
Sharing a room with your kid brother or sister was like the worst, amiright? But now that we’re older and wiser and realize how much freaking fun old-timey sleepovers with our BFFs or kid sister are, we have a newfound appreciation for double decker sleepers. We’re talking about bunk beds. And since we’re more mature and sophisticated now (at least that’s what we like to tell ourselves), we’ve found 12 dual sleeping inspirations for your next communal snoozing sesh.
1. Design Hostel: Remember when you spent that year backpacking around Europe somewhere between your freshmen and sophomore year of college? Remember all those horrible hostel bunk beds you had to sleep in? Well apparently it *is* possible for hostels and bunk beds to look a little something like this.
2. Three Boys, One Room: Take inventory here. You’ve got three kids. One bedroom for them. And strangely enough a bunch of rope. First instinct? Tie the kids up. More acceptable and longer-lasting alternative? Make these awesome suspended beds for them!
3. Built-In Green Machine: Built-in bunks give the two roomies a little more privacy. And this color palette gives the dual sleeping situation a more grown-up look.
4. Minimalist Color: Not only are we crushing hard on this simple bunk, but with its under bunk sofa? Must. Have.
5. Rustic Refuge: All you lovers of barns with hopes of going off the grid ought to be getting really excited right now.
6. Coastal Cave: When you’re a fashion designer/furniture designer, apparently this is the kind of of cool stuff your kids get to sleep in. Alexandre de Betak snuggles up next to the Mediterranean in a home that he spent 10 years dreaming about. Super inspiring stuff here.
7. Permanent Bunk Bed Fort: Every child’s (and this adult’s) dream.
8. Epic Nautical Room: Holy crap, you guys. There’s a boat in the bedroom!
9. Double White: As much as we love our color, this is sort of satisfying too.
10. Colorful Wooden Bunk Beds: Umm, yeah. We probably need this.
11. Summer House Bunk: From the antler chandelier to the rolling ladders to the “bunk” and “room” pillows announcing exactly what room it is, we love this to bits.
12. British Bunk: Did we just walk into a childhood fairytale? Because we’re pretty sure we just walked into a childhood fairytale.
What home furnishing are you loving? Let us know at @BritandCo!
(Images 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