self-employment

Job growth in the traditional market is tepid, but among contractors, freelancers and e-lancers, hiring is booming. Of course, if you go that route, that means you have to handle a host of things your employer used to, but there are ways to make it less of a chore -- and new companies looking to help.

As the economy picks back up, more and more people are working from home. The number of home-based U.S. businesses will grow by more than 10% over the next four years, and the number of telecommuters will rise by 12%. But that's not all based on the recovery: Many are victims of the recession.

Whether it was a fresh startup or a fresh start, fewer Americans seemed willing to take career risks last year, according to a new report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The percentage of job-seekers starting their own businesses or relocating for new positions fell to historic lows in 2010.

When we talk about saving for retirement, we often talk about the importance of employer matching dollars. But what if you are your own employer? Are you behind from the get-go, a lost cause when it comes to retirement? Not at all, says consumer finance expert Jean Chatzky.

It turns out that the bad economy is great for coin-op laundromats. Because, though houses with laundry rooms will be foreclosed upon, washing machines and dryers will break and be too expensive to fix, and sometimes, we lose our homes entirely, we still need clean clothes. Long the refuge for...

In a recent press conference, New York's mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that he was working with The Freelancers' Union to develop an unemployment safety net for the nation's growing population of self-employed workers. The proposal would allow freelancers to deposit pre-tax earnings into a fund...

While the national unemployment rate is 7.2% and may reach 10% before the year is up, there are a number of self-employed people, I imagine, who feel unemployed... or at least less employed... and so it sort of begs the question: What do those people do? They can't just go to the unemployment...

I just got done reading an email from a blogger on another site for which I write. She has her own business and consults with a non-profit organization for about 20 hours a month. The organization wants to "bring her in house." What does that mean? She works more and gets paid less.The organization...

When you've got self-employment income, it's much nicer if you can use Schedule C-EZ instead of Schedule C. Why? Because it's easy (EZ)!!!You can use Schedule C-EZ if you have $5,000 or less in business expenses, and if you do not have a net loss in the business for the year. There is an...

Successful entrepreneurship is a dream for many. It's popular to demonize "Corporate America" and swear off working for "the man." But are you really cut out for it? Can anyone and everyone be successful at self-employment? No, they can't.... so here are a few things to think about if you're...