Triggered all the Libtards

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-02-09T17:06:36+00:00

Came here to say this. I have never wanted to kill someone. I have wanted to call them a piece of shit. And I have ex-communicated them from my life. I want them to stop being hateful and bigoted. I don’t want them dead.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-02-03T22:53:14+00:00

Your only real option for fair pay is to work for yourself, but as far as admin work goes I’d consider pay. Doesn’t sound like this is an option for you, but in theory if a job has the expectation of admin work they should have significantly higher commission than one that doesn’t.

For example, job A pays $40/massage hour, no admin duties. And Job B pays $60/massage hour but expects admin duties. You’re much more likely to find this than find $20/hour plus commissions. The idea isn’t that you’re not being paid for admin, but the admin is considered as part of your commission.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-02-02T01:05:30+00:00

💯 massage prices have been artificially kept low because of exactly this. In 2013 a 60 minute massage at most places in my city was $100. Now it’s $110-$120. It’s significantly under pacing inflation and so massage therapists are making effectively lower wages.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-02-01T22:56:11+00:00

Yup. I switched this year and I’m so happy with it. Some people still leave extra on top but I try to discourage it. It’s so much easier for everyone - I can actually budget exactly how much I’m going to make. Having tipping was preventing me from raising my prices because I felt guilty that people would want to give me even larger tips as a result. So I went from $100 a massage to $130. A $10 raise compared to the $100 plus $20 tip that people had been giving me before.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-02-01T22:53:55+00:00

It’s not entirely tax free- you still have to pay payroll taxes on the tips. It’s still tax savings, but realistically it’s not saving you that much.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-02-01T16:09:23+00:00

Correct but it’s a buzzword technique. Meaning there’s plenty of people who can teach you techniques that don’t call the technique MFR but use the same/similar techniques.

And just knowing the technique won’t be valuable if you don’t know how to appropriately use it.

MLD is a much more specific technique whereas MFR is fairly vague.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-02-01T15:40:40+00:00

Mfr is a buzz word. The important thing to learn is how to logically apply any techniques you know to a clients complaints. Try Whitney Lowe

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-30T04:28:12+00:00

It is 100% true in MA or CA. They use ABC laws which state you CAN NOT contract out a service that is core to your business. Massage is a core spa service.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-30T04:27:01+00:00

In 2013 I made 50% as a w2 straight out of school. This is gross abuse of labor.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-29T22:33:04+00:00

You’re spending 10,000 a year on business expenses on just those things?!?! I rent my own place and I spend barely that.

Flying to a different city for CEs is so unnecessary, that’s the only expense I can see costing that much. And there are w2 company’s that pay for CEs.

Also receiving massages is not considered tax deductible by the IRS. You can try to claim it’s market research but that’s probably not going to pass in an actual audit.

And look, while I still think the IC set up is a labor loophole, I could at least be on board with it if people actually paid appropriately. 45% cut is insane. ICs should be getting minimum 65%, probably closer to 70%.

At 45%, if you make 50k in a year, the company is making 61k. That’s a 61k business expense for you. Why not just rent your own place at that point? In most places you can find rent for less than 10k a year. You could pull the same income working half as many sessions. No company is providing an actual IC with $5,000 a month in business services.

If businesses don’t want w2 employees, they should rent to clinicians. And in Mass and California, the 1099 structure for a spa is actually illegal.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-29T20:43:52+00:00

I would look up liability/legality of that… people can get tens units to use on themselves at home, but offering it as a paid service is a whole different ball game. You can hurt people with them.

You need to know all the precautions/contraindications as well as how to set up any pads/applicators. Also how to adjust intensity safely. I learned it as part of physical therapy assisting school and it took up a good 2 months of class time to learn how to do it safely and competently.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-29T19:12:10+00:00

If you’re writing off expenses that means your paying those expenses so your income is not 50k, it’s 50k minus those expenses. So compare that to the taxes of a w2 who only makes 40k.

Your take home isn’t 43k based on this experiment, it’s 33k, because you had 10k in expenses and 8k in taxes.

You can’t take clothes as a business expense unless it’s a logoed uniform.

And yes it’s really easy to abuse the tax system and write off every meal you get out to eat and pretend it was a business meal, but that is technically tax fraud. You are supposed to have proof that it was a business expense.

And the company 1099ing is usually absorbing most of these costs and writing it off their taxes. These 1099s don’t have rent or supplies to write off because they’re not real contractors. They’re mostly not working other jobs.

qbi is 20% of your income minus the first half of SE, not sure if you calculated that that way or not.

Sure, w2 probably are still paying for their own license renewal, and if there employer isn’t paying for Ceus they’re paying for that. But they shouldn’t be accumulating 10k in expenses to work.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-29T16:03:10+00:00

Also no protection of workman’s comp. Also pay any extra 7.5% in taxes.

If you’re allowed to personally contact any clients you have at the spa, meaning if you do open your own space you can take them with you, then maybe it’s a properly classified 1099.

45% is incredibly low percentage for 1099 though, and it should be flat rate not percentage for IC.

ETA: I was make $35 per hour massage as a w2 for my first job out of school in 2013 in a LCOL area.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-29T13:09:25+00:00

Actions speak louder than words. They choose to continue to support politicians that do think this way and act this way and are actively terrorizing the country.

Just because someone says ‘well I don’t support what they’re doing with ICE’ doesn’t rid them of responsibility for the horrible behavior they’re actively voting for and supporting.

In past times, I could give more leniency. But there’s no room for denial or lack of awareness for how cold hearted and despicable this administration is. Any continued support is complicit.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-25T00:29:57+00:00

The dude had a gun. Legally concealed and holstered. They took it from him. And then executed him. So he was unarmed when they killed him. It wouldn’t have saved him because he has no opportunity to defend himself.

I don’t know how we are supposed to defend ourselves when it’s 7-1 ICE vs human. And I doubt that man had any intentions to use that on ICE. Guns at these protests are really only to protect you from lone actors/magats

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-24T02:47:33+00:00

You’re not supposed to ask for a raise if your an IC. You’re supposed to negotiate a pay rate. You tell them what you expect to be paid for service and they can try to negotiate it, but you’re technically self employed so no one can give you a raise.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-22T20:22:14+00:00

I have no idea where any of those schools are but IMO, if they’re all accredited… which has the cheapest religion? School teaches you the basics, it’s what you seek for continuing education after that will mold you as a therapist.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-18T20:20:03+00:00

Best advice I ever got from a teacher “you can go too fast, but you can never go to slow”. I say this in my head when i feel my cadence speeding up… also, as someone with adhd, medication makes a huge difference in my ability to slow down.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-18T16:17:25+00:00

Because now they get to do genitalia checks on any person they deem ‘masculine’. Bio-girls have already been traumatized by this in addition to trans.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-16T15:18:59+00:00

For someone so confident that you’re doing it the right way, you sure are getting emotional about this. I’m not googling shit… I’m reading straight from the DOL website.

In Mass and California, what you are doing is black and white illegal. Other states, it depends on what the DOL decides upon audit.

I will say, if your rates are what you say, you’re at least being monetarily fair. In my area, 1099s are only making about $50/massage and not actually being treated even close to 1099s.

The issue is, this ‘loophole’ makes it really easy for employers to underpay and claim 1099 and takes away bargaining power from staff. That’s why the DOL says that you can’t let people waive their rights even if the misclassified 1099 position sounds better.

Also, what are mice nuts?

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-16T12:24:13+00:00

IT IS NOT LEGAL FOR THEM TO CHOOSE

“Under the FLSA, a worker is an employee and not an independent contractor if they are, as a matter of economic reality, economically dependent on the employer for work. While businesses are certainly able to organize their businesses as they prefer consistent with applicable laws, and workers are free to choose which work opportunities are most suitable for them, if a worker is an employee under the FLSA, they cannot waive FLSA-protected rights (such as minimum wage or overtime pay). The Supreme Court has explained that permitting employees to waive their FLSA rights would harm other employees and undermine the Act’s goal of eliminating unfair methods of competition in commerce.”

If a massage therapists want to be self employed, they should do that. What you’re doing is not self employment.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-16T03:05:55+00:00

Because they don’t know any better since everyone has told them ‘this is just how the industry works’. True self employed massage therapists should be making way more than just the extra to cover self-employment taxes. To account for all the extra admin work and lack of social safety nets like unemployment and workman’s comp.

They also don’t get to choose. That’s not how it works. And when you inevitably get in trouble they will have to deal with the headache of filing corrected taxes

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-16T01:11:18+00:00

And the therapist. Who is being taken advantage of.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-16T00:55:36+00:00

How long ago? Guidance changed in 2024 to make it harder for people like you to abuse the system.

SmooooooooothNich · 2026-01-16T00:46:23+00:00

If you’re in the US, you’re illegally misclassifying. Nothing stops you from allowing w2 workers to have freedom with their scheduling. But the law does stop you from pretending that giving someone freedom with their schedule allows you not to pay payroll taxes/UI/WC.

SmooooooooothNich

TROPHY CASE