Working as a freelancer in the Philippines

I have worked as a freelancer since 2010 through an agency called odesk now called upwork. The biggest drawback is the wages they expect you to work for. I have been very selective in the contracts I choose and have managed to compile over 600 hours in the past 5 years. Another issue is the hours, right now I get up at midnight to start work at 1 am for a company in California, but it  ok for me because when I applied I knew the hours beforehand, I have the potential to earn over $1000 a month, so it is worth it to me. In the past I have worked for everything from a Polish Manufacturing plant to an Appliance repair company in Brisbane.  It is not great bit it is not bad either.

madhatter868 wrote:

I have worked as a freelancer since 2010 through an agency called odesk now called upwork. The biggest drawback is the wages they expect you to work for. I have been very selective in the contracts I choose and have managed to compile over 600 hours in the past 5 years. Another issue is the hours, right now I get up at midnight to start work at 1 am for a company in California, but it  ok for me because when I applied I knew the hours beforehand, I have the potential to earn over $1000 a month, so it is worth it to me. In the past I have worked for everything from a Polish Manufacturing plant to an Appliance repair company in Brisbane.  It is not great bit it is not bad either.

What exactly do you do. I've never heard of FREELANCE

PLEASE educate us on this. How does it work, what kinds of skills required. Ect ect.

There's are a lot of boredom amongst Expats many may be just like me and never heard of such.

I hear you, I was bored out of my skull back in 2010 and started looking around on the web. I came across odesk now called upwork) I looked at the present offerings and decided I would give it a try. What I like best about them, there is no charge, after you get a gig you bid it on what you want to make, they add on 10% for administrative cost, they pay you on Wednesday after 800 am local time. My computer skills are basic, I can use Excel, Word, research the web. Like I say I was very selective in my contracts. I mentally set a floor and would not go below it, no matter what. Time is kept through a device called a time tracker which is downloadable after you get your first contract. Every year they send out a 1099.  I have had my best luck with the USA, Australian employers.

madhatter868 wrote:

I hear you, I was bored out of my skull back in 2010 and started looking around on the web. I came across odesk now called upwork) I looked at the present offerings and decided I would give it a try. What I like best about them, there is no charge, after you get a gig you bid it on what you want to make, they add on 10% for administrative cost, they pay you on Wednesday after 800 am local time. My computer skills are basic, I can use Excel, Word, research the web. Like I say I was very selective in my contracts. I mentally set a floor and would not go below it, no matter what. Time is kept through a device called a time tracker which is downloadable after you get your first contract. Every year they send out a 1099.  I have had my best luck with the USA, Australian employers.

Perhaps you need to figure in the tax implications also, receiving 1099's every year.  If your net earnings, after taking business deductions for your computer etc are $400 or more per year then form 1040 income tax return is required, paying self employment tax of 15% on said self employment Schedule C income.  And if you earn $1, 000 /month it could cause some of your SS benefits to also be taxable.

Naw the ss limit is $14600.

madhatter868 wrote:

Naw the ss limit is $14600.

I mean if you have net self employment income of more than $400, then you must pay self employment (SS) tax in addition to income tax.  If you are collecting SS benefits before reaching full retirement age, then earnings more than $14,600 reduce SS benefits by $1 for every $2 earned over $14,600.  Also, if you file single, then if half your SS benefits plus all other taxable income is more than $24,000, then anywhere from 5% to 85% of SS is taxable. Filing joint return, then half SS plus other income total over $32,000 causes a percentage of the SS to be taxable.