Christine Buske.com

Independent business owners and freelance professionals tend to invest more in their business than in themselves.
Considering most people cannot count on a pension plan anyways, investing in yourself is ever more important. However, how do you choose whether to put those dollars in your own pocket, or towards expanding your business?

I am not the biggest expert on personal finances, but I do know one thing: when you are ready to retire, and your business is not the next Google or YouTube, you will need some investments of your own.

I recently started buying stocks again, after going cold turkey because of very very bad experiences in the 1999/2000 crash. Seems to be going OK so far, I haven’t lost very much yet! I did try my hand once at FOREX trading, but although you can start with a $250 minimum, I would say you need to start with a little more just to increase your chances of success. The issue with FOREX is that with a low balance, your holdings may be sold if the price drops too much, forcing you out of the position before it has a chance to go back up.

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I am writing this post in utter professional frustration: clients and fellow professionals alike, always (and I mean always) make sure you have various alternate contact methods available for each other!

I am currently in a situation where a project was done on time, submitted and an invoice forwarded the next day. This is an old client whom I really enjoy working with, so when I did not hear from him I was not at all alarmed. A few days later, I received an email from a client-in-panic: “where is the project…”.

To cut a long story short: his email account, for whatever reason, cannot receive my messages. I don’t have his phone or fax number (why after all? we have the internet!). I spend a significant amount of time on the project, and now am spending more time on just trying to get in touch with him and actually get the files to his desk. Naturally, I am also concerned about the real big consequence for me; my paycheck.

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