While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) reduced most ordinary-income tax rates for individuals, it didn’t change long-term capital gains rates. They remain at 0%, 15% and 20%.

The 0% rate generally applies to taxpayers in the bottom two ordinary-income tax brackets (now 10% and 12%), but you no longer have to be in the top ordinary-income tax bracket (now 37%) to be subject to the top long-term capital gains rate of 20%. Many taxpayers in the 35% tax bracket also will be subject to the 20% rate.

UPDATE MARCH 2019: The New York Court of Appeals upheld the NYS Department of Labor’s so-called 13 hour rule on March 26, 2019. This effectively reverses the two 2017 lower court rulings that invalidated the policy. The court specifically noted however that any negative impact on a specific shift - for example the interruption of sleep after less than 5 hours, invalidates the rule for that shift and all hours must be compensated. The burden of proof lies with the employer. 

 Imagine the frustration you would feel after working a stressful 24 hours straight, only to realize that you’re only being paid for 13 hours of that time. Home health aides in the state of New York have said ‘enough is enough’ and in May 2018, several of them as well as two nonprofit advocacy groups, sued the state’s Labor Department and the commissioner Roberta Reardon with the intention of throwing out the state’s emergency regulations that allow for this to happen. Their end goal: to be paid for every hour of a 24-hour work day.

A dementia caregiver has a huge role, and for families looking to finding the right person to support their family with a loved one living with dementia, it can feel like a daunting task. Working with dementia patients requires not only the caregiving basics of being kind and loving, but it also requires an additional skill set. Here are four essential caregiver qualities that you should look for when looking to hire someone to help take care of your loved one.

It’s easy to get frustrated when an employee is failing to produce the volume or quality of work you expect. A business owner, department manager, or even household employer may give in to the temptation to play the blame game, pointing a finger at the struggling worker and only exacerbating the situation.

You’ve interviewed many potential nannies and you’ve finally found the right one. Now, it’s time to build a solid relationship with her – one that works on the professional level as well as the family level. You will be entrusting your children with this nanny, so it’s important to have a great relationship with her. Starting well right at the beginning is key and that usually begins with strong communication and a mutual understanding that you will work together as a team. This will help keep the relationship healthy with a good balance. Here are some other help tips on building a great nanny/family relationship.

This is a community post provided by Freddie Tubbs. From time-to-time we like to share other points of view on popular topics here on our blog. This is one way we keep our content fresh! The opinions and advice below are solely those of the author, not HWS. 

A good nanny job description should contain many things. After all, that's not a simple job – you need to hire someone to take care of your children when you are not around and most parents feel like no one can do it better than them. This is what makes the nanny finding process much harder.

You’ve spent time searching for the right caregiver for your father or son and you’ve become used to having help around the home for your loved one. It appears as if everything is working out well. But then, the caregiver quits. Did something go wrong? You may feel anxiety when you first hear the news that your caregiver is leaving, but there are some practical things you can do that can help alleviate stress and help put you on the track toward finding another person to step in.

If you’re taking care of an elderly parent, you know how many things there are to juggle at once. Whether it’s cooking meals every day, paying income taxes, or running to doctor appointments, there are usually endless numbers of tasks that will accumulate from day to day and week to week. It is important to take care of yourself in the midst of taking care of your loved one. Family caregivers need help too, so here are some things you can outsource to simplify your life and have a better routine for caregiver self care.

This is a community post provided by TechnologyAdvice

Unproductive procedures and practices slow us all down in the workplace. You’re not alone. Office demands in this day and age are higher than ever, and only continue to escalate. We often move quickly, forsaking quality for timeliness. Unfortunately, out-of-date office technology and unnecessarily arduous procedures are often the causes of costly inaccuracies and overly-manual processes. Rework your usual methods and meet quality standards with a few simple solutions to workflow problems.