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Aloha! My husband and I have a 5 year plan to sell our business here on the mainland and move to Maui. I have been doing extensive research as we will still have 4 children in the home (currently 6) at the time of the move so we must not be hasty - turns out they need food to survive!
As I mentioned we will sell our business and assets so we will hopefully have a little capital to get started with the expensive housing that I've read about. We will probably do the same work in Maui as a wedding vendor (DJ service, videographers, photographers). So my first set of questions is for those of you in the wedding industry in Maui:
What is the high season there? Here, wedding season is June-September. How many are destination weddings with small parties and how many are more local and/or bigger parties? Given the countries economical state, generally, the wedding industry still continues to flourish - is that also the case in Maui? Any other tips or typical pricing info that will be helpful?
Second set of questions is regarding self-employment:
I read that for services you are taxed 4% (state GET) of the gross but can pass that charge off onto your clients. What other employer taxes do I need to be aware of? We currently have employees and will have employees once we get established down there, so please inform me about any employee/payroll taxes. I suppose I need to also be informed on State Income Taxes if we are to pay ourselves.
Thank you thank you thank you for any and all information! More info is better than too little!
Google wedding & event planning for Maui...that will give you an idea of what others are charging.
I live on Oahu, in a resort area with 4 wedding chapels. Without any exageration, I can tell you the only people I have ever seen get married out here are Japanese tourist. They run them through hourly and many will have full staffs ie. makeup artist, several photographers, assistants, limos etc...but they are ALL Japanese.
Maybe as part of your long range planning, one of you can learn Japanese. Good luck!
...Second set of questions is regarding self-employment:
I read that for services you are taxed 4% (state GET) of the gross but can pass that charge off onto your clients. What other employer taxes do I need to be aware of? We currently have employees and will have employees once we get established down there, so please inform me about any employee/payroll taxes. I suppose I need to also be informed on State Income Taxes if we are to pay ourselves...
Yes, you can either directly charge the customer for the GET (General Excise Tax) or as many service providers do, simply add that 4% into what you charge in the first place. Remember, you will also have to pay tax on any business profits.
Any employee that works more than 19 hours per week average for you will have to be provided a individual health plan at essentially no cost to the employee. You can charge the employee for the difference in cost between individual coverage and family coverage if they choose that option. If I have seen and heard of insurance options costing a little under $300 per month, per employee. There are only a few state-certified plans from which to choose.
Then you will have to pay unemployment insurance premiums, which recently went up rather dramatically.
State income taxes are on a sliding scale, ranging from about 3% to a high of 11% around the $150,000 income level.
Thank you both for your generous information!
I would have never thought to learn Japanese. I guess that's why we do research! Also, good to know the wedding industry is booming there.
And the tax information is golden ~ that's more my department.
Since you're rich, local taxes won't affect you much, and since the industry caters to visitors getting married, the affairs of Hawaii locals won't affect you much. Enjoy!
Any employee that works more than 19 hours per week average for you will have to be provided a individual health plan at essentially no cost to the employee. You can charge the employee for the difference in cost between individual coverage and family coverage if they choose that option. If I have seen and heard of insurance options costing a little under $300 per month, per employee. There are only a few state-certified plans from which to choose.
This isn't true... I work for Maui County and we pay 40% of our insurance premiums. If we're lucky and the current tentative deal gets through negotiation, we'll be paying even more-- 50%.
It's a myth that Hawaii has free universal healthcare and it's a liberal paradise for workers.
All I know is I pay 10% in local taxes and those rich people at the top pay 6%. It's like that everywhere, except here in Hawaii it's worse because cost of living is high and wages are low, so the average person can't afford things like homeownership or going on vacations. Like I said, enjoy.
I'm sick and tired of this "if you don't like it, leave" attitude. It's like the old "Love it or leave it". Try facing reality instead. Life for the lower and middle class sucks, and sucking it up and pretending to be happy doesn't help. I don't see how you can drive through a working class neighborhood and not realize that the number of cars parked in each yard means that something is seriously wrong. Or maybe you think because people look out for each other out of Aloha that everything is fine? I for one can sympathize, even after just a year living here, with the locals who feel like they're being exploited. They are. How much of those big profits are hotels paying to their staffs? How much is Chryssi going to pay her employees? I hope at least $20/hr, at a minimum... And I hope she does the right thing and gives them health insurance and decent time off. But we'll see.
I've noticed there's a class of people in Hawaii, transplants who have a lot of money and don't care about local issues at all. They don't vote, they don't participate in the community, they think of Hawaii as a resort, and they sure as hell don't care about anything that happens on these islands outside their gated communities and golf courses. They have a permanent vacation mentality, and they can't handle negativity, because it intrudes on their bubbles. I wonder why there are so many people like that on this forum. Maybe it bothers me because like people here I'm only a few generations removed from colonialism's exploitation, and the class of "permanent tourists" strike me as neocolonialists.
Last edited by Marka; 04-22-2011 at 11:11 PM..
Reason: removed personal remarks
You're missing the point that you attacked Cryssi and you don't even know her or her financial situation.
My husband has been hit with a Lay Off 2 years ago here in Calif., only had 1 proposal project for 4 months out of that period. Here we need two cars, other things, in Hawaii one car will do. He's forced to retire and maybe do something part-time. I got lucky and found a telecommuniting job from here that's based in Oahu. I get two weeks off to get organized once we hit Oahu. Selling off everthing that isn't nailed down, traveling light.
We're not rich, we're not looking to live the OC Jones' lifestyle in Hawaii. We want to move to an area not touristy, meet the locals, make friends. We've traveled all over the world, been transferred with 12 days notice, some better than others. Home is where the heart is. Attitude makes a big difference on surviving that stay there.
With this economy, I don't see a universal healthcare coming into place soon. Would be great in a "Perfect" world, it's something we can strive for once we get people back to work.
Facing reality means that you must accept that you work for a county that isn't going to pay for everything any more. My husband as a civil engineer designer, never was guaranteed a job (not a Union field) and always had to contribute to his health insurance in the 35 years he's been in the engineering.
And the IRS is a whole other issue, guaranteed, just like dying.
I'm saying eventhough you want to go back to Texas, but can't because you don't have a job there, accept it for now. Enjoy life and laughter (even in sarcasm) does a body good.
Wink, I understand your frustrations. However, what you described is happening everywhere, not just Hawaii. For example, people in Oregon and Washington have been upset for a long time now that people from California come and buy everything here because to them, things here seem cheap. That drove prices up and many were saying they couldn't afford to buy a house in their own home state. For some, maybe that is true. However, if you dwell on the negative side, it is really hard to find the positive road that will lead you out of where you don't want to be. I don't know you or what you are going through, but I hope things get better really soon for you and yours.
This isn't true... I work for Maui County and we pay 40% of our insurance premiums. If we're lucky and the current tentative deal gets through negotiation, we'll be paying even more-- 50%.
It's a myth that Hawaii has free universal healthcare and it's a liberal paradise for workers.
Sorry. I should have said, for private companies. Blame your union.
It is no utopia for the average worker, because of that law. That law is the sole reason why so many employers hire people for part-time, 19 hour per week jobs.
You should blame your union for your wages,which are low because of the extra benefits they negotiated for you instead of better pay. In the real world, you would have had 10 days vacation and 5 days sick pay AFTER one year on the job and they are not cumulative and you don't get paid for unused days when you leave or retire. Please remind us, again, how many vacation and sick days you received, immediately upon being hired?
Those are unproductive days for the employer. That is why your pay is lower than what you want.
edit: I forgot that you also get an extra-ordinary amount of paid holidays each year,compared to the rest of the working population.
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Mahalo
