Moneysplained

The life of a freelancer is not always glamorous. As a freelancer, you are both the boss and the employee and the accounting department and HR. Because this is podcast is about money, we're going to focus on the accounting department part. In this episode we'll talk about the difference between an S-Corp and an LLC, how to file taxes as a freelancers, how to track down 1099s, what you can actually write-off your taxes, and a very exciting New York City law that protects freelancers from being stiffed.

Welcome to episode two of Moneysplained. We’re talking banks, fees, and credit card offers. This is a beast of an episode. From avoiding bank fees to evaluating three separate real-life credit card offers, there’s a lot to cover. I’ve got Kim Palmer from NerdWallet, which is an excellent website for doing comparison shopping for checking accounts, credit cards, online brokers, and loans.

This episode is all about being a smarter consumer and Kim will walk us through how to avoid confusing offers from credit card companies. Remember, they WANT you to rack up debt. They only make money when you rack up debt.

All those fancy travel rewards points are just the carrot on the stick. If you’re super strategic and can manage your credit card payments so you’re never carrying a balance, points can be awesome, and in a later episode I’ll detail how I spend seven nights in Italy relying completely on travel rewards points. I’ve been late a few times on my monthly payments but am generally good at paying off the balance each month.

If you’re spending beyond your means, aka you definitely couldn’t have paid cash, you might not be a great candidate to sign up for a credit card. And if you’re in serious credit card debt, we’re going to talk about getting help and repairing your credit and credit score in the next episode. First we have to learn how to be discerning consumers.

Understanding the 1.5 trillion dollar student loan crisis starts with individuals. Student loan expert Heather Jarvis takes us through every possible option for borrowers who find themselves underwater. From refinancing with a private lender to enrolling in a program that will eventually completely forgive the balance owed, we cover every angle of student loans. Being in debt can feel like a death sentence but with knowledge comes power and with a few minutes spent on the phone with your student loan servicer, it's possible to see the light at the end of the tunnel.