Discussion:
Intro and questions
Jeremy Merritt
20 years ago
Permalink
Hi all,

My name is Jeremyx and I'm thinking about going independent :)

Background: I am a software developer, 6 years +. I have a day
currently and have been doing consulting work on the side for almost 2
years now. I've been thinking about going independent for the last
year or so. I own a house, and have a family with a partner, (we're
not technically married), and 3 kids.

Lately, I have been working like crazy on side projects while the
pressure has been on on my day job -- this has caused me to take a
hard look at jumping ship or not. I can't maintain my current
workload so I need to make a choice.

Questions: Affordable health insurance for a family? I have read a
lot about this and it seems like I'll end up paying $600 + per month
with a high deductible. What companies are folks here using?

When do I take the plunge? I've mostly been doing small projects, (<
40 billable hours per project), because I work a day job. I'm sure I
can have a steady stream of those rolling in, but it sounds like a lot
of folks here work on long term projects. One of the projects I'm
working on is funded by NSF, (National Science Foundation), and will
hopefully move to the next phase which is 2 year funding. (Right now
we are near the end of 6 months of funding). Should I wait for the 2
year funding to come in and jump ship then so I have some "steady"
income?

I also have some opportunities for long-term contacts, but have never
done that due to the day job. Thoughts on how to set one of these up
would be greatly appreciated.

Also, how much to bill? Does anyone have going rates for independent
software developers? I know this will vary depending on what you are
doing -- consulting, code-slinging, solution architecting, etc.; but
I'd love to see a benchmark.

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

-Jeremyx
James Avery
20 years ago
Permalink
Hey Jeremy, welcome to the group.

1) Can't help you on the health insurance, as I am on my wife's which
she gets through her job.

2) I think to start off you should definitly look for a longer term
committment. My goal when going independent was locking up at least a
six month contract, of course this all depends on your financial
situation. You can usually make more per hour on shorter projects, but
you will have more downtime.

3) I think bill rate fluctuates dramatically based on what you are
doing and where you are doing it. I have heard of bill rates as low as
$40 and as high as $200 an hour. If you search the archves on this
list there have been some great discussions on how to figure out your
best rate. (which is the most they will pay of course)

-James
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Yama Kamyar
20 years ago
Permalink
Hi Jeremy,

For healthcare I would advice you to get it from your wife or concubine. When
you have a big family as you have it becomes really expensive to pay
for health
insurance. I would simply consult an insurance broker that will find you the
best possible rate. Check your yellow pages and call several of them quoting
for a health care insurance.

Yama
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Adwait Ullal
20 years ago
Permalink
One of the site for rates I've found helpful was
www.realrates.com<http://www.realrates.com>
- Adwait
--
Adwait Ullal

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