
Working out and tracking your fitness just got easier than ever, thanks to the Apple Watch. Whether you’re a casual runner or a yoga fiend, this trendy wearable delivers a ton of healthy info with a few taps of your finger. To make the most of all your fitness accomplishments, we’ve got 16 apps that you’ll want to download asap.
1. Argus (Free): Here’s a great app for some good ol’ healthy competition. Add your friends and see who takes more steps in a day. Argus also tracks your calorie and water intake. Sounds like an all-in-one package to us!
2. Endomondo (Free): Aside from the fact that it’s a fun word to say, Endomondo does it all. You can check your stats right from your wrist to make sure you’re hitting your daily goals. You can also stop or start any given workout with the touch of your finger.
3. FitStar Yoga (Free): Yoga lovers, you’ll love this. If you’re rolling the yoga mat out at home, you can skip looking at a computer screen or phone to see if you’re doing it right. Now all you need is a quick glance at your wrist.
4. Map My Run (Free): We all know how annoying it can be to constantly hold your phone while you’re running. We’ll pass on that, and you can too. Choose your activity right from your watch and monitor your distance too.
5. Nike Plus (Free): This will have you looking forward to your next run — seriously. You can share your runs with friends, helping create some friendly competition. Lace up your sneaks and get out there!
6. RunKeeper (Free): Whether you’re power walking, cycling or running — or doing all three — RunKeeper has you covered. You can switch activities right from your wrist, so you don’t lose any time.
7. Seven (Free): Hey, multitaskers, listen up: All you need is seven minutes and absolutely no equipment. It’ll be hard to make excuses for not doing these workouts, since you can do them anywhere.
8. Runtastic Six Pack (Free): Sometimes all you really want to work on is engaging that core. With Runtastic Six Pack, you can create custom ab workouts or use the app’s own exercises to get it done quick.
9. Cyclemeter (Free): With the weather warming up, it’s the perfect time to take your bike out for a spin. DL this to track your speed, laps and location. Thanks to Cyclemeter, you won’t have to juggle your phone while you’re biking, which makes life a whole lot easier.
10. Lose It! (Free): This app will motivate you to lose weight the healthy way. It’ll come up with a weight loss plan that works with your lifestyle. You’ll be able to set goals and even connect with friends.
11. My Fitness Pal (Free): On top of tracking your fitness, this nifty program also lets you add the meals you’ve had throughout the day to your diary. Since you’re toting your watch everywhere, adding deets is a cinch.
12. My Plate (Free): This app is brought to you by Livestrong, so you know it’s for real. My Plate is all about eating healthy, which is a huge part of staying fit. It’ll also show you your progress throughout an entire year.
13. Record by Under Armour (Free): This app is one of the first fitness social networks. Use it to chat and compare stats with friends and fitness experts. Make sure to connect a heart rate monitor to really get the most out of it.
14. Rock My Run (Free): Okay, forget the personal trainer. Rock My Run will push you a little harder by adjusting the tempo of your tune to match your pace. They have some incredible high-energy mixes, and you definitely won’t want to hear those slow down.
15. Strava (Free): If you need an extra push to work out, Strava was made for you. Strava’s community lets you join challenges and even snap photos from your various fitness activities, so you can show off your workouts.
16. Fitnet (Free): We already dig Fitnet’s awesome iPhone app that provides over 200 (free!) workouts. Lucky for us, their new Apple Watch app helps you track each of those workouts and monitor your heart rate.
Which fitness app is your absolute favorite? Share below!
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures