According to CBS News, raising a child to the age of 17 sets families back an average of $240,000, and that’s for each child. This figure doesn’t even include the cost of college, which is growing faster than inflation.
CollegeBoard data found that for the 2022-2023 school year, the average in-state, four-year school costs $27,940 per year including tuition, fees, and room and board.
Kids can add meaning to your life, and most parents would say they’re well worth the cost. But having your financial ducks in a row — before having kids — can help you spend more time with your new family instead of worrying about paying the bills.
Table of Contents
10 Financial Moves to Make Before Having Kids
If you want to have kids and reach your long-term financial goals, you’ll need to make some strategic moves early on. There are plenty of ways to set yourself up for success, but here are the most important ones.
1. Start Using a Monthly Budget
When you’re young and child-free, it’s easy to spend more than you planned on fun activities and non-essential.
But having kids has a way of ruining your carefree spending habits, and that’s especially true if you’ve spent most of your adult life buying whatever catches your eye.
That’s why it’s smart to start using a monthly budget before having kids. It helps you prioritize each dollar you earn every month so you’re tracking your family’s short- and long-term goals.
You can create a simple budget with a pen and paper. Each month, list your income and recurring monthly expenses in separate columns, and then log your purchases throughout the month.
This gives you a high-level perspective about money going in and out of your budget. You can also use a digital budgeting tool, like Mint, Qube Money, or You Need a Budget (YNAB) to get a handle on your finances.
Regardless of which budgeting tool you choose, create categories for savings (e.g. an emergency fund, vacation fund, etc.) and investments.
Treat these expense categories just like regular bills as a way to commit to your family’s money goals. Your budget should provide a rough guide that helps you cover household expenses and save for the future while leaving some money for fun.
2. Build an Emergency Fund
Most experts suggest keeping three- to six-months of expenses in an emergency fund. Having an emergency fund is even more crucial when you have kids.
You never know when you’ll face a broken arm, requiring you to cover your entire health care deductible in one fell swoop.
It’s also possible your child could be born with a critical medical condition that requires you to take time away from work. And don’t forget about the other emergencies you can face, from a roof that needs replacing to a job loss or income reduction.
3. Boost Your Retirement Savings Percentage
Your retirement might be decades away, but making retirement savings a priority is a lot easier when you don’t have kids. And with the magic of compound interest that lets your money grow exponentially over time, you’ll want to get started ASAP.
By boosting your retirement savings percentage before having kids, you’ll also learn how to live on a lower amount of take-home pay. Try boosting your retirement savings percentage a little each year until you have kids.
Go from 6% to 7%, then from 8% to 9%, for example. Ideally, you’ll get to the point where you’re saving 15% of your income or more before becoming a parent.
If you’re already enrolled in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, this change can be done with a simple form. Ask your employer or your HR department for more information.
If you’re self-employed, you can still open a retirement account like a SEP IRA or Solo 401(k) and begin saving on your own.
You can also consider a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA, both of which let you contribute up to $7,000 per year, or $8,000 if you’re ages 50 or older.
4. Start a Parental Leave Fund
Since the U.S. doesn’t mandate paid leave for new parents, check with your employer to find out how much paid time off you might receive.
The average amount of paid leave in the U.S. is 11 days annually, according to Forbes, which means you might face partial pay or no pay for some weeks of your parental leave period. It all depends on your employer’s policy and how flexible it is.
Let’s say you have four weeks of paid time off, but plan on taking 10 weeks of parental leave, for example. Open a new savings account and save weekly or monthly until you have six weeks of pay saved up.
If you have six months to wait for the baby to arrive and you need $6,000 saved for parental leave, you could strive to set aside $1,000 per month for those ten weeks off.
If you’re able to plan earlier, up to 12 months before the baby arrives, then you can cut your monthly savings amount and set aside just $500 per month.
5. Open a Health Savings Account (HSA)
A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged way to save up for health care expenses, including the cost of a hospital stay.
This type of account is available to Americans who have a designated high-deductible health insurance plan (HDHP), meaning a deductible of at least $1,600 for individuals and at least $3,200 for families.
HDHPs must also have maximum out-of-pocket limits below $8,050 for individuals and $16,100 for families.
In 2024, individuals can contribute up to $4,150 to an HSA while families can save up to $8,300. This money is tax-advantaged in that it grows tax-free until you’re ready to use it.
Moreover, you’ll never pay taxes or a penalty on your HSA funds if you use your distributions for qualified health care expenses. At the age of 65, you can even deduct money from your HSA and use it however you want without a penalty.
6. Start Saving for College
The price of college will only get worse over time. To get a handle on it early and plan for your future child’s college tuition, start saving for their education in a separate account.
Once your child is born, you can open a 529 college savings account and list your child as its beneficiary.
Some states offer tax benefits for those who contribute to a 529 account. For example, Indiana offers a 20% tax credit on up to $5,000 in 529 contributions each year, which gets you up to $1,000 back from the state at tax time.
Many plans also let you invest in underlying investments to help your money grow faster than a traditional savings account.
7. Pay Off Unsecured Debt
If you have credit card debt, pay it off before having kids. You’re not helping yourself by spending years lugging high-interest debt around. Paying off debt can free-up cash and save you thousands of dollars in interest every year.
If you’re struggling to pay off your unsecured debt, there are several strategies to consider. Here are a few approaches:
Debt Snowball
This debt repayment approach requires you to make a large payment on your smallest account balance and only the minimum amount that’s due on other debt.
As the months tick by, you’ll focus on paying off your smallest debt first, only to “snowball” the payments from fully paid accounts toward the next smallest debt.
Eventually, the debt snowball should leave you with only your largest debts, then one debt, and then none.
Debt Avalanche
The debt avalanche is the opposite of the debt snowball, asking you to pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first, while paying the minimum payment on other debt.
Once that account is fully paid, you’ll “avalanche” those payments to the next highest-rate debt. Eventually, you’ll only be left with your lowest-interest account until you’ve paid off all of your debt.
Balance Transfer Credit Card
Another popular strategy involves transferring high-interest balances to a balance transfer credit card that offers 0% APR for a limited time.
You might have to pay a balance transfer fee (often 3% to 5%), but the interest savings can make this strategy worth it.
If you try this strategy, make sure you have a plan to pay off your debt before your introductory offer ends.
If you have 15 months at 0% APR, for example, calculate how much you need to pay each month for 15 months to repay your entire balance during that time.
Any debt remaining after your introductory APR period ends will start accruing interest at the regular, variable interest rate.
8. Consider Refinancing Other Debt
Ditching credit card debt is a no-brainer, but debt like student loans or your home mortgage can also weigh on your future family’s budget.
If you have student loan debt, look into refinancing your student loans with a private lender. A student loan refinance can help you lower the interest rate on your loans, find a manageable monthly payment, and simplify your repayment into one loan.
Private student loan rates are often considerably lower than rates you can get with federal loans — sometimes by half.
The caveat with refinancing federal loans is that you’ll lose out on government protections, like deferment and forbearance, and loan forgiveness programs. Before refinancing your student loans, make sure you won’t need these benefits in the future.
Also look into the prospect of refinancing your mortgage to secure a shorter repayment timeline, a lower monthly payment, or both.
Today’s low interest rates have made mortgage refinancing a good deal for anyone who took out a mortgage several years ago. Compare today’s mortgage refinancing rates to see how much you can save.
9. Buy Life Insurance
You should also buy life insurance before having kids. Don’t worry about picking up an expensive whole life policy. All you need is a term life insurance policy that covers at least 10 years of your salary, and hopefully more.
Term life insurance is extremely affordable and easy to buy. Many providers don’t even require a medical exam if you’re young and healthy.
Once you start comparing life insurance quotes, you’ll be shocked at how affordable term coverage can be. With Bestow, for example, a thirty-year-old woman in good health can buy a 20-year term policy for $500,000 for as little as $20.41 per month.
10. Create a Will
A last will and testament lets you write down what should happen to your major assets upon your death. You can also state personal requests in writing, like whether you want to be kept on life support, and how you want your final arrangements handled.
A will can also formally define who you’d like to take over custody of your kids, if both parents die. If you don’t formally make this decision ahead of time, these deeply personal decisions might be left to the courts.
Fortunately, it’s not overly expensive to create a last will and testament. You can meet with a lawyer who can draw one up, or you can create your own using a platform like LegalZoom.
The Bottom Line: 10 Pre-parenting Financial Steps
Having kids can be the most rewarding part of your life, but parenthood is far from cheap. You’ll need money for expenses you might’ve never considered before — and the cost of raising a family only goes up over time.
That’s why getting your money straightened out is essential before kids enter the picture. With a financial plan and savings built up, you can experience the joys of parenthood without financial stress.
