You can be on a world tour, earning great money... and still HAVE no plan for when it ENDS.
You can be on a world tour, earning great money, fully in it — and still have no tax savings, no emergency fund, no plan for when it ends. Nobody handed us a financial playbook in this industry. Most of us learned the hard way.
Here’s the short version.
Save for taxes first. If you’re on a 1099 nobody is taking anything out for you. Set aside 25-30% of every check before you touch it. April is expensive.
Pay yourself a set amount every month. Figure out what it costs you to live and pay yourself that — regardless of what the tour is paying. Move the rest into labeled accounts. Money in a bucket called taxes is harder to spend.
Build your emergency fund before anything else. The gap is always coming. It always arrives faster than you think.
You are a business. Every freelancer in this industry is a one person company. Start acting like one.
Keep a brag sheet. Write down the wins. The saves. The compliments. This industry moves fast and forgets quickly. Know your own value clearly enough to say it out loud.
The financial infrastructure in this industry was never built for the people doing the work. But knowing the rules of the game you’re in changes everything.
What do you wish someone had told you earlier?
