The Freelancer’s Guide To Finance

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Editor's note: Back-to-back pandemic years and a subsequent funding winter have changed the way the world looks at freelancing. As the world’s biggest employers downsize their workforce, and managements get even more inflexible, an increasing number of white-collar workers are taking the freelance route. According to the 2022 Freelance Forward report released by freelance platform Upwork last week, the number of Americans who freelanced this year rose to a record 60 million, or 39% of the total workforce. Two in five Gen Z professionals freelanced this year, a trend that is mirrored globally. To outsiders—the 9-to-5 office people, that is—it might look like a wonderful deal: choose your hours, no commute and no office politics. But, as they say, the grass is always greener on the other side. Only freelancers understand the pitfalls that this seemingly convenient way of working comes with. The lack of structure, the unpredictability of clients, the absence of a support system and, most importantly, the anxiety around finances are part of a freelancer’s daily life. When your inflows aren’t regular, planned savings can be tough. Here’s are …