The hustle for an aspiring actor or background celebrity (thanks for the sophisticated term Greatest Poet Alive!) is REAL. It’s not what people usually add to their popular term of careers, but if you’re persistent and consistent, you can grab some of the work (the money and fruit snacks too!) that is calling your name.
When you’re living this lifestyle, you have to grind EVERY SINGLE DAY. Here’s what I mean: you have to be on the lookout for gigs every day or you might not have any income that week (unless you’re an entrepreneur or freelancer). You’re on social media checking for the latest opportunities, looking for an agent to take some of the booking pressure off of you, and staring at your email every 2 minutes looking for the most energizing email you can receive, “BOOKED!” No matter how many bookings you receive, the excitement to be booked never goes away – and if it does then maybe it’s time to walk another path.
And you know how you watch the clock when you’re on set. You’re just waiting until your 8 hours are over so that you can cash in on that overtime pay (time and a half never looked so sweet). If you spend 16 hours on set, your paycheck is more than twice as much as you expected (Yasssssss!).
So you pay the bills, save some money for transportation to future gigs, and maybe pick up some new clothes or splurge on a night out. What else?
Have you thought about how you are going to live and eat after you accomplish your acting goals? What will your financial life look like when you get older? 60? 70? 80? You can’t rely on the scanty social security fund that may go extinct in the near future (and I’m sure you’ll want your own money to use to vacation around the world, right?).
I’m here to tell you that the time to start preparing for that scene in your life is now, with the myRA.gov account.
How to Get BOOKED
Go online to www.myRA.gov. You’ll need the following information and documents to start your account:
- Social Security Number
- Driver’s license, state ID, U.S. passport, or military ID
- Identify a beneficiary. You need the name and date of at least one person that you want to inherit your account.
Call Time
Sign up now! The earlier you start, the better. You’ll have more money to live all your dreams.
Start by funding your account using one of your acting checks. You can also link your checking or savings account to your myRA account.
Audition
Test it out. Start depositing at least $25 in your account every week and see what happens. You can also set up automatic deposits weekly, every two weeks, twice a month, monthly, quarterly, semiannually, and annually. Watch your money grow every month while you’re working on getting booked for your next gig. When you see your interest at the end of the month, this will be an incentive to contribute more money to your fund. Just think about it: your money is working to make more money while you are on set doing what you love.
Dress Rehearsal
You’ve started your account and you’re ready to cash in on the benefits. Woohoo! Here’s how a myRA works:
- No fees.
- No minimum amount required to open the account.
- Earn money at the end of the month for saving your money in this account. This is called interest. The current interest rate is 2.250% as of July 2017.
- No risk. You will not lose the money you invest in the account. The account invests in the G Fund – a government securities investment fund that is backed by the United States Treasury.
- You can contribute up to $5,500 a year. So if you save $25 a week for the entire year (52 weeks), you would have an account balance of $1300 (plus interest!) at the end of the year. If you save $100 a week for the entire year, you will have an account balance of $5,200 (plus interest) at the end of the year.
Bump
The more money you put into your account, the more interest you earn at the end of the month. You get more interest than a traditional savings account. As of July 2017, you’ll get 2.25% because your money is invested in the G-Fund.
Rolling
You can’t have a myRA account forever. You’ll have to roll over your money into a privately held Roth IRA account if your account balance reaches 15,000 or it reaches it’s 30th birthday, whichever happens first.
It’s a Wrap
Take out your contributions anytime you want for any reason at all. You just need to make sure you understand the full retirement script before you make any major money moves – or you’ll be penalized. So if you want to make the big move to Los Angeles, New York City, or Chicago, you’ll have money saved up to do it (but don’t forget the purpose of this account is to save for a quality retirement lifestyle).
Are you ready to live your dreams now and in the future? Let’s go: Action!