how much must you earn to work? (Full Version)

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pahunkboy -> how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 6:29:02 AM)

Ok, I have a job offer. Always know the market.  It only pays $7, $9 if you are very good. [phone bank]
The rub is it pays on a w-2, not a 1099.  therefor it effects certain reporting red tape in my life.-so much so- that the actual wage could then reduce down to $3-$5.

So I pose this question.  In light of increased commuting costs, how much per hour must your earn so as to make work worth working?

Assume for this post that you dont critically need the money. 



camille65 -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 6:37:20 AM)

Usually a 1099 is for things like being an outside contractor, or freelance work. Also for things like outside the job income. On commuting costs, well that depends. How are you commuting? Using your own car, subway or bus? All those would end up having slightly different answers. If you drive to the job every day, then calculate the mileage and gas usage. Include things like meals, clothing (if needed) and auto maintanence. And if you don't critically need the money decide if the potential cost to getting to work is offset by both the pay and the enjoynment you get from working.



LaTigresse -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 6:39:25 AM)

If I don't work I don't have a home, groceries, car, pets, clothing........etc etc etc

It is more like, how much do I have to work to live.



meatcleaver -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 6:58:53 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

Ok, I have a job offer. Always know the market.  It only pays $7, $9 if you are very good. [phone bank]
The rub is it pays on a w-2, not a 1099.  therefor it effects certain reporting red tape in my life.-so much so- that the actual wage could then reduce down to $3-$5.

So I pose this question.  In light of increased commuting costs, how much per hour must your earn so as to make work worth working?

Assume for this post that you dont critically need the money. 



When I had to work I wouldn't get out of bed for less than what is probably 20 euro net now. It's just pointless. If one is going to work for a minimum wage, one would be better off hustling. I'm all for pay taxes and sues to society but when society pays slave wages, that consensus breaks down as far as I'm concerned.

20 euro is 31 dollars at today's rate but when the period I was talking about it was on par.



SugarMyChurro -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 7:10:26 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: meatcleaver
...I wouldn't get out of bed for less than what is probably 20 euro net now.


I'm going to agree that less than ballpark $30 USD an hour is probably bullshit nowadays.

?x8x21.5x12=?

Sure, you can get by with less - but that's just it, you are merely getting by and probably not getting ahead. Less than $20 USD an hour and I think you have to be losing ground daily.

If you contract, you can't always make the hours so the hourly has to go up accordingly.



purepleasure -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 8:07:24 AM)

don't forget to take in the actual cost of living in your particular area.



aviinterra -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 8:17:50 AM)

quote:

Assume for this post that you dont critically need the money.


Taking into consideration the above, then if it was a job that would give me great satisfaction in a personal way, i.e. "I always dreamed of flying on the space ship!", then I would not need a high amount of pay. I know some people who are almost slave labor for the animal adoption centers, but they do it because it's their dream job- a job that does not feel like a job.

But if we are speaking of reality, and that money is needed to pay the bills, etc, then probably less than 65k a year would be falling behind. But online it is easy to assume and type in numbers, in reality finding a good job that pays out around 70k plus benefits is almost impossible right now. That's why some of us must plaster on the smile and stick to what we are doing now. :)



CalifChick -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 8:30:07 AM)

Okay, if you're a 1099 worker then you have to pay self-employment tax, instead of your employer paying it for you. So that is one advantage to the W-2 status.  Do you have a home office with alot of expenses or a lot of business miles (with no static place of employment) where it would be advantageous to have more 1099 income??  I have several part time jobs, and one of them converted from 1099 to W-2 for last year, and it helped my tax situation tremendously.  I still have some 1099 work that is done exclusively from home, so I still get the home office deduction.

Cali



LaTigresse -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 9:01:35 AM)

Just be cautious when keeping track of 1099 work. I contracted with a company in 1999 and earned about 15 grand from them. They did not report it until 2002, even though I was paid the money is 1999. The accountant I hired in 1999 is now MIA and all of my records with him.

With what I have in my home, I have to think that I reported it from my records and took the appropriate deductions and paid taxes on the money. However I cannot prove it because I do not have all of the paperwork to substanciate that. It was reported in 2002, yet the IRS neglected to inform ME of this until January of this year. AND, the company that reported it never sent me the 1099 in 2002, either. In 2002 I was working where I work now, making a decent wage. To add 15 grand onto that puts me in a higher tax bracket.

Sooooo, not only do I have to pay the taxes on the 15 grand, for a second time, I also get to pay an outrageous amount of interest and penalties which add up to just over 12 grand.

Just a word of warning to those that do this sort of work.......



Mercnbeth -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 9:13:44 AM)

~ Fast Reply ~
 
Hunk,
To come up with he answer, you work the problem backward. Take your annualized fixed expenses, estimate your variables (food, clothing, commute/travel, entertainment, etc.) add 20% for things you didn't think about and come up with a number. Divide by 12 and that becomes what you need to survive per month. If you live frugally or prices go down for a particular month put the extra in the bank because it doesn't mean you have surplus, it just means it was a cheap month.

Regarding 1099 I'll answer if from experience on both sides. As an employer I'd love to pay all my employees through 1099. I eliminate all employee related tax expense, not to mention the reporting expense. However the biggest benefit is I can get rid of you on a whim without consequence. Let's say you are the BEST salesman, or whatever. You've sold for me more than I could have anticipated. You've generated 100 new clients using my services. They never knew I existed but through you - they love what my company offers. As a result you've made $25,000 in commissions - I don't like that. You're fired! Most likely all those that heard about me through you, unless they were your family, won't care and/or I now have under contract.

Taking the employee side if I were told I was being paid on a 1099 basis, I would require 125% of what the job would pay normally. My justification would be the payment of self-employment taxes and I'd point out to them the savings the company would be realizing. I'd also want a contract that stipulated that any sales generated by me would have a 'tail' for commissions paid after I was terminated.

If you want to see what you are worth and how if varies based upon where you are working try this link: http://www.homefair.com/find_a_place/calculators/salarycalc/index.asp?previouspage=199&cid=homefair&fromstate=nj&tostate=ca&cc=1

Good Luck!



Pyrrsefanie -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 9:38:25 AM)

If I'm just looking for some crappy part-time job for some income while I finish up my degree... eh, I'll probably get minimum wage, but my last retail job had me earning close to $10 an hour.  Even still, I don't expect over $7 an hour for it.  The good part is that the shopping mall is really close to me and is usually hiring for one thing or another, so commuting expenses don't really factor in for me.  I'm also not paying rent at this point in time.

HOWEVER.

When it comes to a *real* job?  If it's something I'm skilled in, I won't take less than about $13.50 an hour.  I can accept $11 an hour for an entry-level position, maybe even $10 if I really like the place for whatever reason.  And of course, depending on the workload they're going to put on me... the job I just quit was paying me $11.50 an hour for design services, which I do have experience and a wealth of knowledge in.... and I was fine with that until they started firing other people, refusing to hire anyone to fill in for them, and then dumping the workload on me.  For $11.50 an hour.

Fuck that, if you're going to make me do the work of three employees in three different departments, I want $11.50 for each employee I'm supposed to be replacing.

As far as losing wages from reporting on a W2, if you make less than I believe $12,458 per year or so, you will actually get a higher tax return and owe nothing.  Even still, I've found that I can make up to about $15,000 a year and not have to pay any taxes whatsoever.

Also, if I may warn against phone banks... they're very dependent on performance.  If you don't meet your weekly quota they're likely going to discharge you, which will then affect being hired by future employers.  They also don't have a horribly wonderful history of treating their employees well.



aviinterra -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 10:04:01 AM)

Actually, I find working on 1099 more to my advantage than on a w-2. On a 1099, you pay a fixed self employment tax. But your federal tax is next to nothing once you fill out a long schedule s form. Almost anything that is even remotely related to your business or type of work can be deducted- hence you can easily pay next to nothing in federal, just save your paperwork. If you work on a w-2, you still have social security taken out and medicare, which is what the self employment tax is, but you can't deduct certain things because you are not a business, only an employee. As hard as it might be for some to swallow, this country is made for businesses, not for employees. Hiring someone on a 1099 is great for the contractor ( employer  ) because it goes around all the super expensive insurance issues, laws, etc and the subcontractor ( employee ) can deduct such things as their commute ( which you can't on a w-2 ), their lunch expenses, movie tickets with collegues during business hours, paper clips, that new printer and digital camera, toilet paper for the office, etc, etc. The possibilites are endless. And you can deduct half of your self employment tax each year from your income. 



aviinterra -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 10:07:01 AM)

Always ALWAYS keep your tax records with you and a copy either in the bank of someone you really, really trust. Copies of your past tax returns can be got from the IRS directly, but it costs somewhere around 30 bucks per year. In the end, no matter who did your taxes, you are responsible for reading the forms over and for what is in them.

If you have already paid tax on the money, you should not have to pay again. The IRS has records of your payment, you just need to get copies from them and then wave them in front of their faces until they notice. Or, if you can't do all this by the 15th, pay the back taxes and then redo them a month later, the IRS should send you a refund check within a few months.



popeye1250 -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 10:26:31 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

Ok, I have a job offer. Always know the market.  It only pays $7, $9 if you are very good. [phone bank]
The rub is it pays on a w-2, not a 1099.  therefor it effects certain reporting red tape in my life.-so much so- that the actual wage could then reduce down to $3-$5.

So I pose this question.  In light of increased commuting costs, how much per hour must your earn so as to make work worth working?

Assume for this post that you dont critically need the money. 



Well, I'm retired and do pretty well so it wouldn't be "critical."
But, for someone to entice me out of retirement it would have to be a minimum of $60 per hour and full benefits.
Not interested? I'll stay retired.



faerytattoodgirl -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 10:34:22 AM)

if i could work..i would have to say atleast 50k with dental and drug benefits...since im already getting dental and drug benefits as it is on disability and i get 1000/month...so it would be a 35K increase...but that doesnt include transportation costs and daily food costs ...so its not all that much really...not to mention taxes... so its almost as if i am already making 50k/yr.



LaTigresse -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 11:29:10 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: aviinterra

Always ALWAYS keep your tax records with you and a copy either in the bank of someone you really, really trust. Copies of your past tax returns can be got from the IRS directly, but it costs somewhere around 30 bucks per year. In the end, no matter who did your taxes, you are responsible for reading the forms over and for what is in them.

If you have already paid tax on the money, you should not have to pay again. The IRS has records of your payment, you just need to get copies from them and then wave them in front of their faces until they notice. Or, if you can't do all this by the 15th, pay the back taxes and then redo them a month later, the IRS should send you a refund check within a few months.



Yes, I have copies of what the IRS has, just not the information the accountant used to get there. If I knew where he was, I would have that. Unfortunately he left the country.

We live and learn....



NorthernGent -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 11:30:23 AM)

'Depends on the alternatives.



SeeksOnlyOne -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 11:36:13 AM)

i like earning enough to stay a few steps ahead of the bill collectors my self.....and i do that fine.

i could make more in another profession, but i havent had a bad day at work in years.  really looking forward to going to work is worth 10k a year to me........maybe more.....



Archer -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 11:42:40 AM)

Also would depend on what skills are required. Warm body work vs heavy thought work vs heavey labor work...
You cuted phone bank work, what's the market paying in your area. Look in the newspaper at what they are being paid. That should give you a starting point for what you can find employees to do that specific job.

Then of course you have to look at what the other costs are going to be. Match in withholdings, enemployment taxes, space, other overhead...




BOUNTYHUNTER -> RE: how much must you earn to work? (4/7/2008 12:50:01 PM)

Those that work for us are payed either w2 or under the table,,the only problem is that we have to eat some of the wages pay off the books as earn income..



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