The Cost of Complacency
The business structure you started with may not be the structure you need today.
A sole proprietorship or basic LLC can work well in year one. It is simple, cheap, and easy to manage.
But once profits grow, staying in the default structure may quietly cost you thousands in unnecessary taxes.…
The 15.3% Self-Employment Tax Wall
If you run a standard sole proprietorship or single-member LLC, your business profit gets hit with self-employment tax.
For many owners, the self employment tax rate 2026 is the wall they keep running into.
That rate is generally 15.3%.
It covers:
12.4% Social Security tax
2.9% Medicare tax
And here…
For a lot of freelancers, consultants, and LLC owners, success comes with a nasty surprise: self-employment tax.
You finally build a profitable business, hit a strong year, and then realize a huge chunk of your profit is getting eaten up by that extra 15.3% tax. It can feel like a success penalty.
That is why…