Don’t be afraid to ask for an advance: Suzanne Bowness on budgeting for freelancers + MORE Oct 1st

Trying to make a living as a writer, editor, and content strategist, Suzanne (Sue) Bowness discovered that good money habits are as important to success as good grammar and an expansive vocabulary. This year she summed up all that hard-earned wisdom in The Feisty Freelancer: A Friendly Guide to Visioning, Planning, and Growing Your Writing Business (Dundurn Press). Her writing has also appeared in publications from The Globe and Mail to University Affairs magazine.

Since 2002, Sue has provided content creation, editing, and consulting services to corporate clients through her business CodeWord Communications. Here, she talks about her formative experiences along the road to becoming a self-employment expert—and the right way to use debt.

Who are your money/finance/investing heroes?

As a freelance writer, I had an early gig reviewing business books, several of which were financial. That gave me insight into the fact that people actually wrote books about money that helped demystify elements like the stock market and other terms…

Ask MoneySense
I just read this article for which accountants were interviewed and said that there were ways decrease the amount of tax paid but they would not provide specific examples. Wondering if you would consider writing about this topic.

—Sarah

Hi Sarah, my wife read this same article and thought the same thing. What could these people have done to save tax and why did they owe so much? For those who didn’t see the article, it is entitled “Ontario woman says government took ‘every cent’ of parents’ savings.” 

It is a story about two young adults outraged by the amount of wealth lost to taxes—$659,000—when their parents, in their early 60s, both passed away within a year of each other. 

I can sympathize with the children, thinking they were going to get this much money only to find they were getting substantially less. Without understanding why, I’m sure it was confusing and hurtful. Let’s walk through why the tax was so high and what if anything could have been done…

I’ve never been particularly fond of polls and surveys. It’s not that I question the intent behind them or dismiss the insights they’re trying to reveal, but in a country of more than 40 million people—made up of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of vastly different subgroups—I struggle with how a sample of a few hundred voices is statistically significant and used to speak for us all. It doesn’t sit right with me.

A few weeks ago, I received a press release from TD Bank. The headline read: “76% of newcomers fear making financial mistakes.”

While I had my usual skepticism about what that number represents, I wasn’t surprised by the sentiment. Of course newcomers fear making financial mistakes. Would it be any less noteworthy if the number were 65% instead? Probably not. The point remains: newcomers are worried, and rightly so.

When you’ve just arrived in a country and you’re trying to make sense of systems that are unfamiliar, the fear of getting something wrong isn’t just rational, it’s expected…