Freelance Finance

In an ideal world, I wouldn’t advise becoming a full-time freelancer until you are 30 or 35 years old. The longer you wait, the more contacts you will have, and the more money you’ll have saved up. And, if at all possible, I would not start as a full-time freelancer unless you had 6 to 12 months of living expenses stashed away in an emergency fund. Did Mire and I do this? Nope. Is this always an option? Probably not. But you will need that cushion, because people will pay you late. How late is late? A bonafide corporation usually pays in 4 to 6 weeks, sometimes 6 to 8 weeks after you submit an invoice, provided they don’t lose it, the person who hired you is not on vacation, her boss isn’t in Aruba, and Alonzo in accounting didn’t misfile it. Imagine what would happen if you didn’t pay your phone bill for eight weeks!

But of course, this isn’t an ideal world, and you are likely a very talented person who NEEDS to be off on his or her own right now. Good for you. But commit to becoming just as talented about your finances.