March 21, 2017 at 11:01 am
djj - Monday, March 20, 2017 11:16 AMThanks, Lowell. That is exactly the information I was looking for, plus more.
Brandie, for some reason my COBRA goes for only 13 months.Thanks again,
djj
On the taxes side - the best thing you might do for yourself is to find the local BBB chapter, and see what resources they have for new startups. A lot of them have folks who have done this before and/or starter kits for your state/area, with the important dates, insurance, taxes, paperwork to file, etc.... Admittedly one step below a small business accountant, but a LOT of good resources essentially for free (or it was when I availed myself of the service 15 years ago).
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
March 21, 2017 at 11:57 am
Matt Miller (#4) - Tuesday, March 21, 2017 11:01 AMdjj - Monday, March 20, 2017 11:16 AMThanks, Lowell. That is exactly the information I was looking for, plus more.
Brandie, for some reason my COBRA goes for only 13 months.Thanks again,
djjOn the taxes side - the best thing you might do for yourself is to find the local BBB chapter, and see what resources they have for new startups. A lot of them have folks who have done this before and/or starter kits for your state/area, with the important dates, insurance, taxes, paperwork to file, etc.... Admittedly one step below a small business accountant, but a LOT of good resources essentially for free (or it was when I availed myself of the service 15 years ago).
Thanks for the post, Matt. I know I'm not the person you were replying to, but that information actually is timely for something I'm pulling together.
March 21, 2017 at 3:42 pm
Lowell
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Saying my rate is $100, but for you guys, i'll discount you to $75 sounds good. you will end up giving people some free time anyway, most likely during requirements gathering anyway, so it starts approaching
One thing that tripped me up a long time ago when I started was trying to charge TOO LITTLE. Charge too little and folks will not treat you seriously. Keep your base price high enough to dispel any illusion that you're just an employee: apply discounts after that if need be, but not all of the time.
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Your lack of planning does not constitute an emergency on my part...unless you're my manager...or a director and above...or a really loud-spoken end-user..All right - what was my emergency again?
March 21, 2017 at 3:52 pm
Matt Miller (#4) - Tuesday, March 21, 2017 3:42 PMTHIS.Lowell
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Saying my rate is $100, but for you guys, i'll discount you to $75 sounds good. you will end up giving people some free time anyway, most likely during requirements gathering anyway, so it starts approachingOne thing that tripped me up a long time ago when I started was trying to charge TOO LITTLE. Charge too little and folks will not treat you seriously. Keep your base price high enough to dispel any illusion that you're just an employee: apply discounts after that if need be, but not all of the time.
This happens to most new consultants. You struggle to charge more. Charge a little more than you are comfortable with, or charge a lot more and discount frequently.
March 23, 2017 at 3:12 am
Anyone with an iPhone and iCloud should have a look at this article
😎
March 23, 2017 at 10:52 am
Eirikur Eiriksson - Thursday, March 23, 2017 3:12 AM
Ugh, I use iCloud as little as possible. Too big a target.
March 23, 2017 at 10:57 am
Eirikur Eiriksson - Thursday, March 23, 2017 3:12 AM
Update:
An Apple spokesperson told SC SC that there have not been any breaches of Apple's systems and that the list of email addresses and passwords seems to have been taken from breaches on third-party services. . Apple are "monitoring to prevent unauthorised access to user accounts and are working with law enforcement to identify the criminals involved."
I'm an Android guy myself.
-- Itzik Ben-Gan 2001
March 23, 2017 at 11:28 am
Eirikur Eiriksson - Thursday, March 23, 2017 3:12 AM
Honestly that ransom price seems incredibly low for wiping out that much apple data.
March 23, 2017 at 11:33 am
ZZartin - Thursday, March 23, 2017 11:28 AMHonestly that ransom price seems incredibly low for wiping out that much apple data.
From an individual?
March 23, 2017 at 11:38 am
ZZartin - Thursday, March 23, 2017 11:28 AMHonestly that ransom price seems incredibly low for wiping out that much apple data.
From an individual? or from Apple?
March 23, 2017 at 11:39 am
OK, you've created paranoia. I'm manually backing up my phone to my desktop now.
March 23, 2017 at 11:57 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor - Thursday, March 23, 2017 11:38 AMZZartin - Thursday, March 23, 2017 11:28 AMHonestly that ransom price seems incredibly low for wiping out that much apple data.From an individual? or from Apple?
From an individual, the $100k would be a rather hefty ransom.
From Apple, it's a borderline rounding error in their bottom line, which I suspect was the reason behind it. Threaten to wipe out a large number of customers' data unless Apple pays this fairly insignificant ransom (for Apple) hoping all the while that Apple takes it seriously enough to pay, but not so seriously enough to verify the breach before paying.
But, looks like they lost, Apple checked, didn't find evidence of a breach and won't be paying.
Kind of glad, though, that I don't use Apple devices...
March 23, 2017 at 12:43 pm
Alan.B - Thursday, March 23, 2017 10:57 AMEirikur Eiriksson - Thursday, March 23, 2017 3:12 AMUpdate:
An Apple spokesperson told SC SC that there have not been any breaches of Apple's systems and that the list of email addresses and passwords seems to have been taken from breaches on third-party services. . Apple are "monitoring to prevent unauthorised access to user accounts and are working with law enforcement to identify the criminals involved."I'm an Android guy myself.
Me too. I also store as little in the cloud as possible. I know data is still being collected, but I'm not going to purposefully make it easier for them by voluntarily storing absolutely everything in a cloud environment.
March 23, 2017 at 12:43 pm
Jeebus. How did I know I'd still find you guys here? All Hail The Thread!
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March 23, 2017 at 12:48 pm
Lowell - Monday, March 20, 2017 10:38 AMdjj - Monday, March 20, 2017 9:51 AMWell, still looking for a job. However, got an email asking if I would do some hourly training. This is from a co-worker that got laid off at the same time (he is a .NET developer). He works at a place with no DBA and so it falls on him to fix the server. He knows what he needs but not how to do everything.
So my question is where is a good place to learn how to bill and pay taxes (both income and social security)? What paper work would I need to get signed?
Also what do you suggest for an hourly billing rate? Or at least how to calculate a number? Note I am no expert so will not be charging top dollar.Thanks in advance.
djjHere's a few tips I have for you.
companies used to withhold your taxes for you on your W2. now you will get paid as a consultant via a 1099, and you have to pay your taxes yourself. I estimate 25% taxes on every check i receive, and at the end of the year, with deductions and stuff, it's right on the money.
you will want to create an account at the IRS's web site to pay your taxes online for every 1099-type payment you are going to get.
https://www.eftps.gov/eftps/
It takes a week or two to completely set up, and get info back in the mail from the IRS with your PIN and stuff.
it's free, you hook it to a bank account.
You are obligated to make an estimated payment every three months...even if it is very infrequent payments you are getting.
every three months, you file, even if the estimate iz zero. otherwise, annoyingly expensive penalties just for not doing a few mouse clicks. create a recurring calendar to remind you.
So for every, say $1,000 dollars you receive, you send the IRS @250 dollars of it.
depending on your state, you might want to create a single-member limited liability company. In Florida, it's around $99 dollars, but you have some nice tax advantages like writing off mileage, or having equipment come out of the gross you make instead of the net.
example: you earn $1000. you have to buy a $800 laptop in order to consult.
As a w2 employee, you pay 25% in taxes on that $1000. you buy an $800 dollar laptop,a nd you have to find $50 dollars form somewhere else.(1000 - 250 - 800_
As a corporation, the expense comes out of the earnings first,, so you pay 25% taxes on $200 dollars(1000 - 8000) = 200 net, taxes are 25% = $50 . that means you are able to pay yourself the remaining $150 dollars.Yuor health insurance benefits now come out of the corporation, even if you are paying COBRA from someone else, or via a new indipendant plan, so that comes out of the gross as well.
End of year taxes are a bit more complicated, you have to file taxes for your corporation,and every penny the company has left goes to you as income. you cannot "carry over" any funds.
you also need to set up a SEP IRA (self employed). as a 1099 , now 25% of your income can be sent to future retirement! that's HUGE. and it comes off the books, so you don't pay taxes on it. none of that 3% and maybe a match, up to 13K like a W2. you cna save more.
remember that now you are a consultant, you are paying an extra 7.5% for taxes. so if you were making for example 100K a year, if you billed someone at that exact same rate as your old hourly rate, (~$48.0 per hour, ie SELECT 100000 / (40.0 * 52) --(yearly rate/ (hours * weeks),you actually make $44 per hour, because $3.60 dollars per hour goes to new taxes you did not pay before. ball park at double your old rate, and offer 25-33% discounts off of that improved rate. Saying my rate is $100, but for you guys, i'll discount you to $75 sounds good. you will end up giving people some free time anyway, most likely during requirements gathering anyway, so it starts approachingYou have to charge more for your rate, because you are not including your own costs for health insurance, equipment and other stuff.
Other things I have done I would suggest a minimum flat rate for a visit, say $150,plus a nominal rate per hour after x hours($50-75 an . That helps open the opportunity to be flexible in order to guarantee future business
The other thing to do is to charge either a minimum per incident, and not per hour. drive an hour to some place, work an hour or two to fix it, and drive back. invested four hours, paid for one. yuck.Hope this helps.
I head a team (well, I did, last day is tomorrow woohoo! back into SQL I go!) where we worked on the mismatches with the IRS via 1099 filings. If they can't match someone to their database, they mandate 28% withholding, so that might be a safer number to target to avoid any payout at the end of the year. (source, publication 1281 on the IRS site)
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