
Prepared to be jealous, beauty lovers — Kandee Johnson was hanging out with us all weekend at Re:Make and we got to pick up some pretty killer beauty tips from the YouTube sensation. This pretty lady is known for her bubbly tutorials but she also has another video segment we’re kind of obsessed with: What’s In My Purse. Because who wouldn’t want to sneak a peek inside one of the world wide web’s most glamorous ladies? Since she was here we thought we’d ask if we could take a look-see inside her giant fringed bag for ourselves. Thankfully she obliged. Spoiler alert: This girl has lip liner for days! Here is what we found and what she says every woman should always have in her bag.
1. Concealer: The reason is simple: it makes your skin look good. We’ve all fallen victim to a blackhead or two. “If you have a blemish or you didn’t sleep it helps you look awake instantly.”
2. Black Eyeliner: “Rim your waterline for a quick look that’s instantly more glamorous,” Kandee tells us. For those of you who aren’t yet makeup mavens, “rimming you waterline” simply means outlining that little line of skin in between your lashes and eyeball.
3. Red lipstick and (lots o’) lip liner: “You can always do a clean winged liner but if you pump up your lips to a hot pink or red, it makes it so much more fun!” You need a good lip liner to keep your pucker color going all day or night and if you need one in a pinch, Kandee has every color imaginable stashed in her bag to help a sister out.
4. Skip the primer. This is going against all the beauty rules we’ve been told. But considering Kandee always looks like she jumped right out of a magazine, if she wants us to skip the primer, we’ll skip the primer! Here’s a little DIY trick she suggests instead for before you leave the house: use milk of magnesia – yup, the kind you can get at the drugstore! Apply it with a cotton ball all over your face so that it looks dry and chalky and then apply your foundation right on top of that.
5. Organic Lip Balm: Kandee uses an organic coconut oil lip balm as a dual duty product: for her lips (obvs) and also as an eye cream at night. Genius!
6. Gum: We can’t really top how Kandee summed this one up: “Gum should be considered a beauty product because beautiful breath is a nice gift.” We couldn’t agree more.
7. Snacks: Kandee tell us you’ll always find a granola bar or a packet of almond butter in her bag for those hunger emergencies. “It saved me from digging into a cupcake so many times.”
8. Sunglasses: Don’t think this qualifies as a beauty essential? Think again. Come on, what makes you feel like more of a beach babe/super starlette 24/7 than slipping on a sick pair of shades to run errands in? Kandee had about three or four pairs in her own bag. Maybe one of those was broken ;) #canrelate
9. A Fab Palette: Stash a makeup palette in your bag and you have a treasure trove of makeup options at the ready and a mirror for quick checkups. Kandee and our very own makeup mama Misty Spinney are both big fans of Urban Decay’s Naked palettes.
10. Your phone, duh: But, really. Budding beauty bloggers and any gal out there needs to have her phone accessible at all times for snapping pics of inspo wherever you may stumble across it. If you’re an on-the-go #girlboss like Kandee, find a case like hers that doubles as its own purse so you can ditch your bag, stay connected and be able to take that “do I have lipstick on my teeth?” selfie on the fly.
What are your beauty must haves? Do use any of the same products as Kandee?
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