My first job is gig work.

First, find out which kind of gig you are.

“Gig work” sounds like one thing, but the phrase hides the question that decides everything else: who the tax form says you are. A company that employs you withholds your taxes and may owe you benefits; a client who pays you as a contractor does neither. Same hours, very different paperwork — and a different playbook.

• Ride-share and delivery (driving apps, courier runs) — almost always a 1099 contractor. Nothing is withheld, so the taxes and the retirement plan are yours to set up. Tip: track every mile you drive, because the mileage deduction is usually the biggest write-off against what you owe.

• Catering, banquet, and wait staffing — often a W-2 employee of a staffing agency, which means taxes are withheld and tips get reported, though benefits usually still don’t come with it. Tip: keep each agency’s pay stub, because juggling a few of them can mean several W-2s to round up in January.

• Babysitting and nannying — usually paid in cash, but still taxable income; past an annual threshold the family is meant to pay you as a household employee. Tip: keep a simple log or get paid through an app, because only documented earnings can fund a Roth IRA.

• Window washing, lawn care, and handyman work — self-employed sole-proprietor work: a 1099 or cash, and your own self-employment tax. Tip: carry basic liability insurance and save every receipt for supplies and equipment, since those costs are deductible.

These are the common cases, not hard rulings. The IRS sorts employee from contractor by who controls the work, so when in doubt, ask the payer which form you’ll get. The rest of this lesson assumes the 1099 or cash case, because that is where the surprises live.

You’re the one buying health coverage now.

With no employer plan, health insurance becomes something you go out and buy. The place to do it is the ACA marketplace (healthcare.gov or your state’s exchange), where coverage can’t be denied for your health history and subsidies scale to your income. A lean gig income often means a larger subsidy, sometimes a plan for very little a month.

A timing note: the marketplace has an annual open-enrollment window, but starting gig work and losing other coverage usually opens a special enrollment period of its own. You can sign up when the work begins, not only in winter.

Nobody is withholding your taxes.

If you’re a 1099 contractor or paid in cash, this is the surprise that catches first-year gig workers. A regular paycheck has taxes taken out before the money reaches you. Gig pay arrives whole, which feels like more money right up until the bill comes due.

You owe regular income tax, and on top of it the 15.3% self-employment tax: both the employee and employer halves of Social Security and Medicare that a job would normally split with you.

The deductions cut the bite back. Mileage, supplies, a share of your phone, equipment: legitimate business costs come off your profit before the tax is figured, which is why tracking them from day one is part of the job now.

A day you don’t work is a day you don’t earn.

An employee keeps getting paid through a sick day, a holiday, a week of vacation. Gig income stops the moment you do. There’s no paid time off, no sick leave, and no one covering you when the delivery car breaks down or the flu costs you a week of shifts.

That makes the cash buffer non-optional. A salaried worker’s emergency fund covers surprise bills; yours covers surprise bills and the income that simply stops. Aim for the bigger end of the range, closer to six months than three, because for you a week off and a week of lost pay are the same event.

The retirement account is all yours.

This is the one job with no employer substitute at all: no match to capture, no plan to auto-enroll you. But there’s also no waiting on HR and no vesting clock. A Roth IRA is yours the day you open it, funded by your earned income, gig income included.

You have more room here than a salaried worker, not less. Alongside the Roth IRA, the self-employed can open a SEP-IRA or a solo 401(k) and contribute as both the worker and the employer. For a first gig job, though, the Roth IRA is the simplest place to start and the easiest to carry as your income grows.

One move this week.

Four jobs is a lot to pick up at once. Health, taxes, and the buffer all matter, and they can be set up over the coming weeks. One move can’t wait, because every week it slips is a week of compounding you don’t get back.

Open a Roth IRA and set one small automatic contribution from your gig income. Before the taxes are sorted, before the perfect rate, before anything else on this list. No employer will ever do this for you, which means no employer can ever stop you either. Start the clock this week, and the rest of the playbook becomes a calmer set of decisions on top of an account that’s already growing.