There are lots of advantages to being self-employed, but there are also a few snags. Keeping up with one's tax liability is a huge potential headache. I strongly echo Catherine Price's advice: pay someone competent to do your taxes, and you'll (probably) save money in the balance.
Get a tax advisor. These lovely people have chosen to read IRS documents as a full-time career -- take advantage of this bizarre miscalculation. Not only can they save you more money in taxes than they charge in fees, but hiring one means you will never, ever have to figure out the part of the 4562 Depreciation and Amortization form that asks you to calculate your special allowance for qualified Gulf Opportunity Zone property placed in service during the tax year and used more than 50 percent in a qualified business use
[From Freelancing, finance, self-employment | Salon Life]
She has some more sound advice, like:
6. Build in rewards. To quote a friend: "Do not get into the habit of drinking beer with lunch. At the same time, you should sometimes drink beer with lunch, because that is one of the reasons you are self-employed in the first place." His advice isn't just about alcohol -- though I did have a ginger-tini with lunch the other day that made me feel everything was right with the world. The point is that you need to build in rewards for yourself -- rewards that take advantage of being your own boss. Go for a walk in the middle of the day. Watch "Oprah." Take an afternoon off and see a movie. At the same time, though, make sure to set limits, so you don't cross the line from self-employed to unemployed. Some activities might be such time sucks that you need to outlaw them completely. "My downfall was television," one former freelancer told me. "How much television could I watch in the afternoon? Eventually, the answer to this question was 'none.'"Amen to that. As a related thought, if you are going to have a drink with lunch, make sure to schedule in a nap too.
Read the whole thing here. I can't say I follow every point on this list, but I try to (I still don't have a Roth IRA - though D does, exercise is hard to schedule in, and I like my own coffee much better than any coffee I get at a coffee shop), and I wouldn't say any of her points are wrong.
