We love to rock out. We love rocking out in the pool, on the street, in the shower, and on our bikes. From ballads by our girl Taylor Swift to beats by The Black Keys, Frank Ocean, and Fun, this year has been a banner year for rocking out. That’s why when Bing asked us to share how we geekily prepare for the Grammys, we were more than happy to oblige.
Do Your Research
Bing’s search tool is like your everyday search on steroids. A search for your favorite artist on Bing serves up the latest news, videos, song previews, photos, fun facts, and more. If you’re not sure where to begin, head to MSN Music’s Grammys spotlight to get the latest scoop on this year’s nominees, video moments from past shows, and, of course, tons of photos from red carpets past.
Create Collaborative Playlists
Now that you’ve done your homework, it’s time to create some sweet Grammy-inspired playlists. Invite fellow music lovers to add to your mix by creating a collaborative playlist on Spotify. Rock out to it during commercial breaks and any Grammy categories you wouldn’t mind skipping.
3. Get Social: Head back to Bing for a more social Grammys experience that includes your Facebook friends and top experts from Twitter. Sure, you’ve seen the snapshot bio but what about checking out what your friends think? By connecting Bing and Facebook, you’ll see all the mentions of Taylor Swift, for example, among your Facebook friends right on the search page. Quickly and easily see concert photos, lyric quotes and more from your friends! So cool.
And while you’re at it, maybe you should update your Facebook page with your predictions for winners this year? Bing’s research shows that the most searched nominees often win those gilded gramophones. So far, the most searched song of the year is Call Me Maybe, the most searched record of the year is Thinkin bout you by Frank Ocean, and the most searched across ALL categories is the one and only Taylor Swift. Will she be the big winner? We’ll have to wait until Sunday night to find out!
4. Learn the Song Lyrics: Flex your song-lyric-knowing skills by challenging friends to Name that Tune over text with Emoji! Use emoji icons to illustrate the hottest songs of 2012, and give serious props to whichever of your friends can name the song first.
Channel Your Inner Rapper
Did you know that you can use your phone to style yourself into Lil Wayne? Be Like Lil Wayne helps you add bling, grills, hats, tattoos, and more to any photo of you or a friend. Definitely a fun way to try out a new look. And if you’re not up for the diamond-studded teeth, what about setting up a Lil Wayne Photo Booth at your Grammys party? Grab your phone, hang up a backdrop, and have your friends pose it up with Weezy.
Bonus! Dress Like Carly Rae Jepsen or Psy: We couldn’t resist including a throwback to Halloween 2012 :)
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