Before coronavirus, the number of people working from home or self employed made up 13 percent of America’s economy. We now believe that by choice of both employees and employers this number will grow to close to 20 percent by the end of the year. Is working from home a new and important topic for at least 35 percent of America’s now home-working employees therefore? Absolutely!

Notwithstanding tax implications, your work-from-home savings and costs should be examined and written up as part of your household budget. For example, commuter related expenses are no more, right? That includes travel, clothing and food costs. Travel by car? Then you’re saving even more by not paying out for gasoline, tolls and parking headaches.

Clothing? Put on sweatpants! In fact, many are calling this new era the sweat-pants revolution since all you have to do, especially if you’re using video-conferencing tools, is wear a great shirt or top.

I can share with you, right off the top of my head, stories from many clients who probably spent at least 15 to 20 percent of their gross income on such costs pre-coronavirus. But by working from home, what you can do now is count all this as “savings”.

On the other hand, your new “working-from-home expenses” will range from phone, electricity, supplies, and computer equipment to redefined computer hardware, filing cabinets and maybe even ink.

So if you add up your savings and subtract your costs, this will, at least, tell you if you have any net savings, or you can ask yourself, “Is it economically worth it for me to work from home?”.

Write down your savings and costs on some paper as follows:

Yes! You show net savings! But what if you did not, and you incurred net costs instead?

One option is seeing if your job will reimburse you any net costs incurred as a result of working from home. Make sure you go there with proper legal receipts and documentation. Many employers will consider transferring that deduction from you to them.

To make it financially viable for you to work from home, especially if your employer will not pay your costs, make sure that, at least, you show positive net savings. If you show net costs (where your costs outweigh your savings) this just means your employer has transferred their expenses over to you. And if you show more costs than savings, then while you might be enjoying your home life better, you are indeed paying for it with less annual income.

So, a “work-from-home budget” is definitely a must-learn as many try to adjust to the new normal.

Professor Anthony Rivieccio, MBA PFA, is the founder and CEO of The Financial Advisors Group, celebrating its 24th year as a fee-only financial planning firm specializing in solving one’s financial problems. Mr. Rivieccio, a recognized financial expert since 1986, has been featured by many national and local media including: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, The New York Post, News 12 The Bronx, Bloomberg News Radio, BronxNet Television, the Norwood News, The West Side Manhattan Gazette, Labor Press Magazine, Financial Planning Magazine, WINS 1010 Radio, The Co-Op City News, The Bronx News, thisisthebronX.info and The Bronx Chronicle. Mr.  Rivieccio also pens a financial article called “Money Talk”. Anthony is also currently an Adjunct Professor of Business, Finance & Accounting for both, City University of New York & Monroe College, a Private University. You can reach Anthony at 347.575.5045. 

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.