First Child - Planning for Future

[RS_Non-Res]

I've been told that my primary responsibility as a parent is to preserve my child's innocence.

 

[roadrunner]

If I could speak to my younger self here:

Work on patience as your wife and kids will need that from you.

Don’t miss out on the kids events. Years down the road your employer will not remember the sacrifices you made for them, but your kids will remember you not being there.

Teach them good morals and how to be a good person and friend. Too many put academics first.

I read somewhere the best thing you can do is build a child’s self confidence and self worth. Lots of truth there.

If your state has it buy them a lifetime hunting licenses as soon as your able.

Spend as much time with them as you can while you are still cool to them.

Take them to see grandparents often. They will be gone too soon.

Take a good family vacation every year.

Get them a camera. Life through the lens of a kids eye view makes for great photos and memories.


Take them hunting every chance you get and take advantage of the reduced costs youth tags.


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All of this, especially the employer part. That's why a job never comes first.

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

Financial advisor here. If you want to do the Roth IRA, have an accountant sign off on an LLC (limited liability corporation) for you and/or the wife for some side business. Have the kid "model" for the website or something and pay them (again with a CPA's blessing). You can put all that income into a Roth IRA up to the IRS limits in the Roth. I've see it done personally. The ROTH has many more benefits than the 529. And there's nothing saying you can't do both if you have the assets, better yet...let the grandparents, aunts and uncles fund the 529.

Oh and the cost that's often quoted in financial circles to get a kid to 18 (no college) is around $250k.

Thank God for informed advice.

 

[HeavyAssault]

It's pretty simple. Buy the biggest gun safe you can afford. Fill it with memories and love.

 

[Fullfan]

Tried that when my kids were first born. Lost so much when that clown OBoma was in there. I was doing 250.00 a week, 25 years later ended up w around 220k.

Best thing you can do for your kids, give them a two parent home. Meaning stay married, make your kids your top priority.

Children become a product of their environment.
And they grow up way to fast, enjoy every second.

 

[Gwchem]

My state gives a good tax break for 529 plans, so I'm dumping lots into those.

Buy them each a few AR-15 lowers. Just in case.

Enjoy the ride. Not much else needs to be purchased or planned, in my experience. Try not to spend a lot on clothes or toys. Consignment sales and hand-me-downs are your friends.

And congratulations!

 

[30338]

Three things, one of which has been mentioned. Buy term life insurance(outside of any work policies) for 10x your earnings. If you are young, buy a 30 year policy and never let it lapse.

Second, get a will drawn up by an attorney in your state, or use one of the online services. Either way, get a will setup.

And third, keep any electronics such as cell phones and video games away from them for as long as you possibly can. I've seen so many kids wrecked by excessive screen time. Best of luck. I raised mine starting in the early 90s and it sure as heck is going to be harder these days. Explore home school or private school options as well. I've got 2 great kids and its a wonderful life. So many shared adventures over the years.

 

[Gman12]

I have a 529 college savings plan for my two kids. It will come in handy in a few years when they go to college. I also opened each of them a mutual fund when they were very young. I add a little to it each year. My intention is for this money to be used as a down payment one day for their first house. Over the course of 25 years it could be a substantial amount of money.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

Provide a stable home. It doesn't need to be a big house full of nice things.

Provide consistency in showing love and discipline.

Love their mama.

Get term life insurance.

Save money.

Kids don't cost anywhere near a million bucks unless your including sending them to an Ivy league school plus some.

 

[kcruz]

I cant say a whole lot to this since my son isn't quite a year old yet, but here are a few things that have already been mentioned by others that I think are good points.

The 529 is a great way to get some money into an account for college. We opened ours as soon as we got his SSN.

I opened a high yield savings account for my son as well that I direct deposit money into with each pay check. Its not much and the interest rate isn't really "high", but it was one of the easier ways to set up an account that everyone can put money into. If we don't touch it then by the time he needs a car it should be a pretty good amount of money.

Make sure you update/get life insurance to cover them if something happens. Personally I would stick with term, but I know a lot of the older generation grew up investing in life so just look into both options.

If your job offers a disability plan absolutely pay the extra money for it. Every place is different, but if something were to happen to you and you weren't able to work it would be nice to have the income still flowing in while you got back on your feet. I work in the steel industry and have seen this help multiple people across the company.

Get a will and talk to them about setting up a trust as well.

Most importantly just spend time with them. I had a hard time with a work life balance at first. I ended up sitting down with my boss and telling them that I would do what I could and needed, but ultimately my family comes first and so the late nights at the office cut down drastically.

 

[PNW bow hunter]

It sounds like your question is geared more towards financial advice.

I have a two year old. So have been thinking about this stuf a lot for the last few years.

A 529 plan is probably #1 right out of the gate. My wife and I both work full time. I had her setup a 529 through our state sponsored plan she puts $250 per month into that automatically comes out of her account. I set up a Vangaurd 529 plan that $250 per month automatically comes out of my account. SET THIS UP THE FIRST DAY IT IS AVAILABLE. College is estimated to cost over $200k for the in state public college 16 years from now. The $500 per month we put in SHOULD cover that.

In my wife’s families culture, the kids get money from everyone on lots of different holidays from the day they are born. I set up a high yield savings account at first to save it all for her. I set her up a treasury account earlier this year and bought her i bonds that paid 9.62 percent interest at the time of purchase. Today the rate dropped to 6.89, still very high. I set her account up under my own. Tuff to beat that rate.

I’ve always been big on budgeting and saving. Since we had our daughter I have shifted a little bit to trying to balance that and living everyday like it could be the last. With both of us working full time, and living well below our means we have upped what we spend on vacations. Probably at least every few months we do a family trip to the beach or mountains since my daughter was 3 months old. Hotels and going out to eat is expensive. On all of these trips we plan hikes, fishing trips, bike rides ect. It has been an added expense, but I can honestly say all the memories we have made have been priceless.

 

[orhunter1]

Agreed. Patience, patience, and more patience. Love, love, and more love. Time, time, and more time. It is simple but far from easy! With that they’ll be well suited to take care of their own finances when the time comes.

^^ This. As simple as it is written. I consider this one is a profound advice.

I quit my job to take a mental break from burnout and care for my 4 month old son. Made me realize I have plenty of work todo in the patience Department.

 

[orhunter1]

Save your money.
Recently there was a news article that said you need $1 million per child until they are 18.

here is a calculator based on income tiers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/cost-raising-child-calculator/

 

[cnelk]

A lot of it depends on what your pay for child care.

Some places are extremely expensive - like $60/day/child.

Both parents work with 1 kids = $15,000yr (with 2 weeks of vacation factored)

Multiply that by 4 years per child = $60,000 - JUST FOR CHILD CARE.

Now all the stay at home / work from home Dads & Moms can greatly reduce the costs, and the WaPo link above isn’t even close to the costs.
Hell, it says $17,000 / yr - TOTAL

So many variables.

You’ll get back what you put in when raising kids.

I’ve never regretted what I spent on my kids. It may have well been $1 million.

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

529s for each child
Synovus/Stock accounts for each as they've been gifted stock
wife and I each have term and whole life plans.
All of the above is good advice I have to remember too.

Almost 4 year old has been challenging this year with ear/tonsil issues, she skipped the terrible twos and went to being a threenager! Had her tonsils/adnoids out last Tuesday and has been rough the last week. Always catch myself in need to remember to show her grace. She's taller and smarter than most 5-6 year olds, but I always forget that she's not even 4.

Little man is great! He just bebops around, started crawling, etc.

 

[HuntHarder]

A lot of it depends on what your pay for child care.

Some places are extremely expensive - like $60/day/child.

Both parents work with 1 kids = $15,000yr (with 2 weeks of vacation factored)

Multiply that by 4 years per child = $60,000 - JUST FOR CHILD CARE.

Now all the stay at home / work from home Dads & Moms can greatly reduce the costs, and the WaPo link above isn’t even close to the costs.
Hell, it says $17,000 / yr - TOTAL

So many variables.

You’ll get back what you put in when raising kids.

I’ve never regretted what I spent on my kids. It may have well been $1 million.

I like how you are not folding on that million a kid. Lol. Way to stick to your guns, Do you wanna be my kids God parents?, sounds like they will be well taken care of.

 

[cnelk]

I like how you are not folding on that million a kid. Lol. Way to stick to your guns, Do you wanna be my kids God parents?, sounds like they will be well taken care of.

Hard pass.

I got a granddaughter to spend my money on now.

 

[Green Bullet]

Life insurance, max out your investment vehicles first (401k, IRAs), have a will and trust. Eliminate all debt as quickly as possible (esp credit cards).

 

[Elite7]

Congratulations! A lot of good advise already posted on here. I remember during our first baptism my pastor pulled me aside and said that if he could give one but if advise that it would be hire a cleaning lady for my wife. At the time I thought it was a weird thing to mention but after 4 years and two kids, we do have someone come twice a month to help out. I understand his advice now.

If both parents are working full time jobs, it’s a chore to keep everything going smoothly and you don’t want to waste precious weekends doing things that you wouldn’t have to be doing. Financially if you are able I suggest looking things that will help make memories and free up your family time to relieve stress. I would also look at your hobbies or projects and see if anything can be dropped while you have little ones.

My last bit of advise is to make sure you and the wife schedule a date night once a week or twice a month if possible. It’s easy to not work your marriage when the little ones take up all of your time.

 

[Wvroach]

I may have overlooked it but get them lifetime hunting/fishing licenses if they are offered in your state, and any future states you move to. They are often heavily discounted for infants-under 6 years old.