Understand the Gig Economy: Why Millions are Choosing Freelance and Side Hustles

NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast

NerdWallet Personal Finance

Business, Education, Investing, How To

4.2 • 665 Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2024

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Learn how the gig economy impacts workers' finances and get tips for managing taxes, savings, and benefits. How does the gig economy affect people financially? How can gig workers save for taxes and retirement without employer benefits? Hosts Tess Vigeland and Sara Rathner are joined by Rick VanderKnyff, NerdWallet’s senior news editor, to explore what defines a gig worker, how many Americans are involved in gig work, and what this means for benefits like healthcare and retirement. They discuss the complexities of gig work, its rise during the pandemic, and what gig workers can do to manage their finances and save for the future. Plus: Tess and Sara cover some of the week’s top financial headlines, including the latest job market report, tax filing extensions for Hurricane Helene victims, and rising interest rates on credit card debt. Learn about the best no balance transfer fee credit cards: https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/credit-cards/best-no-balance-transfer-fee-credit-cards In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: gig economy, gig workers, freelance jobs, side hustles, independent contractors, gig work benefits, gig worker taxes, freelancer taxes, how to save as a freelancer, managing freelance income, self-employment tips, self-employment tax, gig economy trends, freelance health insurance, gig work flexibility, saving for retirement as a freelancer, freelancer budgeting, part-time jobs, gig economy apps, freelance income tips, budgeting for gig workers, self-employed retirement plans, healthcare for gig workers, gig economy statistics, gig economy news, freelance careers, gig worker rights, independent worker benefits, alternative work arrangements, and freelance tax tips. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast. I'm Tess Vigland in for Sean Piles.
0:10.6	And I'm Sarah Rathner in for Anna Hilhouski. The cats are away and the mice are going to play, baby.
0:16.5	That is right. And this is our weekly Money News Roundup, where we break down the latest in the world of finance to help you be smarter with your money. We'll go deep into a single topic and then leave you with the latest money headlines. Today we're talking about gigs. Yeah. Test, you got a gig? I do. I sub for Sean. I'm also a part-time photographer, so I would say that's a gig.
0:39.0	Lots of other Americans have gigs, so much so that they've got their own section of the economy,
0:44.6	the gig economy.
0:46.1	Yes, not just for jazz musicians anymore.
0:48.4	That's right.
0:49.7	So today we are joined by a name that's familiar if you listen to the credits each week here. Rick
0:55.3	van der Kneif is our fact checker on the weekly news podcast and NerdWallet's senior news editor.
1:00.9	But for this episode, he's with us to talk about the gig economy as our guest. Rick, welcome to the front of the microphone, a new gig for you.
1:11.3	Hey, thanks, guys. I am glad to be here, and I am always up for a new experience.
1:15.8	Let's start by defining gig workers and the gig economy.
1:20.5	These are terms that are tossed around, and most people probably have an idea of what we mean,
1:25.4	but give us the rundown. Is gig worker just another word for a freelancer?
1:30.1	The definition of a gig worker is actually pretty fuzzy, so it depends on who you ask. The most
1:35.7	visible gig workers that we're all familiar with are people who find work through apps like Uber and
1:40.8	DoorDash. But the definition can be expanded to include a lot of categories like
1:45.7	dog walkers, freelance designers, on-call health care workers, day laborers, YouTube creators,
1:51.5	even people who sell stuff on Etsy. So it's a long complicated list. And the BLS, which is the Federal
1:57.4	Bureau of Labor Statistics, they don't currently have a definition of gig worker.
2:02.9	Instead, they individually track an array of what they call alternative work arrangements.
2:08.5	Do we know how many gig workers are in the gig economy? Anybody tracking that? And if so, how are they
	...

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