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About to have first baby - what do I need to get set up financially asap?

4,969 Views | 23 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by 62strat
blumpkin
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AG
any advice?
GtownRAB
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1) pull out 9 months ago if you like money

If that isn't an option:

1) look into a 529, never too early to start saving for colleges. People will chime in with their favorites

2) If you have an HSA, pump money into for tax savings and your wife and kid will have medical bills the next few years

3) re-evaluate monthly expenses to calculate a higher amount for a 6 month emergency fund you need to have on hand
Football&Finance
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  • make sure your emergency fund is topped off
  • check that you & your lady have appropriate life insurance coverage
  • write a will that establishes guardianship of your child, should something happen to you both

edit: also.. congratulations!
Keeper of The Spirits
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If you think she is going back to work, my advice would be to plan like you won't have that income. I have seen many new career driven mothers, who have come back to work for very short time before deciding to stay home, especially if they are breastfeeding. If you don't plan for that income, it won't be a big of struggle if that's what she decides.
O'Doyle Rules
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Don't worry about saving for their college. Yet. Wait for the bubble to pop soon, then figure out the best way
Stive
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O'Doyle Rules said:

Don't worry about saving for their college. Yet. Wait for the bubble to pop soon, then figure out the best way
When I first started my career in 2001, people were clamoring about college costs and stating that there's no way they could continue climbing at that rate, the bubble has to burst, etc. For those people, their kids are going to college now, and if anything it's worse than what the numbers showed at that point.

I agree it's going to pop at some point, but plan like it isn't, adjust when it does (don't assume it's going to happen or plan like it's going to happen)

TxAg20
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I contribute the annual maximum to my HSA which comes out of my paycheck. This has been a good arrangement for me as medical bills are never a financial issue since there's already money set aside.

I set up 529 accounts for my 2 kids which auto-draft ~$460/month per kid. I'm so used to the HSA and 529 money being pulled out that I don't notice the cost anymore. If it wasn't for private school tuition (which is a lot cheaper than college tuition) I probably wouldn't notice that my kids cost anything. All the other expenses seem like marginal increases to our expenses before having children. My kids are still pretty young though.
aggiesq
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buy these





and if its a girl get these too





10andBOUNCE
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Make sure you have a solid term life insurance policy in place for you and your wife
austagg99
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1. make/update your will
2. update life insurance
3. budget for increased med/food expenses.

The rest depends on the state of your current finances and your realistic prospects for the future.

4. House? Consider moving to a neighborhood with good schools. Good private schools are very expensive. You will get better return on your cash buying a nice house in a nice neighborhood than pooring it into a private school.

5. college saving plan? Maybe? Is your current savings plan enough for your retirement? The gov is much more likely to pay for your kids college than your retirement.
Ragoo
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GtownRAB said:

1) pull out 9 months ago if you like money

If that isn't an option:

1) look into a 529, never too early to start saving for colleges. People will chime in with their favorites

2) If you have an HSA, pump money into for tax savings and your wife and kid will have medical bills the next few years

3) re-evaluate monthly expenses to calculate a higher amount for a 6 month emergency fund you need to have on hand
do a 529 last. Fund your retirement 100% and no less before doing a college account. College is not for everyone and can be paid many different ways.

I agree with the emergency fund (although this should be funded well before considering children), life insurance and Will with guardianship.
Duncan Idaho
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10andBOUNCE said:

Make sure you have a solid term life insurance policy in place for you and your wife


That is gangster. Nothing helps grieving parents like an insurance check.
blumpkin
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appreciate the responses. it is a girl & im not a gun owner. yet.
GtownRAB
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Ragoo said:

GtownRAB said:

1) pull out 9 months ago if you like money

If that isn't an option:

1) look into a 529, never too early to start saving for colleges. People will chime in with their favorites

2) If you have an HSA, pump money into for tax savings and your wife and kid will have medical bills the next few years

3) re-evaluate monthly expenses to calculate a higher amount for a 6 month emergency fund you need to have on hand
do a 529 last. Fund your retirement 100% and no less before doing a college account. College is not for everyone and can be paid many different ways.

I agree with the emergency fund (although this should be funded well before considering children), life insurance and Will with guardianship.


Sorry I didn't clarify, the numbers were just to make it easy to read, not the order I would recommend them. I agree on taking care of retirement before 529.

I forgot life insurance and will, good advice on those.
CapCity12thMan
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I would take advantage of either an HSA or an FSA. Your visits to the doctor will be many, it's just the way it is.

Life insurance next

Fund retirement

If you have and want to put away for college feel free but I think most financial advisors would tell you to take care of yourself first. Worse case scenario your kid can get college loans. If you teach them well about money they hopefully won't be part of the college loan crisis and work through paying it off .
62strat
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CapCity12thMan said:

I would take advantage of either an HSA or an FSA. Your visits to the doctor will be many, it's just the way it is.

We have a 2 year old and 9 month old, and outside of their 3/6/9/12 etc month checkups (which don't cost anything with our insurance) we haven't had many Dr. visits. I wouldn't say it's just the way it is. God our friend's kids are 'sick' and going to dr. once a month it seems. I don't know the parents are just hypersensitive and bring the kids in for anything and everything or just genetics or what. Ours are in daycare, and yes they will immediately get sick when they start, but that seems to help in the long run, because ours aren't sick much once that initial shock to the system wears off.

Point is, make sure your plan isn't use it or lose it.. because you may not use it.

One thing that we definitely use is daycare pre tax, which you can do up to $5k per household. That's a guaranteed ~$1500 savings by paying $5k pre tax. Doesn't cover the year's worth of daycare of course, but it saves.

Absolutely get a term life insurance. If you died tomorrow, figure out how much money your wife and kids would need to be comfortable. That's 15-20 years of your income plus paying for college. You can adjust it accordingly over the years as your kids are older and the financial impact of your death is not as great.

Lots of people go the will route, but we opted for a trust. A bit more money now, but way easier on those who have to take your place if you and spouse are gone. They will have to make zero decisions. They just follow what's laid out in the trust.
O'Doyle Rules
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Problem this time around is that lib arts majors aren't getting jobs that pay.
CapCity12thMan
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one kid gave us more visits than the other - some early eczema issues and then allergies/asthma. This involves and allergist and an ENT. Both kids with tubes in their ears. The other kid never goes to the doctor, really unless its something unusual.

genetics - my wife and I had chronic ear infections as kids, so I guess this is where they got it.

We had an FSA account and it felt like we lived at Walgreens through the diaper years -always needing something, or more of this, refill of that - just daily use stuff...so in retrospect of my post - it wasn't just doctor visits, but the whole lot of trips/expenses in general for kids health and the FSA plan was good for that. Tough part was guessing at how much to put into it. Towards the end of the cycle, if we needed to "use it" - we just bough stuff we knew we would be using at somepoint.

We are by far not paranoid parents but also haven't been issue free with the kids - thankfully nothing serious.

Kids 9 and 7 now and we have been to the doctor only for checkups each of the last two years. Daycare definitely helped paved the way for this part of their life. It seemed though in the early years - stomach viruses got to them pretty regularly.
Football&Finance
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what was the process like transferring your home into the living trust? I would think it would be very complicated unless the property is free & clear of any liens.
Dr. Doctor
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If you are wanting to save money, look into Amazon Subscripe and save. It can be hard to time diapers, but we used nightime diapers. Eventually it was once a night; pretty easy to count and buy accordingly. Saved in 2 ways: 1) delivered and didn't have to worry about going to get them and 2) usually cheaper than Sam's/Costco if you are buying bulk.

This can be combined with wipes, DiaperGenie refills, etc.

~egon
62strat
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Football&Finance said:

what was the process like transferring your home into the living trust? I would think it would be very complicated unless the property is free & clear of any liens.

It was nothing at all. We signed and notarized the quitclaim deed, and the lawyer filed it with the county. A week or so later, she informed us the received the recorded deeds, and gave us a copy for our trust binder. Edit to add; We do not own the home outright, we have a loan.
62strat
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Dr. Doctor said:

If you are wanting to save money, look into Amazon Subscripe and save.

~egon
+1 on this.. but more importantly, bulk. Do no buy diapers in those 20 packs.. you are paying way too much. Same with wipes. Stores don't always have the real large packs, so go to amazon. Either way, but the biggest pack of whatever it is to get the cheapest unit price.

Amazon bulk for huggies is about $5-$10 less per box than babies r us. It's definitely the way to go. Spend the $100 on prime if you don't already have it.

Another option is target, if you have their red card (a debit or credit card), there is free shipping and subscribe savings.

On that note as well, don't be fooled into name brand formula. Baby formula is HIGHLY regulated, and it's all made in the same plant, and rebranded for similac, enfamil, and then the store brands (target, walmart, etc). Check the ingredients and the nutritional chart, they are exactly the same.

The target brand is HALF the price of similac/enfamil. Target brand is $23 for 40oz, or $.57/oz; Similac is $25 for 22 oz, or $1.13/oz.

And many times, target does buy 3 get $10.. so you get 3 40 oz containers for about $59, or $0.49/oz.


Ragoo
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62strat said:

Dr. Doctor said:

If you are wanting to save money, look into Amazon Subscripe and save.

~egon
+1 on this.. but more importantly, bulk. Do no buy diapers in those 20 packs.. you are paying way too much. Same with wipes. Stores don't always have the real large packs, so go to amazon. Either way, but the biggest pack of whatever it is to get the cheapest unit price.

Amazon bulk for huggies is about $5-$10 less per box than babies r us. It's definitely the way to go. Spend the $100 on prime if you don't already have it.

Another option is target, if you have their red card (a debit or credit card), there is free shipping and subscribe savings.

On that note as well, don't be fooled into name brand formula. Baby formula is HIGHLY regulated, and it's all made in the same plant, and rebranded for similac, enfamil, and then the store brands (target, walmart, etc). Check the ingredients and the nutritional chart, they are exactly the same.

The target brand is HALF the price of similac/enfamil. Target brand is $23 for 40oz, or $.57/oz; Similac is $25 for 22 oz, or $1.13/oz.

And many times, target does buy 3 get $10.. so you get 3 40 oz containers for about $59, or $0.49/oz.



any other money savings tips? we are about to have twins and my wife plans to breast feed but we may need to supplement with formula at times, won't know until we know.
Oh Four Five
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Ragoo said:

62strat said:

Dr. Doctor said:

If you are wanting to save money, look into Amazon Subscripe and save.

~egon
+1 on this.. but more importantly, bulk. Do no buy diapers in those 20 packs.. you are paying way too much. Same with wipes. Stores don't always have the real large packs, so go to amazon. Either way, but the biggest pack of whatever it is to get the cheapest unit price.

Amazon bulk for huggies is about $5-$10 less per box than babies r us. It's definitely the way to go. Spend the $100 on prime if you don't already have it.

Another option is target, if you have their red card (a debit or credit card), there is free shipping and subscribe savings.

On that note as well, don't be fooled into name brand formula. Baby formula is HIGHLY regulated, and it's all made in the same plant, and rebranded for similac, enfamil, and then the store brands (target, walmart, etc). Check the ingredients and the nutritional chart, they are exactly the same.

The target brand is HALF the price of similac/enfamil. Target brand is $23 for 40oz, or $.57/oz; Similac is $25 for 22 oz, or $1.13/oz.

And many times, target does buy 3 get $10.. so you get 3 40 oz containers for about $59, or $0.49/oz.



any other money savings tips? we are about to have twins and my wife plans to breast feed but we may need to supplement with formula at times, won't know until we know.
For twins... We got a good amount of stuff from Similac and Enfamil for free and some other toys/cups/coupons just from the companies in this link.
http://www.twiniversity.com/twiniversity-multiple-birth-discounts/

If you're buying two or more of the exact same larger item (car seat, crib, etc) at Babies R Us / Buy Buy Baby, you should be able to get a 10% discount in store by asking for the multiples discount.

For the general discussion... There's a lot of good advice in this thread. Emergency fund, life insurance, retirement, college in that order, IMO, and +1 on Amazon Prime / Amazon Family / Subscribe and Save.
62strat
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Ragoo said:

62strat said:

Dr. Doctor said:

If you are wanting to save money, look into Amazon Subscripe and save.

~egon
+1 on this.. but more importantly, bulk. Do no buy diapers in those 20 packs.. you are paying way too much. Same with wipes. Stores don't always have the real large packs, so go to amazon. Either way, but the biggest pack of whatever it is to get the cheapest unit price.

Amazon bulk for huggies is about $5-$10 less per box than babies r us. It's definitely the way to go. Spend the $100 on prime if you don't already have it.

Another option is target, if you have their red card (a debit or credit card), there is free shipping and subscribe savings.

On that note as well, don't be fooled into name brand formula. Baby formula is HIGHLY regulated, and it's all made in the same plant, and rebranded for similac, enfamil, and then the store brands (target, walmart, etc). Check the ingredients and the nutritional chart, they are exactly the same.

The target brand is HALF the price of similac/enfamil. Target brand is $23 for 40oz, or $.57/oz; Similac is $25 for 22 oz, or $1.13/oz.

And many times, target does buy 3 get $10.. so you get 3 40 oz containers for about $59, or $0.49/oz.



any other money savings tips? we are about to have twins and my wife plans to breast feed but we may need to supplement with formula at times, won't know until we know.
For large items, look out for clearance stuff. We scored a great deal on a double stroller (ours are 15 months apart).. it was normally like $300, this one was clearance for about $130.. the reason? It was an unpopular color.. it was green and grey. WGAS. Is blue and grey worth $170? Also I got a car seat, I think it was on woot actually, a groupon type deal site. It was like $100 off. Our most recent car seat (we have two for each child), we got used from a neighbor.. On to the next tip:

Def. consider used stuff. For our first, every thing was new.. stroller, jogger, bouncey, high chair, activity mat, pack n play, swing, car seat, bassinets.. etc.. everything. It adds up. It was easily $1500 or so for all the equipment that you buy. But after second child, somewhere along the way, my wife discovered varage sale and we had the epiphany that we can get so much of this at a huge discount and some of it is in brand new condition, and we wished we would had done so for many of the things I listed above. Varagesale is an online 'virtual garage' sale that you sign up for with your address, so it's just people in your community. Our town's (60K people) site has tons of traffic, probably 100 posts a day across all categories, with a lot of it in kids. Since then, everything has been used.. big wheels, outside play set, chairs, booster seat, radio flyer wagon, trikes, baby holder things that go on your back to carry baby, and that car seat I mentioned earlier?? $20. It was good condition, and still has 4 years until expire (all seats have a date, check it if buying used). Most of this stuff we are getting at about 80-90% off new price (we got a $450 battery powered Jeep car for free). Huge savings if you can get past the 'used' stigma. At the end of the day, the 1 year old doesn't know or care.. it's strictly how you feel about it.


*On car seat topics, buy the 'forever' type seats.. they convert between rear facing, forward facing, booster, etc.. until the child no longer needs it. One $250-$300 purchase and you're done. If you buy a detachable cradle type one, yes it's easier because you can leave baby in it and take the whole seat.. but you have to buy a new seat at about a year old that is for toddlers, and then if you don't buy for ever, you are buying a booster in a few more years.. so you've spent a lot more money. The cradle ones and boosters are $100+, so not cheap.

*Basic stroller vs. high dollar jogger.. now, we got the $350 big ass jogger with 12" wheels and shocks and all that. We have actually used it on trails where a basic stroller would not have worked, but it sure does hang on the wall in the garage a lot. So just know that a basic stroller, or even the slightly beefed up ones, will work 90% of the time. You are not going to want to lug around the $350 jogger to the store (especially a double one), or visiting friends/family, going to the dr., etc. For our second one we use the $15 umbrella stroller that we never thought we'd use. We got it about month 4 of the first when we realized we really needed to get one.
I'd honestly recommend getting two singles instead of the double.. we don't take the double anywhere, it's way too bulky and hard to navigate inside stores or restaurants. Wife and I can each carry one child and an umbrella if need be.. can't do that with a double, it's really hard to carry. We use the double for neighborhood walk, and that's it.
Now I know that mom looks great in her lulu lemons pushing that $450 BOB with baby in tow while walking around the neighborhood... But you do not NEED it if you are walking on concrete. If you plan to be adventurous and do some off concrete walking/hiking, or if wife or you are currently regular runners, then by all means, get it. Something to consider getting used though.

Babies R Us; they are very discount friendly. If you get their credit card, on thursdays, your whole purchase is 10% off. They regularly send 15-20% off one item coupons in the mail.. you can combine that for quite a discount. When we bought furniture, we literally went in 4 different times over about 6-8 weeks on a thursday to buy each piece separate. Saved us several hundred dollars.

As I mentioned above, target often does buy X get $XX for many of its products. If you shop there, look for those, and buy the bulk to get the discount.


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