Episode 28: Giving Yourself Benefits as an Independent Contractor

We start our last section on the 31 Day Courier MBA series, where we talk about employee relations.

We don't have employees, you say.

When you're an independent contractor, you are considered self employed, so guess who your employee is? You have a responsibility to take care of that employee.

We talk about three major types of benefit that are often provided only for employees. Is it possible to give yourself these benefits?

Paid Time Off

Insurance

Retirement.

These are all things you can give yourself. There is a cost, just like there is a cost for an employer to provide these things. You need to realize that these kinds of benefits DO add to the disparity in earning power between being an employee and being an independent contractor. See Episode 6 for more on that.

It's important to think about these things and ask how much you need them. What happens if something happens to you while working? What insurance do you need? It's worth getting with a good independent insurance agent to discuss where you are vulnerable, and get with a good tax pro to udnerstand how these things affect your taxes.

In the episode, we referenced this article from Dave Ramsey on how to tell if you need life insurance.

For a blog version of this episode (not necessarily word for word) you can go here.

For a list of all episodes on the series, go here.