I was just talking about this with a friend the other day. We both agreed that to date, it was the most fun either of us have had with a computer football game. Watching your fictional players develop,get hurt etc added an rpg-like element that was addictive. I am surprised and disappointed no one has made a comparable modern version.
My experience was similar. I sold a 2006 to them that had major visible rust issues. The KBB was 1650, they gave me 1600. I was surprised they bought it at all to be honest.
Not to mention I find Spotify's discover weekly feature to be worth at least 50% of it's monthly cost. Every week it generates a 30-song playlist tailored to my tastes and I end up saving probably 10 of those songs on average to my collection. I find it to be really well done.
Although I agree with you that many pension funds have been mismanaged, it's not 100% your fault if your 401k plan only offers poorly-performing, high fee funds as many do. I'm not sure either model is a good solution going forward.
* I use hourly mostly because it is common and is met with the least resistance. Either way, raise your rate at least a little after each gig. Don't get complacent, just keep ratcheting it up.
* I've actually been blessed with a great accountant. He's saved me thousands over the years and sent letters to the IRS on my behalf clearing up a couple issues along the way. I would look for someone who specializes in small, professional service firms that is used and referred by people in your area. If they tell you they don't think you should organize as an LLC, look elsewhere.
* Starting out I used recruiting firms. They have the advantage of an established network and getting you paid every 2-weeks. The disadvantage of course is they take a cut. Their first ask will always be a low-ball hoping they can get a huge margin. Always try to get them to make the first offer and always ask for more. You'd be surprised how much room they have to negotiate up most of the time. As I've made connections over the years I've relied more on my network, but I'll still use an agency to fill the gaps. Also, boutique consulting agencies can be great for sub-contract work. They often need to staff up for a project they just landed, but don't want to take on full-timers and they usually command excellent rates.
* LLC with S-Corp designation. This is very tax-advantaged vs. Sole Proprietor.
* Currently, I'm mostly on-site for one client.
* 1-person shop.
* I have an accountant. You want a good, small business
accountant.
* I buy health insurance for my family through the ACA exchange. It's very expensive so make sure you factor it into your rate.
I've had 2 FT gigs that lasted 6 months each since 2004 and regretted it both times. If you can handle having to network and interview frequently you can make more money with more flexibility as a contract developer.
I've been doing freelance/contract work since 2004. My advice would be to start by doing hourly contract work through agencies/recruiting firms. It's not glamorous, but it initially saves you from having to worry about sales and collecting the money, perhaps the two most stressful parts of freelancing. You'll get a check every two weeks and develop contacts in different organizations. Find an accountant that specializes in professional services and set yourself up as an LLC and do the work with a corp-to-corp arrangement. Once you get comfortable and have some reliable clients you can cut out the middlemen.
Why would you be shocked? There's all sorts of nasty things in these tax proposals for the less than wealthy. They are looking everywhere they can to find offsets to make the tax cuts for the donor class work under the budget rules.
Agreed. I'm 47 and I get hit up every week for good positions. Today I make more than I ever have. When I was 27 I was working at a Big Corp that laid off a good portion of their 60+ year old COBOL programmers. The devs that couldn't retire were all snapped up by other companies as pretty highly paid contractors. The Valley isn't the whole industry. Ageism is a thing for sure, but I think it's much less prevalent outside of startups and will not keep you from earning a living after 40 or 50 or even 60.
I briefly had a Facebook account years ago before deciding I didn't like it. I deleted/deactivated my account. About 6 months ago I received an email saying that 'someone' had reactivated my account and that if it wasn't me I should log in and visit the help center. My old password still worked and there had been no activity. I strongly suspect this was an attempt by FB to get me back on board.
I have no evidence other than a person that works in claims for an insurance company looked at my claim, drafted a letter citing relevant statutes and the bill went away.
I agree that an attorney only makes sense if you're facing a significant bill. On a smaller bill I would go to the hospital billing department and negotiate.
I had this same thing happen. My daughter was admitted via ER and it turned into a 6 day stay. At the end we received a bill for 40k for being out of network. Luckily I have friends in the industry and it turns out if they fail to inform you within 48 hours that you're not in network you don't have to pay the out of network cost. We ended up paying just our deductible after a letter was drafted. Do not take what the hospital/insurance Co say at face value. Call an attorney.
I'm over 40 and have been doing contract/freelance work for 15 years. The very simple but unglamorous advice on getting started that you never see is to get a few initial gigs through agencies. You'll give up some of your rate but you don't have to worry about sales or getting paid on time. Then just deliver and be a pro. Before you know it you'll have a network in your area that you can start relying on.
Not heresy at all. Everyone I know that has used it, including myself, really likes it. Yet no one I know has ever used it a real production environment. I guess it has some traction in financial circles, but that's about it. Maybe .NET going cross-platform will lead to some adoption.
I just started a new gig at a place that enforces a 35-hour work week. I get just as much done as I did working 40+ hours, but I'm way happier and just generally more relaxed. It's really amazing what walking out of the office at 11:30 every Friday will do for your mental health.
I totally agree. Capitalism should be the means for generating enough wealth for everyone to eventually no longer have to spend their lives toiling away. Unfortunately, it's been perverted (especially in the U.S.) into a religion of sorts. It's treated as a moral framework, an end rather that a means to an end. We no longer pursue capitalism in order to achieve goals, capitalism has become the goal. Wealth is seen as an indicator of righteousness and life success and lack of wealth must be due to personal shortcomings. Nothing sums this up more in the U.S., in my opinion, than the surge in popularity of the prosperity gospel.
I had one of their cards years ago when I was in college. It was as you describe. Years later I now have a personal and business card with them and the terms are good with a decent mileage program (and they have a real nice mobile app). Of course, now I have excellent credit/ income. I think they're all the same In That regard. If you have poor/no credit you're going to get taken advantage of.
Not the OP, but I would have had Arkham Horror: The card game on this list. It came out fairly late and hasn't ended up on many best of 2016s, although Quinns from Shut up and Sit Down had it as his #1 this year. If you have any interest in the LCG format and/or coop games I would check it out.
You're right. I didn't say it did. I was just trying to give some insight into how it works for people that have maybe never worked for tips. I am of two minds about tipping. As a customer it would be nice if these jobs provided a decent base pay + benefits and everything was just priced into the meal. On the other hand I would have hated this when I worked for tips, as I hustled and provided good service which allowed me to make a lot more than co-workers who didn't.
Here's the thing. I worked in the restaurant business in various capacities all through college. As a cash transaction, it will come as no surprise that a lot of tips go unreported as income. From time to time the IRS will decide the reported income from a restaurant seems low and audit the staff. It was generally understood that if you had reported 10% of your sales as a server/bartender as tip income you'd be ok. If not you were in trouble (and this happened to people I know). So if you tip $20 on a $500 dollar tab because it's the same amount of work as $100 dollar tab. your server will most likely still claim $50 in income and be at about break even once the taxes are paid on it.
You're spot on. I'm old enough to remember Sports Center when it was Patrick and Olberman. It was smart and witty and done with subtlety and clever cultural references. Now ESPN is 90℅ loudmouth morons yelling at each other about the manufactured controversy of the week. Anything other than the live events is unwatchable.
I was worried about this when I was younger, but as I've reached my mid-40s I still get lots of great offers and have no problems finding contract/freelance gigs with good rates. Now, I'm in Denver so perhaps this is more of an SV thing.
In the real world, businesses are having a hard enough time hiring and retaining productive devs to engage in that kind of discrimination.
It can be to the benefit of both. The employer doesn't have to do all the onboarding until they figure out whether it's going to work. If they employee doesn't like it they have an easy out at 6 months that doesn't harm your reputation as much as bailing out shortly after taking the job. That easy out also prevents you from staying longer for fear of establishing a job-hopper reputation. At your next interview when asked why you left -'It was a 6 month contract at the end of which they offered me a full-time position but I didn't feel it was a good fit'. That's a much better story.
There's plenty of good advice in this thread, but ultimately you won't know until you work there. After 20 years in the business, what I've done and would advise people to do, is to negotiate a 6 month contract-to-hire arrangement. This way it's all out in the open that you'll be evaluating each other and there's less hard feelings if you walk at the end of the contract.
If you're a straight 1099 / sole proprietor as an individual you can set up a SEP IRA. If you establish an LLC you can create a simple-IRA. Both of these allow you contribute money tax deferred and are much easier to manage than a 401k. Plus, you can trade them like any other brokerage account.