Financial Planning for Workers in the Gig Economy

Sidney Kess, JD, LLM, CPA, James R. Grimaldi, CPA, and James A.J. Revels, CPA

The gig economy is a sector of the workforce in which people do not have long-term employment. Those in the gig economy are contingent workers—freelancers, consultants, tradespeople—who cannot necessarily count on their next gig. They may obtain assignments or projects through companies such as Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit, or Upwork, or they may engage directly with companies or individuals needing their talents. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently pegged the size of the gig economy as of May 2017 at 3.8%, or approximately 5.9 million people (“Contingent and Alternative Employment Arrangements News Release,” June 7, 2018, http://bit.ly/2O8bsYR).