
Effective exercise is hard WORK, and the last thing you want to do after a sunny outdoor workout is to undo all of your efforts to become healthier by scarfing a snack that’s not as good for you as its snappy packaging promises. Having fallen victim too many times before ourselves to food pretending to be healthy, we decided to search for some bars that will actually give you the protein your muscles need without processed ingredients and extra sugars. Scroll on to read more about 10 of our tasty, tried and true faves.
1. Coffee Chocolate RX Bar ($26, box of 12): No morning cup of joe? No problem! Get a latte lover’s fix with this great bar, which packs an impressive 12 grams of protein from seven ingredients — including real coffee beans.
2. Julian Bakery Glazed Donut Paleo Protein Bar: This isn’t exactly the same as the donut you’ve been craving, but it should help to take the edge off! Bonus: You definitely don’t need to follow the Paleo diet to indulge in this after-exercise meal replacement.
3. Wild Blueberry Pure Bar ($22, box of 12): The generous portion of blueberries packed into this bar gives it a major boost of antioxidants, which are ultra-healthy for your cells. Berry bliss!
4. Health Warrior Chocolate Peanut Butter Health Warrior Chia Bar ($22, box of 15): This 100-calorie chia bar is light enough to actually serve as a snack, rather than a meal replacement. Don’t be fooled though — it’s still chock full of beneficial ingredients, like 1000mg of Omega 3.
5. Tumeric, Ginger and Beet Lara Bar ($34, box of 15): Tumeric is one of the best things a gal can give her body, with benefits that include an ability to ease PMS pain and act as an anti-inflammatory. Paired with ginger and beets, this raw food bar promises you 200 calories worth of superfoods.
6. Chocolate Coconut Zing Bar ($32, box of 12): Coconut lovers will adore this chocolate-covered bar, which tastes like a decadent dessert. Coated with REAL dark chocolate, this bar also has a mighty 10 grams of protein, which makes it so much better than giving into a candy bar craving.
7. KIND Cashew and Ginger Spice Bar ($100, box of 72): Kind Bars can be high in sugar, but this version has only 4 grams — in addition to cashew and ginger, two ingredients with a ton of health benefits. Though the protein content is lower in this treat than others on our list, the calorie count is too. Have this one with a piece of fruit and you’ll be good to go.
8. Quest Nutrition Cookies and Cream QuestBar ($25, box of 12): We scream for cookies and cream! If you can get over the aftertaste that some find strange, you’ll love this bar, which is incredibly low in sugar and net carbs. Made for athletes and fitness pros, the bar has a whopping 21 grams of protein and is high in fiber too.
9. YAWP! Naked Bar ($34, box of 12): The “Naked” bar is exactly what it sounds like, a nutritious source of post-workout fuel — without much else! Grain-free, this bar’s base is created with just organic dates, sunflower seeds and almonds. It’s also low in sugar and under 200 calories, just like the four other flavors which include our all-time fave, cinnamon.
10. Gutsey Bar New Hampshire — Eat Clean, Live Free or Die — Cashew, Quinoa and Cherry ($35, box of 12): Baked with love on the East Coast, Gutsey Bars are vegan, gluten and GMO free. Repping a few northern states, the healthy bars come in unique flavors like this cashew/quinoa/cherry mix. We love the dark chocolate “Boston” flavor too!
Which of these bars do you think sounds the best? Tweet us about it @BritandCo!
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