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Financial Animation: Managing Your Money as an Animator

ben marvazi 2020

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As an animator, get ready for a thrilling career with the potential for both artistic and financial fulfillment! Though don't be surprised if you come across a few obstacles along the way. To stay ahead of the game, make sure to keep your finances in check, so you can handle any hurdles that come your way with ease.

Financial Animation Tips: Setting Up An Account

Financial Animation Tips: Setting Up An Account, one hand has a bank card and the other hand has coins

GIF by abradshaw93 via Tenor

It is recommended to set up a checking account. You will use this account to pay your bills, buy groceries and other necessities, and handle other everyday expenses.

It is also recommended to set up a savings account as this is where you'll deposit any extra money that isn't going toward retirement or emergency funds--you'll have access to it if you need it in case of an emergency or unexpected expense but won't be tempted by its tempting presence in your checking account!

In the financial animation world, it makes sense to open an emergency fund with three months' worth of living expenses saved up. This is when something happens like losing your job or getting sick without insurance coverage right away, there's no panic involved; instead, there's peace knowing everything will be alright because everything has been taken care of ahead of time through careful planning and preparation!

Financial Animation Tips: Get Insurance 

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Read our blog on 10 Best Finance Tips for Freelance Animators!

As an animator, you are in a position of power. You can create anything that comes to mind and bring it to life. You have the ability to make people laugh or cry with just a few strokes on the page. That's amazing! But it also means that you have a lot of responsibilities--both as an artist and as a human being.

You need insurance so that if something unexpected happens (like getting injured), then at least your immediate financial needs will be taken care of while you recover from whatever injury has occurred. It doesn't matter how good your health insurance policy is; if something goes wrong while working on set or in post-production, it would be nice if someone else paid for part of those costs rather than having them fall squarely on your shoulders alone.

Financial Animation Tips: Track Your Income and Expenses 

character walking and tracking the ground with a magnifying glass

GIF by RudiGIF via GIPHY

As an animator, you need to be aware of how much money is coming in and going out. It's important to keep track of both your income and expenses so that you can plan for the future, pay bills on time, and avoid getting into financial trouble.

There are several ways that you can easily keep track of your income and expenses but one of the best ways is to write down all receipts as soon as they happen either manually in a notepad or even better, use an app that you can download from your phone. This will help prevent forgetting about any purchases or payments that might come back later as deductions from taxes or reimbursements from clients/employers.

Financial Animation Tips: Saving For Emergencies

dinosaur character looking through the emergency door

GIF by NickRewind via GIPHY

One of the most important things an animator can do is to save for emergencies. An emergency, for our purposes, is anything that could potentially result in a loss of income or harm to your health. This includes things like medical bills and car repairs--anything that would cause you to lose money if it happened at an inconvenient time.

If you're just starting out as an animator and don't have much money coming in yet, then it may be difficult to set aside enough cash every month for emergencies. But even if this is true for you now, there are still ways that saving up some cash will help ease your financial animation mind down the road when those unexpected costs come up! For example:

You could put some money away each month into an online savings account where it's safe from theft or other kinds of damage (and also easy to access). Then when something comes up later on where there might not be enough cash available right away... voila! There's already been some saved up! 

Financial Animation Tips: Budget For Your Expenses

Financial Animation Tips: Budget For Your Expenses coins filling up a piggy bank

GIF by cali7 via Tenor

Budgeting is a process of planning how you will spend your money. It helps you plan for the future, save money and avoid debt. Budgeting also helps you achieve your financial goals by giving you control over your spending habits so that they align with what's important to you.

In order to create a financial animation budget, start by listing all of your regular expenses: rent/mortgage payments; car loans; utility bills, etc., then add up these costs together (or get an approximate figure from an online calculator). 

Next, add up all other expenses such as groceries, dining out, and entertainment expenses like going out for drinks with friends or attending concerts/shows, etc., which aren't necessarily monthly but do happen regularly throughout the year (e.g., once every two months). 

Now subtract this second number from the first one - this will give us our total monthly income after taxes have been taken out at source during payday!

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Financial Animation Tips: Pay Debts

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Paying off debt is a good thing, but it can be hard to find the money to do it. If you're an animator, however, there are ways to pay down your debts faster than just making the minimum payment every month. Here are some tips:

The best financial animation advice for paying debt is to make more than the minimum payment each month. The more extra dollars that go toward paying down your debt each month, the faster it will disappear! This might mean taking on side gigs or doing freelance work when possible and putting those earnings toward paying down debts instead of spending them on entertainment or other expenses.

Pay more than once per year (or even every six months). Sometimes people get stuck with high-interest credit card debt because they only make one large monthly payment per year--and then forget about their loan until the next tax season rolls around again! 

Financial Animation Tips: Saving For Retirement

hand flicking coin with thumb and it lands inside a piggy bank

GIF by MOOT via GIPHY

It's never too early (or late) to start saving for retirement! In addition to the obvious benefits of being able to retire comfortably, there are other reasons why it's important for animators to save for retirement

One is that the cost of living tends to go up as you get older, so if you don't have enough saved up by then, it could be difficult or impossible for you to meet your basic needs without help from others. 

Another reason is that many employers provide their employees with pension plans or similar programs in which they invest money on behalf of their workers; however, this is often done at lower interest rates than what would be available in the private sector (especially if those workers choose not to take advantage of these perks). 

Financial Animation Tips: Hire A Financial Planner Or Advisor

a fish character from Sponge Bob acting as a financial advisor pressing buttons with the back of a pen as a receipt comes out the other side

GIF by SpongeBob SquarePants via GIPHY

Hiring a financial planner or advisor who understands animation can be very helpful. Some financial planners specialize in working with the animation industry and will have experience dealing with the unique challenges of being an animator.

Additionally, if you find one that has worked with your studio before (or even works there), it'll help build trust between everyone involved so that everyone can feel comfortable talking about money-related issues without feeling like they're betraying their employer or studio.

It's Important To Have A Good Financial Animation Plan

brain telling me about a paln that requires effort

GIF by NibbleByte via Tenor

As an animator, with great rewards comes great responsibility. Having a good financial animation plan in place is crucial. With expenses like health insurance, taxes, and other benefits, being self-employed can be quite a challenge. But with the right financial plan, you'll be ready to tackle anything the animation world throws your way!

For more information about financial animation, as well as answers to any other questions you might have, be sure to follow our blogs, check out our free masterclass, and our Animation Business Accelerator Program, download a copy of our free marketing handbook, and check out our blog on “How to Start an Animation Studio”!

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