The Conversation
With your annual glamping trip coming up soon, you have a running list of essentials to pick up, including everything you need for s’mores. Instead of buying the same pre-packaged marshmallows to go with your dark chocolate and graham crackers, it’s time to step your game up. This year, surprise your girlfriends with the most insanely delicious (and easy) homemade marshmallows. You can make them raspberry swirled, dusted with coconut, or scented with lemon, and each of them will roast to perfection. Check out the 15 recipes below that’ll take your s’mores to the next level.
Nutella Marshmallows Recipe
You never need a reason to break out the Nutella, but these marshmallows certainly qualify as one. (via Paper and Stitch)
Birthday Cake Marshmallows With Sprinkles
If you know someone who is celebrating their birthday with a camping trip, they need a special fireside treat. Although, it definitely doesn’t have to be a special occasion for you to treat yourself to these funfetti-style marshmallows. (via The Kitchn)
Coffee Marshmallows
Add a little zing to your s’mores by way of a caffeinated coffee marshmallow. Instant espresso is the key for a rich flavor and smooth texture. (via A Cozy Kitchen)
Toasted Coconut Marshmallows
When you want your s’mores to taste like a Mounds bar, homemade marshmallows tossed in toasted coconut are where it’s at. Honestly, these may ruin plain marshmallows for you forever. (via Seasons and Suppers)
Chocolate Irish Cream Marshmallows
There’s really nothing that a little Baileys can’t spruce up. Pack these boozy marshmallows for the lake and those ghost stories may get a little crazy. (via My Sequined Life)
Raspberry Ripple Marshmallows Recipe
If the bright pink hue of these mallows isn’t enough to entice you, the tart raspberry flavor should be. Be sure to thoroughly drain the raspberries before adding them to the mix so that it’s not too wet. (via Olive Magazine)
Caramel Latte Marshmallows
Who knew you could turn your daily Starbucks order into a marshmallow? These coffee marshmallows swirled with caramel would be great as a gift to your favorite java-addict. (via Goodie Godmother)
Strawberries and Cream Marshmallows
The secret to keeping the texture consistent throughout is using strawberry extract in place of real strawberries. (via Joanna Meyer)
Peanut Butter and Jelly Marshmallows
These marshmallows made with creamy peanut butter and grape juice concentrate are basically everything your nostalgic heart wants and more. (via Bakerella)
Lemon and Rosemary Marshmallows
For a gourmet spin on the classic, pair lemon and rosemary marshmallows with white chocolate. (via A Beautiful Mess)
Mint Chocolate Chip Oreos
If you’ve ever wondered if mint chip marshmallows would be as good as the ice cream, your answer awaits. Make sure to use mini chocolate chips so that they spread evenly throughout. (via Making Nice in the Midwest)
Paleo Apple Spice Marshmallows
When the weather starts to get crisper and bonfires become a weekend habit, it’s time to whip up these marshmallows. They’re sweetened with maple syrup to keep them Paleo, and flavored with apple juice and every warm spice you can think of. (via Bakerita)
Oreo Swirl Marshmallows
Just imagine one of these marshmallows roasted and tucked in the middle of another Oreo and try not to drool. (via Katie Cakes)
Fireball Whisky Marshmallows
No one will want the Jell-O shots while there are Fireball-spiked marshmallows around. These have the perfect amount of burn that’ll only put the slightest bit of hair on your chest. (via Homemade Hooplah)
Chocolate Covered Caramel Marshmallow
If you have these chocolate-covered marshmallows ready to go, all you’ll need to complete your s’mores are the graham crackers. Beware, these are *majorly* addicting. (via Ashlee Marie)
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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