Can you financially prepare for children? It is often said that if you wait to be ready for children, you will never have children. But what are some steps to help you get ready financially that you can take? Here are 3 recommendations that will help.
1. Get good at setting a budget and sticking to it. Yes, kids are expensive, and you will have to redirect a large portion of your funds to children. Getting good at controlling where your money goes is critical.
2. Have a stronger emergency fund than normal. A good rule of thumb is 3-6 months expenses set aside in a high yield savings account. But let’s consider the changes you are about to experience. How much time off will you be taking? How much income will be missed during this time? What are the additional expenses that will reset what one month of expenses cover? There will be medical bills and other one-time expenses too also consider. So, let’s try to add these amounts to your emergency fund and build it up in advance.
3. Pay off debt. Having a child is stressful! No need to have the stress of credit card debt or other high interest debt adding to the mix. Pay it off. You can also take it a step further and pay down other debt items to free up space in your budget.
Starting a family is incredibly exciting! These are some general suggestions that will make it a little less stressful on the financial side. If you would like to discuss specifics for your financial situation, please reach out to me directly. I would love to have the discussion!
