Ep. 75 How to have steady income and savings as a freelancer with Kim Langway from bSolo
Have you ever wondered how to have steady income and savings as a freelancer?
In this episode, I speak with Kim Langway who is the co-founder and head of product at bSolo.
bSolo is a company that automatically saves for quarterly estimated tax payments as you earn income—and even sends your tax payments for you.
Kim and bSolo’s goal is to allow freelancers to spend more time on projects that will grow their business rather than worry about handling their tax payments and savings.
Listen on to find out how Kim helps freelancers save for their taxes and encourage steady income to have a freedom lifestyle.
Want to know how to overcome the biggest challenge of being a freelancer?
One of the trickiest things about being a freelancer is achieving financial stability for the long- term. Unpredictable income and costs, such as taxes, can make it difficult to save.
bSolo helps you save by setting aside a percentage of your earnings and automatically pays your taxes each quarter. Through their self-service dashboard, you have the freedom to make deposits to and withdrawals out of your account, adjust your tax settings, and change your filing status.
Try it free for three months by going to www.bsolo.com/offbeat.
[This episode was sponsored by Bsolo]
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What was the motivation for starting bSolo?
- They noticed a trend and growth in the freelance workers in the United States.
- They began to interview freelancers, worked where they worked and began to hire them on the team.
- They learned that as a freelancer and soloist you take on a lot of jobs for yourself.
- Which includes jobs that traditionally an HR department would handle.
- More people are choosing to work on their own and do not want to go back to full-time employment in spite of the hassles of being on their own.
- bSolo then realized they wanted to tackle the biggest hassle that freelancers are facing- taxes.
- Freelancers have expressed that the quarterly tax deadline and the challenges around keeping cash available have been preventing them from saving for the long term.
- bSolo realized that if they help freelancers with their tax challenge, they can then be in a better position to help soloists in their other financial challenges.
- bSolo wants to encourage you to have a freedom lifestyle with less stress.
Who would be the perfect person for your services?
- Someone who is getting started is earning some income but does not yet have a system in place for their taxes.
- bSolo can serve a variety of people because they are able to help freelancers become ready to save for tax season.
- bSolo can eliminate the hassle of worrying about taxes and the time away that freelancers are putting to issues that are taking away their focus from their business.
- Individuals who want to have a freedom lifestyle.
What is the worst advice that a new freelancer can receive?
- There are many people who become freelancers without knowing where the money is going to initially come from.
- Always look for guaranteed sources of income to cover their essential expenses.
- Once the essential expenses are paid, you can work on business development.
- Having that steady income will relieve that stress that most people go through when they are starting freelance work.
Having a steady income and steady savings as a freelancer.
- When you have a 9-5 your employee will have steady payment for you without you having to think about it.
- The research they have done in fidelity is that when people are auto-enrolled in retirement without having to think about it, the savings behavior is better.
- bSolo wants to create that same kind of system for freelancers.
- Having a steady income and savings will allow you to have a freedom lifestyle.
What do we need to do in order to be prepared for our taxes?
- You must be organized, know where your income came from over the course of the year.
- bSolo makes it easy to track all of it because it automatically detects when you receive 1099 income and then sets a portion of it aside for your taxes in the future.
- Make sure you work with a CPA or tax preparer to file for taxes.
How affordable are the services that bSolo are providing for freelancers?
- bSolo is $12.99 a month for both federal and state tax savings and tax payments.
- For states only paying federal for states who live without an income tax, it is $9.99 a month.
- bSolo is running a free trial where your first quarter is free – go to bsolo.com/offbeat to get the first quarter and 3 months for free!
What has been the proudest moment you’ve had so far at bSolo?
- Hearing the feedback from clients about the services that bSolo provides.
What is the question you wished people asked you more of?
- Do I have to pay taxes?
- There are a lot of people who are not aware of quarterly taxes.
What are you currently working on that you are excited about?
- Growing bSolo into other savings goals and allowing freelancers to have a steady income.
- Aside from taxes, bSolo wants to help freelancers save for the long term.
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