. And of course, I would not have it any other way. When it comes down to it, I would never go back to working for somebody else; even if it meant more money. But with that being said, there are some drawbacks of being self-employed. One of the biggest ones that you will have to deal with is purchasing your own health insurance coverage.
Buying an individual health insurance policy can be a difficult process for even the most knowledgeable self-employed professionals. If you are making a decent income, you may not think twice about having to pay for your own health insurance. But on the other side of things, if you are new to being self-employed, and are yet to breakthrough, any money that you have to pay out can be damaging to your bottom line.
No matter what, you need to make sure that you purchase some type of coverage. Even if you buy a high deductible policy, you will at least be covered if something catastrophic were to happen.
Luckily, most people can find a reasonably priced policy that will give them coverage ranging from basic office visits to prescription drugs to hospitalization.
You may be wondering what type of health insurance policy I have, right? At this time, I purchase both by health and dental through Aetna; it is a PPO plan and offers a good level of benefits without too high of a price tag. I pay $155 per month for both; which I am pretty happy about. Some of the more important details of the policy include a $1,500 deductible, $3,000 out of pocket limit, and low co-pays. Although the deductible and out of pocket limit may sound high, I always make sure that I have at least $3,000 tucked away in case I need to max out for a particular year. This has yet to happen yet, but it is better to be safe than sorry.
Remember, if you are self-employed you will be able to deduct 100 percent of your health insurance premiums. This is something that you do not want to forget when it comes time to do your taxes. Make sure that you ask your tax professional about this so that you keep everything legal.
Freelance writers and other self-employed professionals do not have the luxury of getting health insurance from their employer. If you are in this boat, make sure that you buy your own policy. Despite the cost, it is well worth it.
If you are a freelance writer, you have more than likely heard of Writer’s Market. Not only can you purchase the annual Writer’s Market book, but they also have a website that offers just as much information.
For serious freelance writers, an online subscription to Writer’s Market is a must have. For $29.99 you receive many benefits that will help to better your career. Just a few of them include:
1. Listings that are regularly updated. This helps to ensure that you are always getting in touch with the right editor, etc.
2. The online version of Writer’s Market offers a feature known as “Submission Tracker.†This allows you to easily keep track of queries and contacts.
3. A searchable database allows you to quickly and efficiently find what and who you are looking for. Although the Writer’s Market book is useful, you will spend a lot of time flipping through page after page. With an online subscription this is never the case.
Of course, these are only the most basic benefits of Writer’s Market online.
Although I do not use Writer’s Market everyday, it is safe to say that I sign into my account at least three or four times a week. Anytime I am interested in hunting down a new market, or locating an editorial contact, this is where I start.
You can learn more about Writer’s Market books and online subscription at writersmarket.com.
As I mentioned at the end of the last post, I was waiting for a response from the client. When I finally got one, I was not surprised that he was as ignorant as ever. The main problem he was having was that the content was not “what he envisioned.†Whereas this is a valid concern, my point was that I wrote the content based on the initial instructions that I was given. After all, what more could I do? Just like every client, I ask for what they want, clarify any concerns, and then get started.
Of course, I let him know that I was only doing what he asked. To this he replied that it was not good enough, and that he wanted a near full refund. Although I was not happy with this, I did offer a compromise for a slightly lower refund amount. This led to another tirade, and of course, a resolution dispute being filed with PayPal.
Being that it was only a couple hundred bucks, I decided to give in and offer the refund that he asked for. Did I want to do this? Absolutely not! In fact, I would have loved to let PayPal resolve the problem because I am confident that I would have won, hands down. But with the end of the month closing in, I did not want to make any waves that would hold me back from transferring funds to my business account.
As you can see, when dealing with angry clients you can often times end up on the wrong end of things. This is unfortunate, because in my case, there was no reason for profane emails or PayPal resolutions. If the other party would have been professional, we surely could have worked something out. But just like anything else in business, I learned a lot from this experience. And I guess that is better than nothing!
