“Financial tips for the Freelance Community”
On Thursday lunchtime we hosted the first in a series of informative and informal conversations, in partnership with Vestpod, designed specifically for the freelance community. Founder, Emilie Bellet, was joined by our Head of Wealth Planning, Svenja Keller, to tackle some of the most common areas of financial struggles for freelancers, such as mortgages, protection and pensions.
“For me” says Emilie “by far the most important thing was to plan. I plotted out the entire year, just like my business. When you work for yourself, your personal and work finances are so closely linked, so the main thing is to plan, and remained disciplined.”
“In areas where you aren’t necessarily confident, it’s really important to engage professional help”
“In areas where you aren’t necessarily confident, it’s really important to engage professional help” says Svenja “Accountants for example can free up more of your time to allow you to concentrate on building your business.”
“And there are so many potential deductibles as freelancers” adds Emilie “that an Accountant will be able to walk you through.”
When it comes to things like obtaining a mortgage Emilie says that it’s not necessarily any harder, it just needs a little foresight. “You will need three years of good accounts to satisfy most lenders” she says “so if for example you are considering going freelance and buying house, you just have to bear that in mind”
And when it comes to things like protection and pensions, they both agree it all comes down to planning. Having a detailed understanding of income and expenditure allows you to clearly see what you might be able to save. And of course, with the irregular earnings of a freelancer, having an emergency fund to cover any unexpected expenses is paramount. They would recommend a minimum of 3-6 months, wherever possible.
