Tag: decisions

What We Wish We Knew in 2013: Insurance for Self-Employed People

Posted on by Dawn Kennedy

NOTE: I am not an insurance agent, I don’t sell any policies, and that is best left to the professionals in the field. This is just mine and my husband Mike’s story. A story about what we wish we knew to protect our family as small business owners. I am sharing primarily because it is a money topic, and many, many people have small businesses that generate at least part of the family’s income each month. I am just going to share our raw story, and our mistake that closed our company, threw us into severe financial difficulty, and took three and a half years to dig out. Also, this post is not about life insurance, the most obvious, or even insurance for our physical business. I want to share the types of insurance that we didn’t know about but can perhaps prevent financial ruin for another family. 

When Mike wanted to start a consulting business in 2011, I was so excited. And it was great. It really was. Mike and I followed the state guide, took all the legal steps, got our licenses and set up our office space in our home. Then we took courses through the Small Business Administration, met with awesome advisors through SCORE. In short, we followed the “rules.” We had a business plan, a (now defunct) website, worked hard, read everything, learned a lot, make a ton of rookie mistakes, embraced them, kept going. After about a year or so, we thought we had it figured out. And for the business, we sorta did.

But today we talk about UNEQ Consulting (pronounced unique), LLC, in the past tense. Because it’s been gone since March of 2014. Because on November 1st 2013, Mike was working at a site in Eufaula, Alabama and fell head first 18 feet off of a ladder. Onto concrete. Yup. In three seconds, our life was changed forever.

Here’s why it’s important. Because what we didn’t do, and really never thought about, was protecting our family as self-employed small business owners. Mike survived the accident. Thank God. Had he passed? This is a different conversation. But Mike survived, with a severe head injury and years of rehabilitation ahead.

So, here’s the short list of what we wish we knew:

• What types of insurance we needed to protect our family- not just the business
• The importance of disability insurance on Mike, or “business continuity” or Key Man insurance.
• That in many states, unemployment insurance is for the employed- just not the self-employed
• And that Social Security has an “exclusionary” period for around five months, where even if you are approved, there is no back pay
• Oh, that we shouldn’t incur debt, because we had debt. For example, credit cards “we paid off every month” until the deductibles started needing to be paid, and I had to choose
• We wish that for all of the business preparation, that we would have been told to go and speak with someone about what we may need for this unlikely situation.

This November 1st 2018 will mark five years since our life changing event. Mike has made an amazing recovery, but it has taken years of digging in and working hard to recover financially. We paid it all in full, including the IRS lien on the house (for back self-employment taxes), and have sworn off debt. We hope that this post reaches just one person who needs to read it. Please share our story with every self-employed person and small business owner you know.

College is a Business Decision

Posted on by Dawn Kennedy

 

This post is primarily for rising seniors and their parents. First and foremost, congratulations, you are almost done! This is that big year with lots to do and lots to plan. This is THAT year of Senior Prom, Yearbook quote, and ditch day (but not by YOU of course.) You have worked hard, and graduation is right around the corner. With school starting again in a few, it’s getting real. This fall you will likely start the application process for your next step. But before you race off to the exotic out of state private school, I want to talk a moment about the one thing often overlooked at this time in your life: College is a business decision.

Every investment requires thoughtful consideration, and education is an investment. With the student loan debt in America approaching $1.5 Trillion, and graduates being saddled with college debts as long as 25 years, your selection should take some real cost-benefit examination. A quality education does not only come from the expensive private schools. I hear all about the “College Experience” students “should” have,however, student loan debt is currently being blamed for 1 in 8 divorces in the United States. Turns out high student loan debt gets in the way of buying cars, homes, and starting families.

Know the Cost of Attendance Vs the Cost of Tuition (per Credit Hour)

The high education figures we all see thrown around in the news are typically the amounts published in the estimated Cost of Attendance. Each school publishes the cost estimate per year for parents and students, but primarily because, “This estimation may also be used by financial aid offices and loan companies to evaluate how much money they should loan a prospective student based on how much money they will actually need to attend. Each year, the average cost of attendance typically increases.” The cost of attendance estimates room and board, fees, transportation, tuition, and books and materials.

The actual cost of your education, the Cost of Tuition, can be determined by looking at the cost per credit hour, which is a very different number. Published in an article by Student Loan Hero last January, here are the current national averages of costs per credit hour:

• Four-year, public: $324.70
• Two-year, public: $135.09
• Less than two years, public: $281.17
• Four Year Private: $1039.00

Keep in mind, these are the national average, and your state or private school credit hour cost may be higher or lower. But let’s do a little math here. A four-year bachelor’s degree is around 120 hours or so. A four-year public school at $324.70 is about $38,964.00 for all four years. That’s under $10,000.00 per year. Compare that to the four-year private school average, the same 120 hours will run approximately $124,680.00. Before you buy a book, get a sandwich, or go to your science lab. In many parts of the country, that is the cost of a starter home. Still, $10,000 a year for a four-year public school is a lot of money.

Another option is to get your pre-requisites, such as English, Social Sciences, Western Civ and Math courses done at a two-year college. Let’s math again. If you complete 60 hours at Community college, you’ll pay an average of $135.09 a credit and $8,105.40 total. A little over $4,000.00 a year, and a savings of 60% off the four-year public university option. For many families, this is a wise decision.

Even more wise, is to “cash flow” or pay for tuition in cash each semester. With a full-load averaging 15-16 credits, each semester would cost about $2,161.44. Add books and fees, and you are still probably coming in at about $2,800.00 a semester or $5,600.00 a year. If you start working this fall, you need to save about $467.00 a month to fund your first full year at a two-year public school.

So, Why Cash?

Using Loans increases that cost per credit once interest is added! Looking again at the cost per credit hour, each credit costs more, when you take out a loan to pay for it. As of the article published in January 2018, the Department of Education has interest on federal Direct Loans at 3.76% APR. That is an effective rate of about 20 percent over 10 years. Adding that interest to each credit changes the cost:

• A two-year public-school credit at $135.09 would cost $162 over 10 years ($27 in interest)
• A four-year public-school credit at $324.70 would cost $390 over 10 years ($65 in interest)

Mathing again, the 60 hours at Community College can grow to $9,720.00. An increase of $1,614.60, then interest is also added on the books and fees if you have a loan for each semester to cover those as well! Think how great it would be to finish college without debt. To make that investment in yourself in cash, it takes planning. A combination of work and saving, living cheaply or at home, and getting any shortfall through scholarships (try My Scholly) should all be part of your smart education investment. Enjoy your senior year!