The $204,000 Question
Are you ever financially ready to have a baby?
by Jeanne Sager
June 23, 2009
2. CHECK YOUR CREDIT SCORES
Whoever takes the lead in finance for the couple can take the lead in the family finance discussions too, starting by pulling up each partner's credit report to get a good accounting of their financial situation. The report — available free yearly via AnnualCreditReport.com thanks to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act — will show you how fit you seem to the financial world. Fiancial advisors like Suze Orman can provide you with strategies for upping your FICO score even if you don't raise your income. (These include paying bills on time, raising the ratio of credit to debt, paying off high-APR credit cards, and fixing errors on your report.)
3. ESTIMATE YOUR POST-BABY INCOME
Meanwhile, Lucy Duni, vice president of consumer education for TrueCredit.com by TransUnion, calls for every couple to draw up a budget. "Everyone has the 'nice to haves' and the 'have to haves,'" she explains. "Start with the nice-to-haves and see if you can go without." If you are considering living on one income after the baby comes, try living on one income before pregnancy to see if it's feasible. Set aside that second income in a savings account. Financial experts advise every American have at least three to six months living expenses in a separate savings account at any given time in case of job loss or other emergency, but a Bankrate survey showed fewer than four in ten do. Now's the time to make that happen, Duni says, and ideally to add an extra cushion for family emergencies.
Try living on one income before pregnancy.
4. RESEARCH YOUR EMPLOYERS' FAMILY LEAVE POLICIES
Now's also the time to find out what employers offer during a maternity or paternity leave — even if both parents plan to return to work after the baby is born. The Family Medical Leave Act requires parents be granted up to twelve weeks leave without risk of losing their jobs, but there is no requirement that they receive a paycheck during those twelve weeks. Some businesses provide a disability benefit, but even that is well below the average salary.
©2009 Jeanne Sager and Babble
About the Author
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Jeanne Sager is a freelance writer and photographer living in upstate New York with her husband and daughter, Jillian. She maintains a blog of her award-winning columns at jeannesager.blogspot.com. |
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