Posts Tagged ‘ Careers ’

Is Contract Work REALLY Self-Employment?

By Kevin M

I’ve been writing a good bit in the past few weeks about the virtues of self-employment, based heavily on my own experience in turning this blog into a primary income generating venture. I believe that being self-employed may now be the new preferred way to “creating a career”, as opposed to the more traditional route of jumping on the corporate ladder—mainly since the ladder no longer seems to exist.

Today I want to take a look at contracting, since it’s become an increasingly common path into self-employment. For the record, I’ve done a good bit of contract work over the past few years so I won’t be talking (OK, writing…) hypothetically. And I still do take on contract work under the right circumstances.

OK, so you enter a contract arrangement—they have you sign a thick contract filled with rich legalese, they aren’t going to withhold taxes, you’ll be issued a 1099 at the end of the year (instead of a W2) and you’ll be required to file a Schedule C—Income from Self-employment, on your income tax returns. Wow, you’re self-employed now, right?

Not necessarily. And maybe not at all.

Many contract arrangements have nothing to do with self-employment. They’re mostly watered down jobs that have close to zero chance of ever being converted into entrepreneurship of any kind. They can be a trap if you take them on, thinking it’ll make you self-employed. No only will you not be self-employed, but you’ll be only minimally employed at that. It’s important to know when a contract arrangement really is a form of self-employment and when it’s something else.
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Self-employment in the Internet Age

By Kevin M

“Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”—Motto of The Christophers

I mostly make my living on the internet these days but I have a confession. I never worked much with computers until three years ago, least of which the internet. Sure, in the preceding 25 years that I worked in mortgages and accounting I used computer applications, lots of them, but most of us understand the not so subtle difference between that and working in an environment in which your primary means of support is coming directly from working on/in computers or somewhere out in cyberspace.

My career as a paper pusher ended unceremoniously at the end of 2008, a time when recycled paper pushers weren’t in very big demand. Where to go, what to do? Damn computers–#%&*@$g internet—they’ll be the end of the world, you watch!

That last line is a fiction (OK, it was a deeply suppressed thought), but I chose to intentionally avoid dwelling on it. Every one who’s ever seen their career crash and burn can point to one or more big picture factors that directly or indirectly greased the wheels of their departure. We can either poison ourselves with bitterness, or find some way to benefit from prevailing changes (hence the Christopher’s quote above). Which route we take will mostly determine our future direction.

Job VS Opportunity

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How Blogging Solved My Mid-Life Career Crisis

By Kevin M

Picture this: you’re 50 years old, your career is dying on the vine—your entire industry is on life support—and you need to find a new career to carry you through the rest of your life.

Sadly—and gladly—this situation was not hypothetical. It was my reality. I say “sadly” because it was an incredibly stressful situation to go through, especially having a family to support while it was unfolding. But I also say “gladly” because overcoming crisis is an amazingly empowering experience.

Rising out of the pile of economic statistics

I was one of the millions of career casualties of the financial meltdown that you no doubt heard tell of from the news media and assorted talking heads. In fact, I was at the epicenter of the storm, working many years as a loan originator in the mortgage industry. (When I wrote in the first paragraph that “your entire industry is on life support” I’m sure you can appreciate that I wasn’t exaggerating!)
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The Future of the American Job Market…is Technical

Guest Post

The single defining factor of the 21st century job market will be automation. Technology is driving us to a point where human hands and minds are no longer needed for a wide variety of relatively simple tasks.

Once upon a time your average high school graduate could find steady work in a factory. Those days have been mostly over for years, and for the last several decades the once-optional college degree has become the key to finding work. But as we enter a new century, it’s becoming abundantly clear that a degree itself is not enough. Ambiguous higher education simply doesn’t cut it anymore in a world where automation is cheaper than paying someone a salary.

Higher education needs to be specific—and technical

Higher education was once merely a metric for judging someone’s ability to stick to something, at least for the most part. It’s different now – those two-to-ten years spent in school better have been used to study something that made you something of a computer yourself, a finely-tuned workhorse that can perform at something very specific very well. The reason being is that when it comes to the automation of labor, the most simple and easy-to-replicate jobs have been the ones that computers and machines have replaced.
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Frugal Entrepreneurs – Making Money as a Consultant

By Clair Schwan

Okay folks, this is the home stretch for this four-part series on starting a consulting company on a shoestring budget. We’ve looked at startup considerations and how to handle them, expenses associated with running the business, and the many and varied hassles that really are more imaginary than real. In this last portion of the series, let’s look at income – the fun part. If you’ve done your planning well, and are mindful to minimize expenses, you ought to be able to make a decent return on investment.

Let’s take a look at what one might create for themselves, but let’s also be cautious and realistic.

Waiting for Income

If there’s one thing a frugal person is good at, it’s handling income and building wealth. Before we start rolling around and giggling amidst our big pile of cash, there are some realities that need to be faced.
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Which Parent Should Stay Home With the Kids?

By Kevin M

An excellent post appeared on Financial Highway dealing with the various considerations faced by a working couple when a child arrives in the family. In Which Spouse Should Stay Home? Miranda Marquit does a stellar job of presenting the variables involved in making the right decision. And that’s not at all surprising since Miranda is on the frontline of this issue herself as a work-at-home mom.

There was a time—only a generation or so ago—when it was considered the natural order that the wife worked until the first child came along and then promptly exited the workforce to assume the role of full-time mom. Today however, the situation is complicated by (at least!) two major factors:

  1. Most households need two incomes, and
  2. Instability in the job market has led to dual incomes as a necessary component of family income security.

Each reason is compelling by itself—but I think that the second one has become the more important of the two, at least in the past few years. It’s easier to lose a job than it has been in at least 60 years, and harder to replace one for all the same reasons.
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Frugal Entrepreneurs – Apparent Problems with Running a Consulting Business

By Clair Schwan

Continuing with this four part series for frugal entrepreneurs, we’ve already looked at some startup considerations for those who might desire to create their own consulting company. We’ve also examined the issue of expenses. Let’s now look at the general “hassle factor” of starting your own business in the world of consulting. More often than not, this area serves as a ready-made source of excuses for those who are looking for justifications for not starting an enterprise of their own.

The List of Problems

It amazes me each time I hear that someone doesn’t want to start their own enterprise because they don’t want the hassle associated with getting themselves incorporated, processing time cards, and taking out taxes each paycheck. Many also don’t like handling invoices, dealing with insurance issues, negotiating contracts, and wrestling with local officials about business licenses and other incidentals associated with starting an enterprise. To some, it’s all very mysterious and daunting. Well, it’s not.

If you peek behind the curtain, you won’t see the Wizard manipulating levers, pushing buttons or adjusting dials. What you will see is a bunch of clerks pushing papers. I can do that. Can’t you?
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Frugal Entrepreneurs – Expenses Associated with Consulting

By Clair Schwan

Continuing with this four part series, we’ve already looked at some startup considerations for the frugal-minded who desire to create their own consulting business. Let’s now look at what might be the most intimidating part of the equation – expenses. The frugal among us are good stewards of money, so we need to understand how best to minimize expenses that will erode our revenue, and as a result, minimize the profit we see from our enterprise.

Direct and Indirect Expenses

Let’s assume you’re no longer tethered to the corporate mothership nor chained to your desk inside that little cubicle. We’re off and running. You know it’s going to be scary because it’s expensive to run your own company. After all, it takes a huge corporate financial commitment to finance the business you just left, doesn’t it? No. It doesn’t. In many respects, you were financing the corporation all along. Huh? Let me explain.

In much of the corporate world, you pay for your own travel expenses until your expense report is prepared, submitted, reviewed, approved, and then finally paid. In essence, you’re giving a loan to your company for the direct expenses associated with project work and overhead travel. The only thing that the company “floats” in terms of expenses is the cost of labor. In your new business, that would be you, and your time costs you nothing – it’s not an expense, it’s an investment.

Besides, most of your travel and living expenses, and many other expenses for a particular project will be what are known as direct expenses. In other words, they are part of the cost of a project and therefore should be chargeable to the customer. When you bid a job, these direct expenses should be itemized or estimated in your bid so the customer isn’t surprised when they show up on the invoice.
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Frugal Entrepreneurs – Start a Consulting Company

By Clair Schwan

As a follow-on to Kevin’s recent articles about how frugality comes into play as an entrepreneur, I’m offering a four-part series to suggest that the business of consulting is a good one to consider. Perhaps this line of work has a limited application for the general population, but it’s a legitimate career path if you’re in any field that one might consider to be “professional” in nature.

Being frugal means being a good steward of resources, particularly financial resources, but it also means that me make certain we’re getting good return on our investment of time and effort. The bottom line is we’re not wasteful. Although consulting can have its expenses, especially in the area of travel, it can be a business with low startup costs, low risk, and little wasted investment, something the frugal among us can appreciate.

In this first part of the series, let’s look at startup investment, and then I’ll use future articles to address expenses, potential problems, and what we might expect in terms of income.
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Attend Schools Online to Become a Better Career Counselor

By Jessica Wagner

Many schools online offer a liberal arts degree preparing graduates to later become career counselors. Career counseling could not only save others financially, but help them live the financial lives they have always dreamed of living.

Unfortunately, several traditional colleges today either offer limited career counseling services or none at all to their post-grads. This leaves grads searching for employment on their own through various online search engines.

Every job hunter’s dilemma

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