You’re self-employed, and if it all goes horribly wrong, you can’t make any income for a few months. Have a plan and stash some cash.

It’s often misunderstood how the states and feds tax us. A misconception is that once someone hits a certain income, all of their hard-earned money gets taxed at a higher rate. This is not the case.

The stock market is often widely misunderstood due to the hype in the media reporting on short-term market moves. That and the jibba-jabba of your next door neighbor or some guy in a bar. It’s the long term that matters. We need to ignore the noise.

The HSA (Health Savings Account. Make your out-of-pocket medical expenses a sweet tax deduction. The money is always yours; it’s not ‘use it or lose it.’

These are the primary retirement options for freelancers and single-person businesses. Combined, you can get a huge tax deduction and protect up to $89,800 per year from the taxman.

The Empower Financial Dashboard: the magic crystal ball for freelancers that shows you your whole financial and investment life. And, it's free.

This is called stock picking. Investors try to pick winning companies like Apple and Telsa or some unknown startup. Here is the problem, no one who stock picks will ever beat a three-fund portfolio long term!