ironsmurf

First of all, so you know Im not wasting anyones time, my fiance is a USC and im 5 months into the k1 visa process.
Im currently still in scotland and gaining as much education, experience and knowledge in the fitness industry as i can as thats the route im going down in tampa. When I get there my fiance and I plan to live waaaay within or means for the first year so we can get on our feet.. I thought this would be a good time to have a go at going self employed as there are far less risks involved than in a situation where a) we have a family b)we have a mortgage. WHat bothers me is my lack of knowledge on things such as health insurance and this 401k thingy.

Am I going to have to be absolutely raking it in to pay such things off my own back?
If I had a part time association with an employer ie gym would they contribute anything?
Just really looking to hear of any experiences or help with the whole self employed thing over there..I have looked into it and believe I need some sort of professional license but Im still a bit confuddled..
Again if it helps Im thinking, and its a huge guestimate, $25k in the first year..

Thanks and hope you are all well..

Noorah101

My husband has been self-employed for the past 6 years, after coming over on the K-1 visa. It helps tremendously that I am employed full time and he's covered by my health insurance. He doesn't have his own 401K, but I have one through my work...but he doesn't contribute to it, just something from my paycheck each week that the employer matches.

He's just a 1-man business, so has never needed to hire employees and get into all the payroll stuff. He has a registered business name. No business license was needed where we live in Mesa, AZ. He mainly goes over to work for clients in Los Angeles, so all his expenses there and travel there are tax deductable (he has a workshop there in LA).

We have a CPA who prepares our taxes each year. But throughout the year, I keep track of his business income/expenses on an excel spreadsheet which I then just turn over to the CPA. I can share that spreadsheet with you, too, to give you an idea of what kind of business expenses can be deducted.

My husband didn't need any start-up money to operate his business, thank goodness...he found a nice guy in the same industry (oriental rug repair) in LA who let him live with him rent-free for a while until hubby could get a few clients and generate some income.

Rene

Nutmegger

I think you'll find that it is far more likely that they would expect you to be paying them.

Sally Redux

Around here at least, even teachers are getting their benefits cut and people only want to employ part-timers to avoid paying any benefits.

Nutmegger

He's a fitness trainer; trainers that I have known who were affiliated with a gym had to share their income in exchange for use of the premises, unless they were a direct employee.

Sally Redux

Yes, I would certainly imagine that to be the case. I was saying that even public employees are feeling the pinch.

The best thing, as Rene says, is to be on his wife's insurance.

Jerseygirl

Yes...it's the same around here. Same with many hairdressing salons...the hairstylists are self employed...they pay the salon to use their premises, name etc.

Nutmegger

That is for sure. Being in a two-self-employed-person family, I can only dream of employee benefits, and certainly agree that it's great to have at least one person getting them!

md95065

One other thing to consider when self employed - especially as something like a fitness trainer - is that you will need liability insurance to cover you in the event that someone you are training gets injured and sues you.

Note that, in saying this, I am not suggesting in any way that you would need to have been negligent in order for this to happen - it could be entirely the client's fault but this is the US and you could easily end up getting sued ...

Noorah101

Excellent point. If the OP can set himself up as an LLC, at least they wouldn't be able to take his personal property.

Rene

dreamercon

An employee can still be personally liable for negligence in some cases, so an LLC does not completely shield you from liability, especially in cases where the client interacts with the employee personally.

Noorah101

Yes, I guess I was thinking of my husband's business, where it's just him and the client. No employees.

Rene

meauxna

The first thing I did was google "personal trainer" tampa. Have you done that yet?

ironsmurf

wow thanks for all the help folks, thats superb stuff.. Im still unsure of how this 401k thing will work for me..
Liability insurance - Absolutely will have that covered best I can.. Ive heard all the stories on that front..
Have I looked at "personal Trainers Tampa" - Yup, almost daily. There are plenty of jobs in clubs and the self employed ones seem to be much of a muchness which is good for me.
WIth regards to paying the club for premises I know thats a route I can go down, which i absolutely don't agree with.. what i meant was if part time will I still have to contribute towards benefits, which i think someone covered..
Im not looking to just do PT. Itll be bootcamps, football (ie REAL football) coaching aerobics and boxercise classes.
I am sooo nervous and excited at the same time.. really need to figure out some marketing strategies.. oh, another Q.. do you know if there is such a thing as a doctor referral scheme for PT's there?

Thanks again.

Nutmegger

If you are self-employed you will not do a 401K, you have to have an IRA.

If you are part time, there are no benefits.

Doctors refer to physical therapists, rather than personal trainers, in my experience.