I don’t understand this. We all pay taxes for things we don’t directly benefit from. But let’s just keep forking over billions of tax dollars to corporations so they can sit on piles of money, and still not hire people?
I’ll get through my rough patch. I already am. But if anyone would like to see the economy get a boost in the arm, maybe it makes more sense to lighten the load for the ones already doing the heavy lifting, not adding more weight.
I’m not looking for sympathy or entitlement. I’m criticizing the status-quo, as it pertains not only to today, but how the workforce will evolve over the future.
Can I see a raise of hands for everyone that can do their job from home, provided they have an internet connection, a phone, and a computer (or whatever tools you use)?*
*granted it won’t be the case for everybody, but the vast majority of office jobs… the office is an artifact and a huge money-sink.
You are complaining about the money that corporations get and making assumptions that they don’t need it, and I am making assumptions that you don’t need the tax write offs you get for having children. And I don’t get why you are complaining about corporations not hiring when you don’t want to work for them anyway. :dubious:
None of us here really knows why the government & corporations do the things they do, and everyone would rather that excess money was thrown our way. Unless you are willing to spend quite a bit of time educating yourself on the financial choices of the government and corporations, and then even more time working on changing things to make you happy, it might be better to either get a job where you can get a group plan medical insurance or see if any of the suggestions made here will work for you. Expecting or even hoping that someone else will bail you out isn’t likely to happen.
I was venting frustration, I expect nothing from anyone. I chose this career path because I knew I could make it work. It hasn’t been easy, but cry me a fucking boo-hoo river over taxation or the rich getting taxed more.
When I hear about job creation, corporate bail outs or tax incentives (of which has directly affected my career by our new governor pulling the plug on the film tax credit in our state, and ending my job virtually overnight) my ire thickens, and here I am.
I feel better, and actually, thanks to everyone else for some ideas and suggestions.
I think this is true in most, if not all, states. My health insurance for mental health is a joke. Normally once I meet my (very high) deductible, my insurance covers everything (in-network) at 100%. Except for mental health, which it covers at 50%. AND there’s a ridiculously low yearly cap (12 visits per year). Imagine if it covered something like diabetes like this. People would be screaming. I thought there was supposed to be some measure of “you can’t discriminate on mental health coverage” legislation that went through, but in the real world it has never materialized.
(As an aside, do you have any advice/suggestions for getting work as a freelancer? I’ve been trying to “make it” for three years, but my issue is that while I know loads of people who’d love me to do work for them, none of them can afford to pay me money. And at this point I’m kind of over doing the freebies to “build my portfolio,” I damn well need to make rent.)
Health insurance just doesn’t work. Humans are not assets or investments that need coverage, and to treat everybody in America as such leads to impossible stupidity, such as you have outlined above.
Anyway, as far as advice or suggestions on a freelance career, I can’t say that I do, unless you bring something very particular to the table, or find and develop a niche to focus on. It took me about 12 years of slowly building relationships with various clients while moonlighting, before I could earn enough through freelance to accept the risk of cutting the golden corporate handcuffs.
Are you in graphic design or something of the sort? I can tell you that overcoming my OP is the second hardest aspect of self-employment, because as you say, no one wants to pay what you’re worth. In the visual arts, I think some of this comes from making it “look easy” or the client doesn’t realize you’re employing literally years of experience to create what you do for them in a timely manner. I just quoted a friend who’s a very prosperous lawyer (a lawyer!) $600 for a logo and identity package. He about shit himself. And I laughed and laughed and told him, this was the friends and family discount rate. Go to cheapcookiecutterlogos.com and do it himself. Very few businesses or people understand the countless iterations, changes and experience you go through to crystalize one logo, as well as the time and knowhow it takes in preparation for cards, letterhead, websites and such. There’s just no money in that anymore, unless you’ve really carved out a niche.
It wasn’t until I got into CG modeling and animation where I started to create some demand and interest. I cater to my clients in ways no corporation possibly could. It’s very one-on-one, and I think for them (Marketing agencies and studios), it’s very refreshing. They know exactly what they can expect from me in regards to cost, quality, delivery and all in a very casual correspondence. I do all this from my living room, and most of my clients are in NY or LA. I expect this trend to continue, at least in my field.
I’m in basically the same position as cmyk is, but I guess I never thought of having/needing tax incentives. Some help as far as health insurance would go a long way, though - the only reason I even have health insurance is because I had it before being diagnosed with a condition that effectively makes me uninsurable.
Insurance companies don’t write group plans for less than at least a couple people, at least not in my neck of the woods. So that doesn’t work for a sole proprietorship. And even if it did, group rates are not necessarily cheaper than personal rates. But you’re right, they don’t typically deny coverage.
Regarding S-Corps and such, I think you all are making assumptions that are not necessarily true for all freelancers. I’ve got a very good CPA, and he’s gone over the numbers on incorporating for Mr. Athena and I, and it doesn’t make financial sense. We are an LLC, or sometimes not even that (like in the years we forget to renew it… yeah I know :eek:)
You have my sympathies, cmyk. It sounds like you’re running to stand still, and I can understand your frustration at what appears to be a very uneven system.
shrug There are only two of us in our corporation and that’s how we finally got insurance- a corporate plan. As long as there are two people, they are fine with it, from what I saw. Of course, perhaps that isn’t doable for the OP.
And a corporation, of course, comes with added costs over a regular business. In certain states, you’ve got fees ($800 a year in CA), plus you’ve got the additional preparation of a very complex set of tax returns (which can easily run $2000 a year). The rule of thumb that we tell our clients is that it generally becomes “worth it” is if you plan on making more than $50k a year. There are exceptions of course, but that’s generally a decent enough rule of thumb.
Just this morning I followed up on a woman that I did work for back in April. She seemed promising. She mentioned she needed someone did that did what I did freelance and that she had much business to throw at someone’s way.
I did something I do all the time at the company I work for and I did it for $2000. If she had gone through my employer, it would have cost her about $20,000. I thought she knew this.
To try and impress her, I did a real bang-up job. Spent over 100 hours on it. That’s less than $20 per hour…minus taxes and the double social security/self employed thing. In addition, I have other costs dealing with it like software licenses.
She told me she couldn’t use me anymore because I charged too much. WTH? really? You found someone that could do my quality at significantly less than $20 an hour? More power to you I guess…but I’d like to know who they are so I can be sure they aren’t pirating software and they actually report the income to the IRS.
Oh well, doing freelance stuff is bringing in a nice income but I thought this actually held promise to cut the corporate strings…
Cmyk, how dare you pit large corporations. They are beyond the understanding of ordinary humans, so just close your eyes, bend over, and assume they have your best interests in mind.
Yep. And we’re in the same state (albeit different peninsulas). My beef here, is so long as the government is handing out tax incentives, why not the growing self-employed base? Think how many self-starters could really get a jump on things, and boost competitive alternatives, than just outsourcing. Besides, I’d wager those who’s job requirements aren’t anything more than a computer or three, some software, and internet connection and a phone would rather just do their shit from home. Alas, the corporate-model mindset will continue to linger beyond obsolescence, and the country/individual will be the worse for it.
S’only me.
Oh how I do feel your pain. Right now, since it’s just myself, despite the fact that my main workstation cost over 7k, and the software I use is close to 20k combined (not including yearly updates/upgrades), I’m still able to offer major agencies/studios at least half the cost of what a full-fledged animation house would charge.
The hard part was getting to the point where I could land the sort of work where my quality was competitive with corporate CG/animation houses. Then, the benefits of the low-cost made sense.
And if I need more help, I network with other artists not even in the same state to subcontract, and I still come in way-under. And still… it’s a fight to convince some what a deal they’re getting.
It can work, but it’s one helluva tough climb… or more like sprinting a marathon.
They might not refuse to insure you outright, but they CAN exclude pre-existing conditions for some months, depending on your situation before you joined the group (e.g. if you didn’t have insurance beforehand).
It’s actually something we’re pursuing this very week, not only with my CPA, but in seeking HI options. And your comments in this thread have not gone unappreciated (to those that offered suggestions/advice along these lines as well). Thank you.
