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Financial Tax Services

What is an Effective Tax Rate?

effective tax rate

The effective tax rate is a roundabout way of saying “average tax rate”. It is the average tax rate you pay across all of the tax brackets that your income spans. Since it is an average, your effective tax rate will be significantly lower than the tax amount of your highest tax bracket. The tax rate of your highest tax bracket is also known as your marginal tax rate.

Your effective tax rate is composed of the average of your various tax rates in each increment of your income, after all the deductions that you are entitled to and claim during filing. There is a fairly simple equation that can be used to help determine your effective tax rate.

Finding Your Effective Tax Rate

Since your effective tax rate is an average comprised of the percentages for all tax brackets that the IRS uses to delineate income levels. This starts with the official tax brackets:

  • 10% – Income up to $9,875 for single, and $19,750 for married filing jointly
  • 12% – Income $9,876-$40,125 for single, and $19,751-$80,250 for married filing jointly
  • 22% – Income $40,126-$85,525 for single, and $80,251-$171,050 for married filing jointly
  • 24% – Income $85,526-$163,300 for single, and $171,051-$326,600 for married filing jointly
  • 32% – Income $163,301-$207,350 for single, and $326,601-$414,700 for married filing jointly
  • 35% – Income $207,351-$518,400 for single, and $414,701-$622,050 for married filing jointly
  • 37% – Income above $518,400 for single, and above $622,050 for married filing jointly

You might think this is starting to get a little complicated, and you’re right. It’s going to get a little worse, but you’ll be ok.

A single earner making $60k won’t pay 22% across the full amount of their earnings. They will pay 10% on the first $9,875, the 12% on the portion up to $40,125, and finally 22% on the last $19,875. That means they pay less overall taxes, and that their effective tax rate will be much less than the 22% that only affects roughly the last third of their income.

The earner in our example would end up paying $8,991 on their $60k yearly salary. This works out to about $988 on the first portion taxed at 10%, $3,630 on the second portion taxed at 12%, and $4,373 on the past portion at 22%. Since $8,991 is 14.985% of 60,000, their effective tax rate would be 14.99%.

As you can see, the numbers and bracketing can get a little complicated, and it can be a bit tedious to go through each income bracket to figure out the tax amounts for each percentage. However, knowing how to calculate your effective tax rate is important information. It can even help you determine if you are leveraging itemized deductions effectively from year to year.

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Beauty Health & Home Wellness

Skincare Questions That Dermatologists Answer

Skincare Dermatologists

People ask skincare questions by the dozen and not surprisingly, considering how confusing the routines can be. Most people cannot be sure what skincare type is good for their skin type, what products help with what issues and so many other queries.

In this article, we will look at the questions people ask most commonly about skincare and which ones dermatologists have answered.

1. Is there a correct order for skincare routine?

The best way to use skincare products is in the order of thickness. For example, if you are a beginner in skincare, then you must start with a simple routine. Begin with a cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen as you start your day. Then in the night, complete your skincare regime with a cleanser and moisturizer.

If you have a dry skin, then you may include a hydrating serum or face oil. For acne, you can opt for topical acne medication or even retinoid.

2. In skincare, what does AHA mean?

By AHA, we mean the alpha hydroxyl acids. These acids chemically exfoliate and we can derive them from plant sources, like grapes, milk and sugarcane. Many products read these lactic, mandelic or glycolic and each is a reference to the AHA family.

These acids are quite beneficial for your skin because they remove the dead cells and break through the glue-like substance holding the dead skin cells to make way for new ones.

3. What are the best products?

There really is no way to call a product the best, considering how every skin type is different. What may work wonderfully for a particular skin type may not work the same for another. Your oily skin may not respond to a hydrating serum as well as dry skin would.

The only way to find the products that work best for your skin is through trial and error. Start with basic and gentle products and slowly discover what your skin needs.

4. How to cure acne?

This is perhaps the most Googled of all skincare questions because acne is a widespread skin condition. Truthfully, there are dozens of different treatments and products for acne. The best approach is to visit a dermatologist first and come up with a solid plan for your acne treatment.

Also ensure you routine includes washing your face every morning and night and using chemical exfoliants like salicylic acid or glycolic acid  for exfoliation. You must exfoliate regularly with those to whisk all the excess oil away and prevent breakouts.

5. What is the best night time skincare routine?

The best skincare routine includes a good cleanser, a serum and moisturizer and a face treatment once or twice a week. This routine every night will suffice in keeping your skin in optimal condition.

In the end, it is important you talk to professionals about your skincare. Don’t count on the people around you and non-professionals for skincare advice. Whether you want to try a new product or are wondering how to get rid of a pimple on your face, let a dermatologist help you.

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Children Family

Stocking Stuffers: The Best Ones for Teens

stocking stuffers

You may have a number of pocket-friendly stocking stuffers on your list for your toddlers, but do you draw a point-blank when it comes to your teens? No problem!

We have a list of the best stocking stuffers for your teens this year, and each one will delight them for sure.

1.    Lokai Bracelets

By giving your teen a lokai bracelet in their stocking stuffing, you’ll not only be giving a great gift to your kid but also serving one of the many charities, the founder contributes to.

2.    Bluetooth Shower Speaker

Teens and music seem to be inseparable; at times, it feels they are even incapable of getting through a night of sleep without music. So why not make their shower time more fun with water-resistant mini Bluetooth speakers?

They can croon to their favorite beats while scrubbing up, and the flat bottomed speakers sit conveniently on ledges and shelves.

3.    Driving Gloves

We’re sure your teens are enjoying their newfound freedom as drivers. Gift them a pair of leather driving gloves in their stocking stuffers, and the teens will love how the cold weather gear will protect their hands in freezing temperatures.

4.    Three Bit Pack

Teens these days can’t do without memes. It seems their life revolves around them, and undoubtedly yours are no different. Why not gift them GIF collectibles and memes as their stocking stuffers this year>? Each delivers emotion, and the teens will find them fascinating for sure.

5.    Frother

Our teens rely on Starbucks just as much as we do but can console the extra expense with the excuse that we work for it. But what about the younger ones? Give them the next best alternative to Starbuck, such as a frother.

The tool will help them make customized drinks like hot cocoa and coffee yet saving them precious dollars. Besides, the device is thin and highly functional, and it would make a great stocking stuffer and convenient tool for their duffels.

6.    Cable Bite

We know how teens value their data and charging cables more than their life but are just as careless in keeping them safe. The cable bite is a fascinating little thing that wraps around the cords and keeps them from breaking.

You can find this stocking stuffer in various versions, including pig, catshark, and dogs.

7.    Essential Oils-Bath bombs

If you’ve got teen girls especially, they’ll surely love this gift. They will also find these bath bombs a special treat for their showers at home, especially after sharing the less appealing communal showers at college or school.

The bath bombs come in various essential oils, including sweet orange, jasmine, cinnamon, frankincense, lemon, rosemary, chamomile, peppermint, tea tree, grapefruit, rose, and lavender.  

8.    Face Masks

Find the Airism face masks to gift your teens this year. These masks will not only make a great stocking stuffer, but the triple-layered structure also provides optimal performance. It blocks 90% of ultraviolet rays quite effectively with its UPF 40 rating and comes in three sizes for adults, teens, and children.

These AIRism masks also feature heat-releasing, self-deodorizing, anti-microbial, and sweat-absorbing qualities. Your teens will never complain of feeling sweaty with these masks on.

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Children Family

The Best Easter Activities for The Family

easter activities

There’s nothing like the joy of family and more so at Religious festivals. Easter is a time of merriment and playing silly games, even if you’re all adults. Being the second biggest family event of the year, it is only fitting to invest extra efforts to make sure Easter is an enjoyable time for all the family members.

What better way than some exhilarating and crazy family games to start the fun? Here are some great ideas for you:

1.    Eggo Deco

Eggo deco is an utterly silly game but tell us if the adults don’t squeal with delight while playing this one. For eggo deco, you need to place some Easter-themed stickers upside down on a flat plate or tray with the sticky side up.

Then you place an egg on the plate or tray and roll it around, trying to decorate it with the stickers. Mind you; no one can touch the egg in the process. Whoever gets the most stickers on is the winner, and whoever drops the eggs from the plate loses.

2.    Craft Station

Adults can be worse than kids at arts and craft, and here is an excellent way to have everyone howl with laughter. Prepare a craft station, ready with basic supplies for the family gathering. Have everyone make some Easter bunny ears and wear them on. Don’t forget to take tons of pictures of everyone looking ridiculous and delightfully childish with their funny bunny ears on.

3.    Spring Showers

This one is a whole level of crazy fun. You divide the entire family into teams. Then each group appoints a member who will wear a shower cap lathered with whipped or shaving cream on top. The rest of the team members have to throw Cheetos on the shower cap.

Every piece of Cheetos makes one point, and the more Cheetos, a team, manages to stick on the cap, the more scores they earn.

4.    Flower Planting

Easter is the time of rebirth, which is why we symbolize it with eggs. But what better way to celebrate new life and rebirth than with a tree? Turn this into a memorable and fun family activity by making everyone plant daffodils or tulips.

You can even plant indoor flowers and others, but we promise the entire family will love this activity.

5.    Egg Push

You undoubtedly know about the egg walk, but what about the egg push? Take the game a level higher by giving each player an egg. The race includes rolling the egg using their nose only and no other body part, from the starting line to the finish. The one who completes it first wins the race.

6.    Treat Rope

Some adults will play this game with more delight than others. This game includes tying a long rope or piece of string between two trees, or you may also have two members hold the corners of the string.

The strings must hold many treats, such as cookies or donuts or any other sweet treats. Players from two teams have to work their way through the string, each from the opposite side, eating as many treats in between as possible.

The condition is that the players can only use their mouths to reach the treats and eat them without using their hands and letting them fall. The one who eats the most treats wins.

Categories
Health & Home Wellness

Intuitive Eating – Here’s How to Start

intuitive eating

Intuitive eating is all about a non-diet approach towards your food. It focuses on building health-boosting behaviors rather than focusing on the scale.

It considers building a better body image and having a stronger connection with your food. Intuitive eating helps you make guided choices and acknowledge your internal cues. These include how you feel around food, fullness, and satiation after the meals and your cravings.

To help you transition smoothly to intuitive eating as a beginner, here is our short guide:

1.    It is not dieting

Intuiting eating is far from dieting, and you need to get rid of all those dieting jargon that promise quick weight loss. If you cannot rid your system of the belief in the dieting culture for weight loss, you will not discover intuitive eating freely.

2.    Hunger Acknowledgement

When you first feel the hunger pangs, do not ignore your body’s needs. It deserves to have sufficient carbohydrates and energy, and you must feed it adequately. When you underfeed or tend to starve your body, you reach a primal hunger state and end up overeating on impulsive food choices. Stop this!

3.    Social Media Detoxing

Stop allowing social media to glorify the thin and skinny physique of you. Thinness does not mean good health, but the idealized images have made this a perception.

You are better off without any source that promotes body dissatisfaction and a reed-thin figure.

4.    Don’t Apply Moralistic Value on Food

Part of living in a diet culture is how we tend to give it moralistic value. We associate all food items with guiltlessness and thinness or good and evil. When you categorize food as bad, you start depriving yourself of it and trigger biological cravings.

Do you know what the biological cravings result in? Binge eating, and then you go on a diet after that, and the vicious cycle continues. It is best to stop using moralistic terms for describing your food. Instead, try to eat everything in moderate proportions.

5.    Satisfaction factor

It would be best if you prioritized finding satisfaction from your food. When you’re eating, acknowledge the gift of existence and the bounty of nature before you. Be grateful for what you are eating and the abundance of food you enjoy. This will result in a high level of satisfaction and content after each means.

This will also help you discover just the right portion of food that brings this satiation level for you and the environment and setting you love to take your meals in.

6.    Make the Exercises You Love

In intuitive eating, you also need to change the way you work out. Instead of pushing your body for rigorous routines that the trainers insist upon, move the way your body loves. It doesn’t matter if the exercise is high-intensity or low-intensity; work out the way your body loves and finds comfortable.

Final Thoughts

Intuitive eating is all about forgetting the rigid, wrongly glorified dieting principles and forbidding foods to maintain a zero size. It is about eating freely and with gratefulness, in a way that benefits your wellbeing.

Categories
Children Family

Gen Z Slang – 11 Phrases Parents Need to Know

gen z slang phrases

One cannot really blame parents who quit trying to understand the jargon their kids seem to be communicating in. We call it the Gen Z slang phrases. It’s certainly not wrong to want to know what the Gen Z is discussing because as parents, it’s your right to know all that’s going on in their lives.

1. A whole Meal

When you hear your kids utter this to someone in passing, they’re commenting on someone looking really good, but mind you it has a sexual connotation to it.

2. Me next time

This phrase is when your kid is telling you to refer to them directly instead of making indirect references. For example, if mom says, “Someone left their dirty plates in the sink” and your child replies, “@ Me next time mom”, you know they’re asking you to be direct.

3. Clout chaser

Being after or caring only for likes and followers. Basically, seeking social media popularity means being a clout chaser.

4. Basic

When a Gen Z is saying you’re too typical, boring, dull etc. Basic is the new way of saying they find you outdated.

5. Boujee

Meaning they enjoy the more extravagant, expensive and fancy things in life.

6. I’m Baby

When they’re feeling incapable or helpless in a certain area of their life, they say I’m baby. This could be a way of asking for help as well for the Gen Z.

7. Flex

When they’re referring to people who show off something strange or irrelevant they will used to word flex. So the next time you catch your young one muttering flex when you’re drilling the importance of respect and family values you learnt as a kid, you know what to fix in them.

8. Ok Boomer

It is the Gen Z’s way of dismissing people they find rather outdated or old fashioned. You may hear them speaking this phrase more when you or other grownups are around and they can’t find common interests.

9. Quaking

The Gen Z slang phrases can be quite hard to decipher such as quaking. This one means to feel appalled or shocked and they may describe it in relation someone famous in the field you’re discussing.

10. Shade

Shade refers to making rude or click comments or talking discreetly in a trashy and insulting way.

11. Glow Up

This describes to a transformation or makeover from a bad to a good thing. For example, if you get a new haircut and your youngster comments you with glow up, it refer to how your new hairstyle is making you look more attractive.

Learning the Gen Z slang phrases can help you in many ways. First, you can show your children you are still young and in-touch with the modern world. Second, you can understand what they are talking about with their friends. Lastly, you can stop them from saying things that you don’t think are appropriate.  

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Health & Home Wellness

Health Hacks – 10 Hacks That Prioritize Your Health

health hacks

Are you too busy to maintain a proper healthcare routine? No problem! We have ten health hacks to help prioritize your wellbeing, even when you’re too busy to do it yourself.

1.    Order Smartly

Alright, so you’re too busy to manage meal preps yourself. If ordering food is your only option, then the best thing to do is call smartly. Instead of opting for fried chicken and loaded fries on the menu, you should order an entirely veggie-based meal. You’ll get your nutrition portion while keeping the calories away.

2.    Carry Water Always

This much can fit in even in the busiest of schedules. Hydration is crucial for optimal health, and all you need to do is carry your water bottle everywhere. Choose as large a bottle as possible to carry so you don’t have to refill often. Install an app on your phone to remind you to drink water so you can stay hydrated.

3.    Find Healthier Food Services

 Instead of opting for restaurants, it would be great to contract food service for the month. You will find plenty who cater to special diets and prepare wholly nutritious meals. This way, even when you can’t cook or meal prep yourself, you know you’re only getting healthy meals.

4.    HIIT

If you can’t make time for a leisurely workout, then opt for high-intensity interval training workouts. This requires only fifteen minutes a day but burns calories aggressively while building muscles.

5.    Nutritious Snacks

You can’t have meals on the go invariably with a busy life, but you can indeed have nutritious snacks. Pack up nuts, granolas, and whatever healthy snacks you can grab and carry around conveniently.

6.    Don’t Stress Eat

If you’re busy and hungry, you must still remember not to stress eat. Practice some breathing exercises and make them a habit so that you relax significantly before you begin chewing. No matter how demanding your routine is, stress eating never makes for optimal digestion.

7.    Use Technology

There’s an app for everything these days, so why not use one to manage your health too? Use an app that reminds you to have a glass of water, reminds you of its bedtime, reminds you to work out, etc. This might be the motivation you need in a day to give your health some attention.

8.    Set a Boundary

No matter how ambitious you are, or how much of a kick you get from being a successful professional, you have to set a boundary. If nothing else, do it for the sake of your health. Do not let work overpower you to the extent where you neglect your nutritional and sleep requirements etc.

At the end of the day, you have life only if you have good health. Remember to prioritize your body’s needs before investing all your efforts, energy, time, and focus into work.

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Health & Home Home Improvement Wellness

Spring Clean Your Life: How to Do it in Just 30 Days

spring clean your life

More critical than cleaning your home this spring is to clean your life: de-clutter, let go, and replenish the good that you’ve lost over time. A detoxed, cleaner, lighter, and healthier heart and soul is highly beneficial for a better life.

Here is how you can do it all in just thirty days:

First Week

Begin the first week by prioritizing good health. Swap out unhealthy food items from your diet for whole foods and organic ingredients. Next, assess your financial status and eliminate all unnecessary and unfruitful expenses.

If you haven’t started working out, build a routine immediately and choose exercises you enjoy comfortably. Then, reorganize and clear your pantry.

Second Week

Check your emotional status and let go of emotional baggage that is weighing you down. Clean and transform your shower, try to stop complaining, and look at things more optimistically. Keep your finances on track, too, while reducing all unnecessary spending.

At this point, it would be good to survey your bank statements and cancel the recurring charges you don’t use regularly. Focusing on your financial security is as essential as prioritizing your health.

Quit social media channels that don’t make you feel good anymore or cause jealousy, frustration, and ungratefulness. Reorganize your closet, donate old clothes and also build a good bedtime routine.

Third Week

The point of spring cleaning your life is to let go of all the negativity that ruins the quality of your life. Bitter and negative emotions are prime examples, and in the third week, you must make an action plan for letting go of stress, anger, and loneliness from within.

Just as you’re letting all the emotional junk flush out of your system, simultaneously keep clearing the junk from your drawers as well. Start focusing on healthy home food and invest more effort into meal preps for the week ahead.

When you’re eating well and feeling healthy emotionally, too, life seems to feel a lot better. In case your mind is unable to let go of its burdens, try penning your emotions down onto paper. The therapy might help.

Fourth Week

Now is the time to give your relationships an overhaul. It’s time to categorize your people into relationships you want to continue and enjoy and break out of toxic burdensome and feel like an emotional trap. If it takes reducing your circle to keep only the good ones in life, then go ahead and do it.

Also, take your exercising regime a level higher this week. Go for sweaty cardio and steam showers after, deep clean your rooms, fill free time with stimulating hobbies and improve your skincare routine. By now, you have undoubtedly saved enough to invest in non-toxic and beneficial skincare products.

Start converting some areas of your home into tech-free spaces, filling them with indoor plants and greenery instead. Spread a purifying vibe across your home this week.

Final Thoughts

With our clear and precise guide, you can spring clean your life quite effectively in just thirty days. From feeling accessible emotionally to living in a clutter-free, green home, you’ll love every aspect of your non-toxic and reorganized life.

Categories
Health & Home Wellness

Maximize Your Workouts With These 7 Secrets

maximize your workouts

When we invest precious time from our hectic lives into a workout regimen, we expect the most out of it. But is time enough of an investment to maximize your workouts? We think not.

You need a few more essential elements to get the best out of your sessions. Here are a few secrets from a personal trainer.

1. Outline Your Goal

When you’ve decided to adopt an exercise regime, you need to build a final goal to motivate you through the journey. Otherwise, you will work out aimlessly in the absence of a health or wellness goal. You will also lack drive.

A goal will motivate you to test your limits and not break your workout commitment on even the busiest days and most arduous exercises.

2. Assess Your Medical History

Before you form a fitness plan, it is best to understand your body’s needs. Assessing your health history will help you identify your goals and your limits. After all, a fitness program’s ultimate goal is to fine-tune your body and get you in optimal health.

3. Warm-up

Never underestimate the effect of a dynamic warm-up. It prepares your body for performing its best during the exercise sessions while reducing your risk of injuries. Warming up is essential to maximize your workouts because it ensures sufficient oxygen for the muscles and increased flexibility to prevent injuries.

4. Go for Variety

Instead of sticking to a rigid workout routine, it is better to develop a flow of exercises for the week. When you add variety, you find your workouts more fun and reduce putting continuous strain on your muscles at a certain angle.

A combination of strength training, high-intensity cardio, and barre classes for your muscles is the best regime.

5. Purposeful Eating

Once you get rolling at the gym, remember your fitness efforts must continue everywhere beyond the gym too. Whenever you’re preparing your meals, most significantly, though, ensure that each food contains a significant nutritional value.

Whatever you consume must serve a substantial nutritional purpose for the body, converting into fuel for your workouts.

6. Form Focus

It is crucial to focus on your form if you wish to maximize your workouts. The extra energy from the proper form helps you give the extra push while ensuring that your movement is beneficial. With improper form, you are more prone to injuries because you tend to target more unintended muscles.

With good form, you jump higher, run faster, push harder and be more agile.

Final Thoughts

To maximize your workouts, you need to perfect many other elements than just devoting time to the gym. From conscious, purposeful eating to coordinating your muscle and mind connection, it takes more than one ingredient to achieve your fitness goals.

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Career Career & Education Health & Home Recreation & Leisure

Lunch Break Ideas that Will Make Your Day Better

things to do during your lunch break

You may have made an ideal early morning routine for yourself, considering how it needs to gear you up for the day at work. But what about the rest of the day after your lunch break? Doesn’t it deserve to be unique and worthwhile too?

Of course, it does, and we have ideas of things to do on your lunch break to spruce up the rest of your day.

1.    Play Time

Yes, it’s not just for students. Rather, adults working in offices can do with some playtime too. Try playing dumb charade during lunch break with your colleagues, or just put on some music in the cafeteria (if you can) and encourage your colleagues to shake a leg with you.

The rest of your day is sure to brighten up automatically.

2.    A mid-day Stroll

Why not combine lunch with a stroll afterward? Encourage as many as you can to join in. A walk outside will relax everyone’s bunched muscles and brains and let some of the stress out. The light activity will also energize you for the rest of the day.

3.    Lunch Roulette

This is a great way to expand your networking at work. Lunch roulette is a game wherein you invite someone you’d like to know to grab lunch with you. This is an excellent way of making friends with someone you could never start a conversation with, even though you’d sat across from them for months.

4.    Look Up Recipes to try

If you’re a good cook, whipping up recipes for dinner is a sure way to spend the day in optimistic anticipation. You could look up recipes at lunch break and make plans for a special dinner in the evening for the family or even for yourself only. Food never fails to delight.

5.    Call Your Best friend

If your best friend has the skills to brighten up any conversation, then a chat over the phone with them during your lunch break is a great idea. It would surely put you in a good mood for the rest of the day.

6.    Make Plans

Work friends have a charm of their own and partying with them is a lot of fun too. Use your lunch break to make a dull day sound a lot better by planning an outing, a movie night, dinner, or getting together at home with them. It will put you all in a festive mood.

7.    Take a Power Nap

Power naps have endless benefits, and no one needs scientific evidence to believe them. Napping at any time refreshes and reenergizes you, gearing up for more activities for the rest of the day. Besides, a bit of rest in the second half of the day is good for your health too. It helps your body regulate some processes while improving your memory as well.

8.    Work out

If you can manage a late lunch break, you can make the most of this opportunity by fitting in some workout. Your physical performance is at the peak between 3 pm to 6 pm, and the risk of injuries even lower. Plus, your lungs perform optimally, too, so it would be great to exercise at this time.