If you are thinking of joining the freelance way of life, you should take into account these 5 financial products for freelancers. These financial products will make your life easier. Before offering your services take into account that you must have an account in a payment platform, such as Crema, to get paid in. This can be linked to your bank account, so you also have to consider the following financial products and services:
Deposit account
As we mentioned before the main financial product for a freelancer is your deposit account, since you need a way to receive deposits from your clients. Crema works perfectly if you want to receive payments from all over the world; you just have to create an account, link your bank account and just start creating Gigs to charge your clients.
Today it is very easy to open a bank account online, in case you don’t have one, and without the need to go to a bank branch, there are many FINTECH companies that allow you to open an account from your cell phone just by adding some data and verifying your identity.
Debit card
Just as you need a deposit account, you also need a debit card to use the funds in your bank account, it is necessary that the card is international and the bank or FINTECH has ATM cash withdrawals.
Just as there are many FINTECH companies that offer accounts, there are also many debit card options, in the market you can find accounts with rewards programs, free insurance, Infoless cards, etc.
The easiest way to get a debit card is to open an account that offers a card as a tool of disposal, usually all banks offer this modality, but if you prefer FINTECH we leave you our top of the best cards and bank accounts.
Credit card
You also need a credit card. Credit cards are financial products that allow you to finance without interest if you know how to use them. It is very important for freelancers to have a credit card because of the credit history. If in the future you wish to buy a house, or a car, and you need a loan, it is more likely that banks will trust someone with a longer credit history, and above all, a good one! Take into account that self-employed workers need electronic devices such as computers, cell phones, internet access, etc. For all these expenses it is advisable to use a credit card, since you can pay in months without interest or direct debit your services.
Personal Retirement Plan
The following financial product is to guarantee a dignified retirement. Since you do not have a “formal” job, you must save on your own for retirement, you can do it by depositing to a savings account voluntarily. The best thing to do is to hire a personal retirement plan and save.
Personal retirement plans have the benefit that you can choose in which investment instruments you want to invest. You can hire a savings plan in any of the insurance companies that your country has to offer throught the help of an issurance advisor.
Medical expenses insurance
Finally, if you do not have an employment contract, you should take out major medical insurance, which is the equivalent of social security. It is important that the medical expenses insurance covers hospital and health expenses, as well as emergency transfers.
The advantage of health insurance is that you can select the amounts and conditions of the contract, while social security is a general insurance. This insurance can also be obtained through the same advisor; it is actually better that you count with only one advisor that helps you with all your types of insurances.
Savings tips for freelancers
Saving money is not easy for everybody. Some do it since they were young, always saving money for the future; but some of us love to spend money the minute it gets to our hands. And that’s okay, sometimes saving money has to be something you learn, so here are some tips for saving money for people who don’t know how to do it.
As we’ve mentioned before, if you’re not saving money currently, the best thing you can do is at least save for your retirement. Consider hiring a retirement plan starting at $80 USD a month; this expense will adjust little by little in your finances and you will suffer less for it in the future. For the people that love spending money, our tip is to get used to setting a limit of allowed expenses per month. So for example, don’t think of the income you have as completely your own; there is some part of it that you will not be able to touch, and the other part, you’ll be able to use. This way of thinking will help you to not see the whole number and feel free to spend it all. The ideal percentage is 30% of what you earn per month, to be able to enjoy it in your luxuries, considering that you should save 40% and live with 30% of your income for your basics.
It is never too late to start saving and if you are one of those who need a boost, automate your monthly savings through your banking app or a savings plan. You can choose the amount and date so that when it's your payday, you automatically save and even invest.
Set a quarterly savings goal: having goals motivates you to achieve them and to find purpose in your efforts. The idea is to set yourself to a realistic amount of money to save in short terms. This way you can see results easily and continuosly in order to make changes if necessary. This can also lead you to get the motivation you need in order to save even more money per month.
Avoid spending too much on subscriptions: consciously choose the apps or streaming that you want to pay month by month and concentrate them on a single card. By paying your subscriptions in one place it will be easier to track them. If you have an iPhone, you can check your active subscriptions in your profile settings and cancel the ones you don't use. Be careful with the "free trial", sometimes a year goes by and you are still paying for a subscription you never used.
