4 ms·

Yeah, not 300 a month in groceries, but you can write off your internet bill, you phone bill and all that. Obviously if you can get an employer match for retir

Yeah, not 300 a month in groceries, but you can write off your internet bill, you phone bill and all that. Obviously if you can get an employer match for retirement and good benefits that's true, that's a huge part of compensation that's not taxed.

nickjj 8y ago
> but you can write off your internet bill, you phone bill and all that. Internet + phone is about $80 / month total. Even if you somehow managed to write off $100 / month in food (which I think is a stretch) that's still only $180 / month. Compare that to paying for health insurance which is around $500 per month per adult for the worst coverage possible. Normally this is a freebie for being employed. Then you get about a 7% increase in post-tax income just because your employer pays half of your social security. Then on top of that you might get matching up to a certain percent in a retirement fund. Then on top of that you might get other forms of insurance plus stock benefits. Then on top of that you might get free lunch every day too. Long story short, writing off $150-200 / month in business expenses is not even in the same galaxy as not having to pay $500 per adult for health insurance plus an extra $7,000 in your pocket per year from going halfies on the social security (100k salary). That's already wildly better and it's not even taking into account for retirement matching perks, stocks, other insurances, free lunch every working day, etc..
- iamcasen 8y ago
  Yeah you're totally right. In my freelancing days, I didn't need healthcare really, I was 22. That being said, I feel like a good software consultant can pull down 250/hr, which probably more than compensates for healthcare. You'll pay more tax, and more for healthcare, but probably still come out ahead. So maybe that's the formula, work a corporate gig until you're a legend, and then become a consultant. :P

nickjj 8y ago

> but you can write off your internet bill, you phone bill and all that. Internet + phone is about $80 / month total. Even if you somehow managed to write off $100 / month in food (which I think is a stretch) that's still only $180 / month. Compare that to paying for health insurance which is around $500 per month per adult for the worst coverage possible. Normally this is a freebie for being employed. Then you get about a 7% increase in post-tax income just because your employer pays half of your social security. Then on top of that you might get matching up to a certain percent in a retirement fund. Then on top of that you might get other forms of insurance plus stock benefits. Then on top of that you might get free lunch every day too. Long story short, writing off $150-200 / month in business expenses is not even in the same galaxy as not having to pay $500 per adult for health insurance plus an extra $7,000 in your pocket per year from going halfies on the social security (100k salary). That's already wildly better and it's not even taking into account for retirement matching perks, stocks, other insurances, free lunch every working day, etc..

iamcasen 8y ago
Yeah you're totally right. In my freelancing days, I didn't need healthcare really, I was 22. That being said, I feel like a good software consultant can pull down 250/hr, which probably more than compensates for healthcare. You'll pay more tax, and more for healthcare, but probably still come out ahead. So maybe that's the formula, work a corporate gig until you're a legend, and then become a consultant. :P