percentages - 7:17 am on Jul 6, 2004 (gmt 0)

Jennifer,

Welcome to WW!

It costs less than $300 per year to form an LLC or S Corp. It really isn't worth taking on all the liability yourself for this amount of money.

You are not totally safe after forming a company, but you are much safer than you are today.

In several states companies have all sorts of advantages, if you plan on making a good living you should want to be looking at those.

Small time accountants will always want to stay within the realm of what they understand. This can hurt you!

My general advice is:

1. If you plan to make less than $50K per year, sole proprietorship will most likely work to you.

2. If you plan on making between $50K and $300K per year, you need to look at forming an LLC or S Corp.

3. If you plan on making $300K to $1 million per year you need to be an S Corp in an advantageous state. You should also look at more than one company for retirement purposes.

4. If you plan on making over $1 million per year you need to look at offshore companies and trusts.

At each stage you need a different set of advisors that really understand the benefits, laws and loop holes.

My first accountant was a gem, but they couldn't really handle growth, and therefore you have to be prepared to move on to folks that understand the bigger picture as you grow.