Flowers and chocolate are sweet, sure, but if you’re constantly finding your Valentine with their nose in a new book, gift them something they can enjoy way past the petals falling off or the box left empty. This Valentine’s Day, you can tell your love just how much you care without having to say a single thing, thanks to these books. From dramatic and serious to cute and whimsical, we’ve got a title for every kind reader, at every stage of their relationship!
1. Until I Find You by John Irving ($14): Here’s a sweeping, wandering novel that takes you on actor Jack Burns’s adventurous life story. His various relationships with women — from his mother and Catholic school girls to his great love — propel the funny and sweet saga of Burns’s life in an evocative and charming way.
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by Audrey Niffenegger ($10): The ultimate modern romance novel, this is a must-read for men and women alike (chick lit, this is not!). The sci-fi, time-traveling slant helps keep it from getting too sappy, while Niffengger’s incredible character development will draw you immediately into Clare and Henry’s love story. Plus, the accompanying movie with Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana is a perfect date night movie idea.
<em>A Moveable Feast</em>
by Earnest Hemingway ($10): Your boo is sure to fall head over heels for Hemingway’s recollections of his time as a writer young and in love in 1920s Paris. He makes the idea of a “starving artist” seem like the most romantic thing in the world. Who knows…maybe you’ll get a trip to the City of Lights out of the gift!
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by Lea Redmond ($15): The romance of the written word is not dead with this super cute booklet full of letter prompts for you to fill out for your special someone. Take the time to write the letters, seal them in their accompanying envelopes and let your love read them at their leisure. “I knew you were the one for me when…” and “What I love about us…” missives will make both of you feel crazy-in-love all over again.
5. Me, You, Us by Lisa Currie ($15): If you’d rather fill out something sweet together, this love-centric workbook from Lisa Currie is just the thing. There’s a place to draw matching tattoos, lists to fill out (“reasons why we’d stay up late together”) and places to recount precious memories. If you’re planning on staying in this Valentine’s Day, this cute book is a perfect way to cozy up!
6. I Love You! Around the World by Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar ($20): If saying it in English just doesn’t fully express how much you love your boo, go ahead and gift them this book from Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar for Valentine’s Day.
7. What I Love About Us ($10): With quick, cute prompts on each page: “We’re awesome at…”, “We do….best” and “I love it when we …,” you get to personalize your Valentine to be as sweet or silly as you want. It’s a fun swap for a traditional card that you’ll both want to revisit for years to come.
8. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed ($10): This book of advice will no doubt inspire and captivate your Valentine. It’s full of funny, insightful and useful advice on how to love and live authentically and whole-heartedly.
9. My Life in France by Julia Child ($10): Once you gift Julia Child’s memoir of her time learning to cook in Paris to your love, be prepared to board a plane to France ASAP. Child makes both cooking and Paris seem like magical pursuits, and her deep love and commitment to her husband Paul will melt even the most cynical of hearts.
<em>Fates and Furies</em>
really know someone. Unconditional love, secrets, marriage and personal fulfillment all come into play during the course of Mathilde and Lotto’s life-long love story. It’s sure to be one of the most stirring stories your Valentine will read all year.
<em>Modern Romance</em>
by Aziz Ansari ($18): If you and your boo met on Tinder and communicate mostly through text messaging, Aziz Ansari’s playful, thoughtful look into dating in the Millennial age is definitely a must-read this Valentine’s Day. Ansari worked with a psychologist to demystify dating, and he approaches the subject with a real affection and sincerity that’s impossible not to relate to.
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