Funky White Boy

I’m still in a “funk”. I’m worried. I like for my life to be orderly. The past has to be tidy and the near future well planned. I don’t like worry.

When you are self employed, you find that some years are better than others. That’s been true for me, but we’ve always been able to avoid debt and pay our bills on time. We are indeed fortunate.

As part of being self employed, you must provide for things that many employers provide as a benefit. I’m responsible for my own insurance, my own retirement, my own sick leave, my own jury duty, etc.

Our health insurance has a maximum deductible for in patient hospital. I have that maximum stored away in savings in case I ever need it. I contribute to my own retirement and keep my fingers crossed that the stock market doesn’t screw over me.

I don’t have disability insurance, but I have squirreled away two years worth of income in case something happens to keep me from working. If I make it to retirement without using it, it will go toward my retirement. I plan to continue to work for another five years before retiring.

In my business, you have to line up your clients before the end of the calendar year because after the first of the year the opportunity for new business decreases expotentially for the first six months. There are three and a half months before the end of the year.

Some clients are temporary and some are “bread and butter” clients. Over the last two years I have lost 32% of my income. Next year there’s the possibility that I will lose 60% of the remainder. The reason for all the losses have been corporate mergers and corporate reorganization. No matter how hard I work or how good a job I do, I cannot have any influence over those factors.

I’m not asking for any sympathy. No, not at all. But, I do want to explain what has me in a “funk”.