
Whether you’re dreaming of moving up the corporate ladder at your current gig or you’re considering a career pivot, finding and landing your dream job is no easy task. Luckily for us, the Internet is filled with much more than cat Vines and fail vids (although, we do love a good summer Pinterest fail). Inspirational folks from across the globe have teamed up with TED to share meaningful advice on everything from going back to school to how to push your creativity to the next level. Get ready to be inspired by 10 of our favorite career TED Talks.
1. The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get by Susan Colantuono: Fighting for a promotion in a dog-eat-dog business environment is tough, especially when you’re missing out on some critical information. Susan Colantuono, founder of Leading Women, a consulting firm dedicated to closing the gender gap in the workforce, reveals the secret sauce you need to move up the ranks at work in this empowering talk.
2. Five Ways to Kill Your Dreams by Bel Pesce: Combining personal stories with practical advice, Bel Pesce lists everything you shouldn’t do when pursing your dream job, from believing in overnight success to blaming your failures on someone else. By the end of this six-minute talk, you’ll learn the importance of persistence and self-confidence.
3. Embrace the Near Win by Sarah Lewis: An art historian and critic, Sarah Lewis learned a valuable lesson at her first job that springboarded an entirely new way to look at setbacks. While working at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), she studied the work of artist Elizabeth Murray and quickly realized that not every painting was a masterpiece. Heck, even the artist herself agreed. But, as Sarah candidly points out, those near failures aren’t something to be ashamed of, they’re actually the very key to our eventual success.
4. Why the Best Hire Might Not Have the Perfect Resume by Regina Hartley: Before you scrap that cashier’s gig from your resume, listen to HR executive Regina Hartley’s ten-minute lecture. Speaking to a room full of business professionals, Regina argues that resumes that show someone has conquered adversary (AKA all those summer jobs you took to pay for college) spotlight exactly the type of person a business should hire.
5. Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are by Amy Cuddy: In this famous talk about body language and posture, Amy Cuddy divulges the true secret to being confident in the workplace. According to her research, body language not only shapes how people perceive us in job interviews and meetings, but it also shapes how we feel about ourselves. Watch this to learn how to improve your confidence and feel more powerful.
6. The Happy Secret to Better Work by Shawn Achor: Half stand-up routine, half genius career advice, this TED talk by the CEO of Good Think Inc. reminds us that being happy at work actually inspires us to be more productive.
7. The Power of Time Off by Stefan Sagmeister: Every seven years, Stefan Sagmeister takes a year sabbatical to refocus and rejuvenate his mind. But before you roll your eyes and mutter that you couldn’t possibly do that, just listen to how it has radically changed his life and career.
8. Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator by Tim Urban: If you are a procrastinator, you need to watch this video. Stat. Diving into the mind of a master procrastinator, this hilarious and insightful talk will make you realize just how dangerous procrastination is — especially when it comes to finding your dream job.
9. My Year of Saying Yes by Shonda Rhimes: The #girlboss titan behind Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder decided to say yes to everything that scared her for an entire year. The result? Well, let’s just say Shonda got her groove back.
10. Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling by Emilie Wapnick: If the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” still gives you anxiety as an adult, don’t fret. According to multi-professional Emilie Wapnick, it’s okay to jump between interests and careers. In fact, it might actually be good for you.
What is the best career advice you’ve ever received? Tweet us your stories @BritandCo.
(Photo via Getty)
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