I’m Paying Premiums Instead of Saving for Retirement

We’re collecting stories from freelancers around the country and sharing them with other members. Share your story and we might feature it on our site. Barbara Jatkola from Jaffrey, NH recently shared hers:

I'm a full time freelance copy editor and proofreader in Jaffrey, NH. I've been self–employed for more than 25 years. I work primarily for book publishers.

I became an independent worker out of a desire to be self–employed and to work on nontechnical publications. I'd previously worked in–house for technical publishers for about five years. I was also freelancing in the last couple of years that I was working in–house.

I love the variety of freelancing, that I can work at home, and that I can concentrate on doing my job and not have to worry about other people doing theirs. I also like that I can work as much (or as little) as I want or need to.

Unfortunately, health insurance is a huge issue for me. My husband is also self–employed (consulting forester). Many freelancers I know have a spouse who has a traditional job, which helps offset the financial strain of carrying health insurance. We don't have that advantage.

We get health insurance through a private insurance company. Today we're paying more than $1,100 a month for a high deductible plan. Before that, it was almost $1,500 a month for a traditional plan, up from &850 a month the year before. We now have to pay the first $10,000 out of pocket for health care. It's putting a huge strain on our budget. We've been saving for retirement for years, but now we are worried that we will no longer be able to put money away because it's being eaten up by health insurance premiums. We've eliminated our annual vacation, and I'm now working about 50 hours a week on average. That's 52 weeks a year!

We think that we have a social responsibility to have health insurance, so we'll keep it for as long as we can afford to, even if it means sacrificing other things. Last year, health care accounted for 27% of our gross income.