Here is a good blog post that goes through all the various options for legal structures for starting a business
https://www.toptal.com/finance/interim-cfos/c-corp-vs-s-corp
Ask HN: Starting Your Own LLC?
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Re: Ask HN: Starting Your Own LLC?
#112Isn't Delaware $300 a year to have an LLC there? Shouldn't you pick a state that has little to no annual filing fee? https://www.llcuniversity.com/llc-filing-fees-by-state/
If you register your LLC in a different state from where you live, you need to hire a Registered Agent in that state for legal reasons, which adds a bit of cost (about $100-200 per year) and some complexity.
Re: Ask HN: Starting Your Own LLC?
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Being a single-person LLC usually doesn't give you any of the legal advantages of having an LLC in case you get sued.
I talked to a lawyer about this and the feedback I received was while technically they might be able to sue to try and receive compensation even from your personal assets if you are a single-member LLC as long as you can show you were acting in good faith and as an agent of the company (i.e. you didn't personally guarantee the work and sign your name instead of the company's and you maintain distinct records and fina…
I'm late to the party, but used to work for a collections attorney who specialized in SMB who were close to or are defunct. The biggest mistake anyone ever made (when setting up an LLC) was to mix personal and business funds. It made it trivially easy to go to the court and "pierce the corporate veil" as you so aptly put it.
The way you wan to do it is set up an LLC but then "loan" the business money and act both as it's owner but also it's creditor. This separates you in the eyes of the court.
Re: Ask HN: Starting Your Own LLC?
#114I've helped hundreds of creatives figure out their formation + taxes in the past couple of years. Here're my top learnings: - LLC formation is not just filing the article of organization. Make sure to get an EIN, an operating agreement (Google operating agreement + your state for templates), get a business license, open a business bank account ( https://www.azlo.com is great), make initial contribution (don't worry,…
To add to the point regarding 401k. As a business owner you can set aside something like 56K a year in 401k pre-tax (not to exceed 25% of gross income IIRC). Go to Fidelity and Vanguard and search for "Solo 401k" to get started.
The new www.guideline.com doing a good job there as well