Consider Your Financial Situation When Starting A Family

Life Stages Blog Post Four

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

There’s no “one-size-fits-all” handbook when it comes to parenting or starting a family. As nice as it would be to have all of the instructions laid out in front of you, the reality is that parenting is a learned experience over time characterized by mistakes, successes, laughter, tears, growth, and overwhelming pride. If you’ve been married recently, we’re guessing that you and your new spouse have been asked the question: “When are you going to have your first kid?”

Our Job Is to Help You and Your New Family Succeed

For some, that question is terrifying while for others the same question brings about feelings of excitement and anxiousness. In any case, if you and your spouse are planning on starting a family, we’d like to congratulate you ahead of time — and, as it’s more pertinent to our role as your local Community Bank in Rock Springs — help you identify and troubleshoot the financial planning aspect of raising a family. After all, everyone knows that having children is not a cheap affair!

When you work with Commerce Bank of Wyoming, we’ll help you grasp the answers that you’re looking for to these types of questions that many parent-to-be couples think about:

What is the average cost of raising a kid?
What are the average medical costs of delivering a baby?
How do I navigate the logistics of maternity or paternity leave?
When can I start saving for my child’s education?
What should I buy and what can I budget for before my child is born?

Of course, the answers to these important financial questions depend on your individual life situation. We’re here to help you consider how you’ll need to manage your finances from here on out and prompt stimulating thoughts that you can discuss with our friendly team of Community Bankers and Lending Professionals. From there, we’ll make sure that we’re on the same page and that you’re financially ready to start a family. It’s all part of our dedication to the Rock Springs community here at Commerce Bank of Wyoming!

Below, you’ll find a few important aspects to think about before you talk to one of our team members.

Review Your Insurance Situation

Hospital deliveries, while standard, are extremely expensive with or without a good health insurance policy. However, a good policy will certainly help offset the costs of prenatal care, delivery, follow-up appointments, and so forth. Talk with your health insurance provider about your coming situation and make any adjustments to your policy as necessary.

Talk to Your Employer Beforehand

Surprising your employers with “We have a baby!” isn’t very responsible in terms of working out maternity or paternity leave logistics. The more notice you give your employer about your coming baby, the better. Even more important is the fact that determining your pay (or lack thereof) during this time period, and the length of the time period, will help you effectively budget before, during and after the pregnancy.

Create Multiple Budgets

All budgets are not created equal. By this, we mean that there are many different expenses and variables associated with starting a family such as birthing environments, midwife options, retrofitting an existing room in your house, moving into a new place in anticipation of your child, and so forth. In any case, know that your buying priorities will completely shift from “What do we want?” to “What does the baby need?” You’ll have to get used to this mindset, but you’ll have our help with effectively managing your money with respect to your new family member.

Find a Pediatrician That You Know and Trust Ahead of Time

All too often, new parents scramble to find a good doctor to oversee their newborn’s health. To alleviate post-delivery stress, knowing that you’ve already made contact with a reputable pediatrician is a stress reliever that’s worth its weight in gold. From a financial standpoint, your provider should be covered under your health insurance policy and you should know exactly how much co-pays or your monthly payments cost.

Saving, Saving, Saving

Start a “rainy day” fund. Create multiple savings accounts with our Community Bank: one for the baby, one for personal savings, and one for emergencies. You have a family now (or you will soon), and you’ll want to do everything in your power to make sure that you have plenty of money to care for them.

Adjust Your Beneficiaries and Will Post-Delivery

We recommend adding your child as a beneficiary to your life insurance policy as well as your 401(k) or IRAs. Additionally, incorporate your baby into your will. Yes, these are morbid affairs that you don’t want to think about, but think of this from a peace of mind perspective knowing that everything is accounted for.