Halfmore FAQ: Your Complete 2025 Starter Guide

Starting a Roth IRA for a child involves unfamiliar terms, rules, and steps. This guide answers common questions about how the process works and what tools are available to support it.

The information here helps clarify what Halfmore does, who it is for, and how it fits into the legal and financial framework of custodial Roth IRAs. This is helpful for families exploring how minors can legally earn income and invest it for long-term use.

As of May 22, 2025, this guide reflects the current structure and availability of the platform, including geographic limitations, account setup, and operational steps.

What Is Halfmore And Who Can Use It

Picture Halfmore as your family's financial command center! It's an app that helps parents set up a legitimate employment arrangement with their children. When kids complete household tasks, they earn real income that can go into a custodial Roth IRA – a special retirement account that grows tax-free.

Halfmore isn't a bank or investment advisor. Instead, it's like having a personal assistant who handles all the paperwork, tax forms, and compliance checks that normally make this process complicated.

• Who can join the Halfmore family: U.S. parents and their children who have Social Security Numbers
• Where it works: Currently available in Alaska, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington (with more states coming soon!)
• Age requirements: Children of any age can participate as long as they can complete age-appropriate tasks

How Does Halfmore Work From Start To Finish

Think of Halfmore as your financial spaceship, and you're the captain guiding your child toward a wealthy future! The journey happens in five simple steps:

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Download And Sign Up

Your adventure begins by downloading the Halfmore app on your iOS device. Creating your account takes about 15 minutes, and you'll get a free trial to explore all the features. Just enter some basic information about yourself and your child, and you're ready for the next step!

👶 Setting Up Child Profile

Now for the fun part: specifying your child's household employment details! This step officially establishes the parent-child employment relationship. It's like creating a character profile in a game, except this one has real financial benefits for your child's future.

💰 Assigning Household Tasks

Time to create your child's mission list! Choose from age-appropriate tasks that would normally require someone's help around the house. For example:

• Younger children (6-8): Setting the table, watering plants, sorting recyclables
• Middle-aged children (9-12): Walking the dog, washing the car, organizing bookshelves
• Older children (13+): Lawn mowing, meal preparation, helping with family budgeting

The app tracks these assignments, creating a digital record that's important for tax purposes.

⏱️ Running Payroll And Tracking Earnings

When your child completes their missions (tasks), Halfmore calculates their earnings and handles the payment process. The app generates digital pay stubs and work logs automatically – no spreadsheets or manual calculations needed!

🚀 Transferring Funds To A Custodial Roth IRA

The final frontier! Your child's earnings can now blast off into their very own custodial Roth IRA through partners like Fidelity or Charles Schwab. You'll manage this account until they're adults, but the money inside is growing tax-free for their future.

What You'd Do Yourself	What Halfmore Does For You	Why It Matters
Research employment rules	Provides built-in compliance	Avoids IRS issues
Track tasks on paper	Digital task assignment and tracking	Creates legal documentation
Calculate payments manually	Automated payroll processing	Saves time, reduces errors
Figure out tax forms	Generates required tax documents	Ensures proper reporting
Research IRA contribution limits	Monitors contribution thresholds	Prevents over-contribution

What Is A Custodial Roth IRA And Why Start Early

A custodial Roth IRA is like a magical piggy bank that doesn't just hold money – it helps it grow over time, all by itself! It's a retirement account that a parent manages for their child until they become adults (usually at age 18 or 21, depending on your state).

The "Roth" part means that money goes in after taxes, but then grows completely tax-free. When your child eventually takes money out in retirement, they won't pay any taxes on it – not even on all the growth that happened over decades!

Starting early is like giving your child a head start in a race. Thanks to compound interest (when money makes more money), even small contributions can grow into impressive amounts over time. For example, if your 10-year-old invests just $50 monthly, by retirement age it could become a substantial nest egg.

The only catch? Contributions can only come from earned income – money your child actually worked to earn. That's where Halfmore steps in, helping transform household tasks into legitimate earned income.

How Can My Child Legally Earn Income

Turning household tasks into legitimate earned income is simpler than you might think! The key is making sure the work is age-appropriate, serves a real purpose, and is properly documented.

🧹 Age-Appropriate Household Tasks

Different ages can handle different responsibilities. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Ages 6-8: Sorting laundry, feeding pets, collecting mail
• Ages 9-12: Vacuuming, washing windows, organizing pantry
• Ages 13-15: Lawn care, simple home repairs, babysitting siblings
• Ages 16+: Meal planning and preparation, managing family calendar, basic bookkeeping

Remember, these tasks need to be actual work that you might otherwise pay someone else to do – not just regular family responsibilities.

💵 Paying Fair Wages For Compliance

For the IRS to recognize your child's income as legitimate, the payment needs to match the work performed. This typically means paying at least minimum wage for the time spent working.

Halfmore helps calculate appropriate wages and creates digital records of all payments. These records are your proof that the money was earned through actual work, not just given as an allowance or gift.

Which Banks And Brokerages Work With Halfmore

Halfmore connects with financial institutions to make moving money between accounts as smooth as a rocket launch! The app doesn't hold your investments – it just helps direct the money to the right places.

Most major U.S. banks can connect to Halfmore for funding the payroll. For the child's account, some banks work better than others. Halfmore recommends:

• Capital One Kids Savings Account: Works for any age
• Wells Fargo Way2Save® Savings: Works for any age

For the custodial Roth IRA destination, Halfmore currently integrates with:

• Fidelity
• Charles Schwab

These brokerages offer child-friendly investment options and make it easy to set up custodial accounts. Halfmore helps you connect everything together so money flows smoothly from your account to your child's earnings account to their investment account.

What Are The Fees And Trial Options

Halfmore's pricing is straightforward – just like the app itself! As of May 2025, the monthly subscription is $12, which covers everything you need:

• Unlimited child profiles (got more than one future millionaire at home?)
• All payroll processing and documentation
• Tax form generation
• Brokerage integration

New space captains get a 30-day free trial to explore the galaxy of features before committing. This gives you plenty of time to set up accounts, assign tasks, and see how the system works.

Compared to hiring an accountant or payroll service to handle this manually (which could cost hundreds or thousands per year), Halfmore provides an affordable way to help your child start building wealth early.

How Do I Document Household Tasks For Compliance

Good documentation is like having a treasure map – it helps you prove where the gold came from if anyone ever asks! For household employment to be recognized by the IRS, keeping clear records is essential.

📝 Maintain Simple Work Records

Halfmore makes this part super easy! The app automatically tracks:

• What: Description of each task completed
• When: Date and time the work was performed
• How long: Number of hours spent on the task
• How much: Payment amount based on the hours worked

These digital records replace the need for paper timesheets or complicated spreadsheets. If the IRS ever has questions, you'll have everything organized and ready to show.

💾 Store Documentation In The App

All your important records live securely in the Halfmore app:

• Pay stubs for each payment period
• Complete work history logs
• Annual tax summaries

The app keeps these records for at least three years (the IRS audit window), so you don't have to worry about saving paper copies or backing up files yourself.

Answers To Common Questions

Can grandparents use Halfmore for their grandchildren?

No, the platform currently only supports parent-child employment relationships due to specific tax and legal requirements.

Can I use Halfmore to pay my child through my business?

Halfmore is designed specifically for household employment, not business employment. The two have different tax implications and requirements.

What happens when my child turns 18?

The custodial Roth IRA automatically converts to a standard Roth IRA in your child's name, giving them full control of the account.

Is there a minimum age requirement for my child?

There's no specific minimum age, but your child needs to be old enough to reasonably complete the assigned tasks.

How does Halfmore handle tax reporting?

The app generates all required tax documents at year-end, including household employment forms and records needed for IRA contribution verification.

Empower Your Child's Future

Starting a custodial Roth IRA through Halfmore is like planting a money tree that will grow for decades! By turning everyday household tasks into legitimate earned income, you're giving your child both financial skills and a head start on retirement savings.

The app handles all the complicated parts – legal documentation, payroll processing, tax reporting – so you can focus on teaching your child about work, saving, and investing. It's financial education that comes with a real financial reward!

Whether your child is saving for college, a first home, or retirement far in the future, the foundation you're helping them build today could grow into something truly amazing tomorrow. Check out the current plans at https://www.halfmore.co/plans and launch your child's financial journey!