TAJIT SHORT PROGRAMS: A Strategic Approach to a Sound Retirement for US-based Freelance Language Professionals

This is a Short Program many of us have been waiting for!  We love being freelancers in our profession: the freedom, the mobility, the adaptability. But, we can't help but wonder about our future, with no 401 (k) safety net or pension plan.

Does it really need to be  a trade-off? Can't we have the best of both worlds? 

Join our upcoming conversation with David Sperling: interpreter, translator, and recent retiree.

Growing up in Montgomery County, Maryland — the suburbs of Washington, D.C. — David Sperling’s path was shaped at age 15 by his Cuban-born Spanish teacher. For two years, rather than have him sit through material he had already mastered, she arranged for him to spend his Spanish class period each day, for the rest of school year, in the library, conversing in Spanish and reading literature one-on-one with a native speaker. His first study partner was the daughter of an Argentine military attaché; his second, the son of a Chilean diplomat.

By the time those two years were up, his fate was sealed. David knew that if he wanted to become an interpreter and translator he first needed to gain full command of the language. He went on to graduate from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Spanish and a minor in linguistics, spent his junior year abroad in Madrid, and then lived in Guadalajara, Mexico for seven years, coaching gymnastics and honing his craft.

Upon returning to the United States in 1983, he began interpreting seminars for the U.S. Department of State and later moved into conference interpreting. In 1989, he passed the Federal Court  Interpreter Certification Examination and spent roughly seven years working in the federal courts of the D.C. metropolitan area. From 1996 until his retirement, he worked as a Spanish conference interpreter for the U.S. Department of State, international organizations, trade associations, embassies, and a wide range of private-sector clients.

He takes particular pride in one distinction: in 42 years as a professional in the United States, he never once received an IRS Form W-2. Every year, it was Form 1099s only — the mark of a committed freelancer from start to finish. He retired last year at age 70, and is more than happy to share with fellow freelance interpreters and translators what he’s learned about planning for a sound and comfortable retirement.

Come prepared to take notes and ask questions... as if your future depended on it!