Jennifer is a self-employed accountant who has been working for herself since 1992. 20 years! That’s impressive. Her dream was simply to work for herself. So she did.
What name do you want to use for this interview?
Jennifer
Is it your real name?
No
How old are you?
55
How can people find you?
Landline phone from Verizon, LinkedIn, personal recommendation, Certification from Albany, NY.
When did you leave your last full time/part time job?
1992
Tell us your thoughts about careers:
There are some careers that are labor intensive (consulting, accounting, design, commercial art) that are unlikely ever to make the worker rich. There is too much unbilled time – the worker feels guilty to charge too much and is afraid the employer won’t use him/her again. Also there is always the likelihood that a client will use your services and then not pay. (Of course most of them are decent and do pay, but not always). There is no point in suing for your rightful pay, because of the expense and also their countersuit that you did a bad job, even tho they were very happy while you were doing work for them while they knew it would be free.
What consumes your life (what is/are your passion(s))?
Family, reading, cooking, puzzles
Do you have a trust fund?
Dream on !
Does your family support you?
No
How do you support yourself financially?
Independent work, not as an employee
What do you think about becoming financially successful?
To be really successful, you need to find a product that can be automated and sold to millions of buyers. Of course the more products you make the more they cost, but not linearly. The insurance and the lights may be very similar, whether you sell one item or many and so on.
Do you have health insurance?
Yes
Who pays for your health insurance?
I do
How much time do you spend looking for work?
None – overloaded with opportunities
Lucky Jennifer, to have chosen a career path in which too much work exists! And because Accounting doesn’t pay as well or have the glamour associated with it like say, being a Doctor or Lawyer, it’s not overloaded with competition. There will always be taxes!
Thanks to Tschörda for the photo!