You may have spent the summer enthusiastically pinning ideas to make your life more functional but the season is ending and your home is still sadly in need of a refresh. Just in time for school to go back in session, we've rounded up some fun — and functional — ideas to turn any cluttered area into a command center, provide a catch-all for papers that you need to keep handy or to simply cultivate your creativity. Just below, 11 perfect IRL pinboard ideas. Forget Pinterest. These pretty pinboards will make all your real-life pinning better.
1. DIY State-Shaped Memo Boards: Show off your state pride and conquer clutter at the same time? These cute memo boards are a no-brainer. (via Brit + Co)
2. Color Block Mood Board: Color-blocking is still seriously stylish, whether we’re talking about a tank dress or a bulletin board. All your most cherished mementos and inspiration pieces just found a beautiful place to call home. (via A Beautiful Mess)
3. Tufted Bulletin Board: Gray textured fabric and silver upholstery buttons transform an ordinary cork board into a perfectly polished place to keep your goodies organized. (via Thistlewood Farm)
4. Travel Map Bulletin Board: We may be living in the age of Google Maps and mobile phones but even in a digital age, the most meaningful way to keep track of all your road trips might be a bit old-fashioned. Display this travel map board in your home as a proud memento of your travels and enjoy bragging rights every time a guest points out the curio. (via Lil Blue Boo)
5. Colorful Crafting Board: Give your crafting area a colorful, functional focal point. This version is tricked out with handy utensil holders and even a couple clipboards to hang up your latest inspiration pieces. (via Love Print Studio)
6. Metal Mesh Pinboard: Focusing on your studies/grown-up things is a cinch when your desk area is clean and free of clutter. This metal mesh pinboard lends a cool architectural feel to any space. (via Catview)
7. IKEA Placemats to Oversize Striped Framed Cork Board: Give yourself a beautiful home office that reflects your style and promotes dreaming. A striped cork board is a creative backdrop and catchall for bits of inspiration that you collect over time. This one is crafted from cork place mats and a bit of white paint. (via Infarrantly Creative)
8. Real Life Pinterest Board: Take a good look. This pinboard is made from some unexpected items: clipboards! Now you can cleverly clip every inspiring visual piece you discover to create your own real-life Pinterest boards. (via Brit + Co)
9. DIY Bulletin & Dry Erase Board: Want a better bulletin board? Welcome to a two-in-one solution. This clever version was crafted from the end of an old baby bed. (via Houseologie)
10. Geometric Wall Art Board: We love this combo of colors, lines and geometry. (via Brit + Co)
11. DIY Message Board: This simple upgrade is sure to make your message board a lot more sleek. Then sit back and admire just how clever you are with a paintbrush. (via Emilie sans Chichi)
Follow us on Pinterest for more DIY inspo!
This article has been updated from a previous post.
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