Confused by all the talk about government relief for those whose work or business has been affected by COVID-19? We’ve created a few simple resources to help navigate what’s available.

COVID-19 social distancing at home? This is a great time to teach your kids about finances! The last few weeks have been surreal in many ways. I was definitely not expecting was to become a homeschool parent. I was not surprised when schools closed a week before spring break, but it was another thing entirely when we were told they’d be closed until the end of April. I don’t mind if my kids missed one extra week of school, but six weeks is too much.

To our amazing advisors,

It’s hard to begin to describe what has been going through my head these past days and weeks as Covid-19 has moved into the forefront of the entire world’s consciousness. I wanted to share a few thoughts from our founding partners as each of us navigate through this unprecedented time. I am going to avoid the standard advice (wash your hands, don’t touch your face, maintain social distancing) and instead talk about how we can help take care of ourselves, our clients, and our community.

The impact of Covid-19, like interest, is compounding daily and businesses are reeling. At Breakaway, we too are adjusting to this new normal and working to help our business clients find the resources they need. We don’t know if it will be 30 days or three months before life will resume like it was before, but we know businesses need help now.

“My dance card is full” is to say that your schedule is completely booked. Back in the day, women wrote their dance partners’ names on little cards they would carry around their wrist or in their handbag. This card had a finite number of openings, one for each song, and potential partners would hope their lady would favor them with a good one!

At Breakaway, our advisors work for themselves, not by themselves. This means that while we take care of all the back office details so they can focus on their clients, our advisors are entrepreneurs who get to enjoy the thrill (and sometimes experience the disappointment) of finding their own client base. While the first few months of entrepreneurship can be exciting, they can also be a little daunting and many of our potential advisors ask what they should do to prepare themselves financially and how much money they should save to feel confident on their journey.

I had my first tax season in 1994. That means I had about 25 tax seasons under my belt when we started Breakaway (give or take a couple years when I was in industry). For the most part, I actually enjoyed tax work. I got a chance to interact with my clients in a way that they valued (as long as I was giving them good news and ways to save money). I got to feel a sense of accomplishment when I could deliver a finished product on time to a client.

It’s arguably one of the most exciting moments in bicycle racing. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, a pack of riders surges ahead of the peloton and begins a courageous sprint, leaving the main group kilometers behind them.

As we build Breakaway, we have focused intentionally on our mission and values. We believe collaborating and memorializing them will help us remain true to our core as Breakaway grows. While we are passionate about Breakaway, all of us would say the most important thing in our lives are our families. Yet none of us have gone through this same, simple practice with those we value most. Have you? 

We all pay tax on income we earn. If you work as an independent contractor, you probably have a lot of questions about how to track your income, how to estimate tax, and how to pay taxes.