can you pay your kids a salary so you can give them a retirement account?

[Crazyroadtodublin]

My son is 8 and cleans my office as well.  I started him at a much lower rate (10 dollars an hour).  The cleaning became mundane to him so I moved him up and gave him a raise.  He now gets the mail from the mailbox, opens it, sorts the checks and stamps them for deposit and cleans.   I hope to have him making out the deposit slips over the next six months.  I agree with Johanna, these lessons are worth way more than his paycheck which goes into his roth.

[jfoxcpacfp]

AndyJ wrote:

Thanks. You are the biggest asset this forum has.

Click to expand...

Whoa! I’m sure there is a lot of disagreement to that opinion but your kind words mean more to me than you know. Thank you.

[AndyJ]

Thanks. You are the biggest asset this forum has.

[jfoxcpacfp]

Check the laws in your state for legality, but there shouldn't be a problem hiring your own children. The main consideration is that you pay a fair wage for the work done and that you document the agreement. You'll have to put them on the payroll, which can be a hassle if you don't already have payroll compliance responsibilities but, as an LLC, you will save paying FICA taxes. Also check on unemployment regulations in your state.

I think it's a great idea if you do it right, not just for financial reasons, but for teaching them responsibility. It will only get better as your kids grow older and can do more.

[AndyJ]

I have a home office, and I'm an IC with an LLC? Can I pay my kids to do some small tasks for my office then put their salary into a Roth IRA? I mean, it would be small tasks like vacuuming and straightening things up in my home office. But if I gave the oldest like $15 for an hour of help once per week (he is 8) and put the whole $750 yearly into a Roth, he would have the benefit of a long time of compounding interest. As he got older I could have him do more and then the younger ones would help with easier tasks. Is this legal? I don't want to go to jail for child labor when I just want to help them...