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Less than a year ago, Hoyt ditched his day job and launched
Millennial Money Man (http://millennialmoneyman.com/), a blog that
is already paying more than he earned as a high-school band
instructor. His wife plans to strike out on her own in a few years,
too.
"We saw our parents work hard all of their lives and still not be
able to retire," says Hoyt. "For us, work-life balance is more than
a hot button. The freedom of being able to make your own way
outweighs the safety of a paycheck."
When it comes to career aspirations, millennials may well defy the
norms set by previous generations by being happy to take a pay cut
for better work-life balance.
Even when content in their current jobs, nearly half are actively
looking for new opportunities, according to a recent survey by
Fidelity Investments. Previous research also found that a whopping
66 percent ultimately want to work for themselves.
Millennials are uniquely well-equipped to do that, too, experts say.
"They are technologically savvy, and the technology that is
available to them has brought (business) start-up costs down
dramatically," says Duncan Rolph, managing partner at the financial
management firm Miracle Mile Advisors in Los Angeles.
Working for yourself involves plenty of risks. Here are some tips on
how to survive and thrive when striking out of your own:
1. Start with a side-hustle
The low-risk way to determine whether your idea could make a good
business - and whether you like it enough to do it every day for
years on end - is simply to launch it while you still have a day
job.
"See if it is something you can be passionate about - it needs to be
about more than just money," says Hoyt.
2. Build a financial cushion
Few businesses are profitable from the start. Even if you are lucky
or talented enough to build sales right away, customers do not
always pay promptly - and some never pay at all.
In the meantime, you need to eat. To keep food on the table and a
roof over your head, build up a financial cushion to cover several
months - ideally a year - of living expenses before you launch,
suggests Rolph.
3. Take turns
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A supportive, working spouse can take a lot of risks out of
entrepreneurship. If your significant other has a job with benefits,
you may be able to buy health insurance through his or her company
plan, and the cost is often subsidized.
If you can live on one income, you can get away with having less
savings to handle those slow-and-no-pay accounts.
For two partners with the entrepreneurial bug, launch one enterprise
at a time.
Hoyt and his wife made a deal - he would work like crazy to make his
business earn enough to support them both. Once there, and they are
already getting close, it would be her turn to quit her day job and
launch a website.
4. Hire a tax expert
The U. S. tax code can be befuddling for anyone, but there are few
areas quite as murky as deductions for small business owners.
For example, there is no way to write off the cost of your summer
vacation as an employee. But if you are a business owner tacking a
few days onto the important business conference you attended in
Jamaica, the answer is drastically different.
And each dollar you deduct reduces both your taxable income and the
amount you have to pay in Social Security and Medicare taxes.
"If you have a good CPA, they’ll save you a lot more in tax than you
pay them in fees," says Hoyt.
(The writer is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are her
own.)
(Editing by Beth Pinsker; Editing by Diane Craft)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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