Show HN: I built Pixie to help parents employee their kids and fund retirement (opens in new tab)

(trypixie.com)

3 pointspopupeyecare1mo ago2 comments

Hi HN,

I’m an anesthesiologist and YC alum. I built Pixie initially for my own kids.

There’s a little-known but completely legal tax rule in the US:

If a child has legitimate earned income, you can contribute to a custodial Roth IRA for them. And you can start as early as 5-6 years old.

But when I spoke with my friends, everyone was confused and concerned about compliance.

Most parents:

• Don’t know what qualifies as legitimate work

• Don’t know how to document it properly

• Are nervous about audit risk

• Or give up entirely

Pixie helps parents:

• Log real work performed by their child such as family business tasks, content creation, etc.

• Track hours and compensation

• Generate structured documentation

• Keep everything organized in one place

• Issues W2 and get EINs (I recommend getting an EIN by yourself - cheaper/faster and easy)

Why I built it:

I ran the math for my own kids. Even small early contributions compounded over decades become meaningful. But I realized most people either don’t know this exists or are too intimidated to execute it correctly.

Built during nights and weekends.

Would love any feedback!

Happy to answer questions or share details.

Amit

For a discount - https://friends.trypixie.com/?q=hn

2 comments

BretJohnson1mo ago

I love this. I am your target -- a parent of a 7 year old who had no idea this was a pathway toward growing retirement savings for him through age 18! (Albeit easier to max out yearly $7500 contributions as he gets older)

I'm also a lawyer by training married to a very risk averse spouse, so the guardrails here tick every box.

I do generally worry though about subscription models like this that --in theory-- I want to use for the next decade. Will it still be around? will it still be supported and kept legally up-to-date? However, since it should pay for itself fairly quickly each year I'd be slightly less concerned. Not sure how you'd best speak to that concern.

Last quick thing I noted (especially for parents with younger kids or kids who would strugggggggle to stay on task) can you set up non hourly rate tasks?

For instance it would take him a fair while, but he'd happily weed the garden beds and do a phenomenal job, but logging true time to completion would look silly. Could it be set as a simple $10 task with before and after photos? Think more like a taskrabbit fivr type job I'd pay for but not on a per hour rate?

Cheers. -Bret

PS- As a US expat living in New Zealand...is this even still a possibility? I'm sure I'm the very margin of your core user in that way but I didn't readily see anything about potential eligibility if living abroad.

popupeyecareOP1mo ago

Hi Bret!

Thank you for kind words. Really appreciate this. You’re exactly who I had in mind.

On the subscription concern, totally fair. Everything in Pixie is exportable, so you always have your documentation. The underlying rule is longstanding. Pixie just helps systematize compliance. I’m building it assuming families will use it for 10+ years, so durability matters.

Great point on task based work. I can build that in if there’s demand. It makes a lot of sense for kid jobs.

On expat eligibility, I’ll look into it more closely. The key requirement is US taxable earned income, but living abroad can add complexity.

Thanks again for the thoughtful feedback.

Amit

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

Show HN: I built Pixie to help parents employee their kids and fund retirement (opens in new tab)

(trypixie.com)

3 pointspopupeyecare1mo ago2 comments

Hi HN,

I’m an anesthesiologist and YC alum. I built Pixie initially for my own kids.

There’s a little-known but completely legal tax rule in the US:

If a child has legitimate earned income, you can contribute to a custodial Roth IRA for them. And you can start as early as 5-6 years old.

But when I spoke with my friends, everyone was confused and concerned about compliance.

Most parents:

• Don’t know what qualifies as legitimate work

• Don’t know how to document it properly

• Are nervous about audit risk

• Or give up entirely

Pixie helps parents:

• Log real work performed by their child such as family business tasks, content creation, etc.

• Track hours and compensation

• Generate structured documentation

• Keep everything organized in one place

• Issues W2 and get EINs (I recommend getting an EIN by yourself - cheaper/faster and easy)

Why I built it:

Built during nights and weekends.

Would love any feedback!

Happy to answer questions or share details.

Amit

For a discount - https://friends.trypixie.com/?q=hn

2 comments

BretJohnson1mo ago

I'm also a lawyer by training married to a very risk averse spouse, so the guardrails here tick every box.

Last quick thing I noted (especially for parents with younger kids or kids who would strugggggggle to stay on task) can you set up non hourly rate tasks?

Cheers. -Bret

popupeyecareOP1mo ago

Hi Bret!

Thank you for kind words. Really appreciate this. You’re exactly who I had in mind.

Great point on task based work. I can build that in if there’s demand. It makes a lot of sense for kid jobs.

On expat eligibility, I’ll look into it more closely. The key requirement is US taxable earned income, but living abroad can add complexity.

Thanks again for the thoughtful feedback.

Amit

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse