
Heading off to college is super exciting, but moving far away from wherever you grew up can also cause some serious back-to-school stress. Among saying goodbye to your best friends (nooo!), learning how to be in a temporary long-distance relationship with your S.O. and plotting out your future career path, you also have to scout out new fave spots and resources that’ll become a part of your daily life. Since finding a new doc might be the toughest of them all, we chatted with Dr. Michael Warner, the chief medical officer at Ask the Doctor. He gave us the 411 on *exactly* how to use digital health platforms, which let you talk, text, message or video chat with a healthcare professional, to access medical care while you’re away at school. Though digital resources won’t replace an IRL physician, Dr. Warner’s list of dos and don’ts will definitely be useful as you search for a new doctor, or during times you have a pesky ailment and just can’t miss class.
1. DO use digital health resources during off hours. Dr. Warner tells us, “One of the best things about professional digital health resources is that they’re available after-hours and on weekends, when your only other alternative is to consult ‘Dr. Google’ — or wait in the emergency room for a condition that’s not a true emergency.” Some digital health resources are even available 24/7/365. Just as awesome, many digital health resources offer mobile apps in addition to an online experience. All you need to do is pull out your phone.
2. DO use digital health resources when you want anonymity. Many digital platforms make it easy for you to remain anonymous when seeking medical advice. This differs from what might happen IRL, like seeing classmates or friends in the waiting room. Dr. Warner says, “Digital health platforms will also typically create a permanent digital record of your patient/physician interaction. You can share this with your in-person doctor or a physician you see in person later if you need to.” That’s easy.
3. DON’T use a digital health resource for an emergency or long-term care. Dr. Warner advises, “Digital health resources are NOT designed to provide emergency care. In an emergency situation, it’s always best to call an ambulance or go to the hospital.” He also says that you should think strongly about using your own physician if you have a complex medical condition, since digital health care providers aren’t designed to provide long-term, continuous care. “They’re better for providing care when unexpected conditions arise that are inconvenient, but not too serious,” he says.
4. DON’T use digital health resources for general medical info or curiosity Qs. Though it’s common for students to want to communicate with a doctor just to have a question answered, it’s a good idea to identify your specific needs BEFORE you use a digital health resource. Dr. Warner suggests, “For general medical information or questions asked out of curiosity (like, ‘how does the heart work?’ or ‘how do you contract pneumonia?’), I recommend Google searches, Wikipedia and WebMD.” He tells us that if your need is more specific and you have medical history or symptoms to share, a digital health resource will be much more help to you.
5. DO use digital health resources for specific needs. On the flip side, customized help is *exactly* when digital health resources can be the best thing since sliced bread. Dr. Warner agrees and notes, “It’s true. For customized medical advice or counseling (‘My doctor prescribed a medication and I don’t understand all the potential side effects; can you explain them?’ or ‘I received the following blood test results, are any of them abnormal?’), a digital health resource is exactly what you need.
Since there are a ton of different digital health apps and resources out there nowadays, do a quick search to figure out which one will meet your needs and budget. You might find that Ask The Doctor is best, with its constant availability, or that an app like Maven, which caters specifically to women, is a better fit. A few other companies (among many) to check out are HealthTap, Breakthrough and Doctor on Demand. Dr. Warner says, “Most digital health platforms are relatively inexpensive to use, so another benefit is the cost relative to that of insurance deductibles or of missing class or work to sit in a waiting room.” Sign us up.
Have you used a digital health platform instead of visiting the doc IRL? Tell us if it helped solve the problem on Twitter @BritandCo!
(Photos 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