
Is your Instagram feed getting a little tired? Consider adding a little design to your social (media) life in the form of gorgeous typography. From full-on fonts to hand-drawn sketches, these 12 typographers’ Instagram feeds will keep any letter-lover scrolling for days. Just a warning: They may make you want to put letters on EVERYTHING.
1. Victoria Rushton: Get ready for some voluptuous scripts and handwritten goodies. She’ll definitely make you want to revisit your signature, stat. (via victoriaalissia)
2. Matthew Tapia: Based out of Hawaii, this lettering master shares a lot of his own behind-the-scenes sketches in addition to killer vintage signage in paradise. (via matthewtapia)
3. Louise Fili: Her roots are in book jacket design, but since 1989, Fili has specialized in restaurant and package design from her own studio. You’ll love her eye for finding quirky, modern signage everywhere she goes. (via louisefili)
4. Jordan Metcalf: From intricate scripts to blocky sans serifs, all of Metcalf’s work has an air of drama to it. They’re the kind of letters you just get lost in. (via jordan_metcalf)
5. Mike Perry: First of all, he designed the title card for Broad City, which — even if he did nothing else — puts him on our “cool” radar. His entire feed is full of poppy color palettes, and his super fun illustration style is one that we just can’t get enough of. (via mikeperrystudio)
6. Erik Marinovich: Scrolling through his feed, you’ll think that the days of hand-painted signage never left. Marinovich puts soul into all his letters and it shows in every serif, crossbar and finial. (via erikmarinovich)
7. Jessica Hische: You may recognize her work from the delightfully spiraled script titles in Moonrise Kingdom or the covers of Penguin’s Drop Caps series. And there’s plenty more where that came from. Follow along so you don’t miss it! (via jessicahische)
8. Martina Flor: All the way from Berlin, Flor’s feed is full of typeface goodies (of the graphic and baked goods variety). She did some branding work for FontShop’s 25 Year Anniversary, and we have to say that we’ve never seen numbers look so sexy. (via martinaflor)
9. Kyle Read: It’s all about the little things. Read takes images of single swoon-worthy letters that he finds on anything from sidewalks to neon signs. He even posts type treasures (like this one) of his own from time to time. (via kyleread)
10. Jackson Alves: If you needed more motivation to learn calligraphy, look no further than this feed. These are the kind of letters that will make your heart melt. (via jackdzn)
11. Keith Tatum: Talk about throwback. This letter master takes his style from great vintage packaging finds and shares photos of his own work and type discoveries. (via thetypehunter)
12. Dave Foster: Foster’s work is a practice in classiness. His letters look like they deserve bow ties, and his feed is full of similar inspiration he finds in signage around his home in Sydney, Australia. (via fostertype)
Think fast: Serif or a sans serif? Let us in on your deep love for font types in the comments… or on Instagram!
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