How much do children cost?

[Charlotte]

Anyone price orthodontists lately?

Ha

I have a friend who just took her 11-year-old in to get fitted. The estimate for the 2-3 year process is ~$7000 (assuming all goes well, of course) and their dental insurance will pick up about $1000 of that total.

Charlotte

 

[Khan]

Anyone price orthodontists lately?

As a total outsider, I have a question.

What per cent or children are having orthodontic work?

Anecdotally, it seems just about all of coworkers' children were.

 

[Gone4Good]

2 decades.

 

[haha]

As a total outsider, I have a question.

What per cent or children are having orthodontic work?

Anecdotally, it seems just about all of coworkers' children were.

I don't know. My wife had it, I didn't. Both my kids did. Like you, it seemed to me that >50 of % children wind up getting this. I believe it is much less common in the UK, which is known as a nation with crooked teeth.

Ha

 

[FinallyRetired]

In many areas of the country you would likely not want your child to attend public school. I would not want a child or grandchild of mine to attend public school in Seattle for example. In our state test results have been published for school districts and individual schools. A perusal of these makes it clear that only a few well off suburban districts teach their students anything much.
...

Anyone price orthodontists lately?

This is an example of why my response was, how much do you have and multiply by 110%. We raised three kids and God blessed us with lovable kids (most of the time) who behaved well (most of the time) and stayed away from drugs or other harmful things. We loved them when the were kids and still love them now that they are grown. But as far as cost, I don't think we could ever stick to a budget because there was always something else we wanted for them, maybe a private school, maybe special books, toys, etc. Seems we were always about 10% or so above what we thought we wanted to spend. Granted, if we had less we would have spent less, if we had more we would have spent more, but I think we would have always spent just a little more than we thought we could afford. Was it worth it? Yeah, I think so.

 

[Darryl]

50% of the children at my house are having orthodontics this year. I'll know for sure in a few weeks but the guesstimate for 2007 was $3,000. Insurance will pay ZERO.
Put $2,000 in a limited flex spend acct and I'll pay the rest from HSA money so we can move right through that one. Always hate to hear peers talking about their payment plan for the orthodontist.

 

[Nords]

And for all means if you aren't having kids, take advantage of the situation and blow lots of money on fun things like really nice vacations.
being childless you really can't imagine the freedom you have compared to having children, so my take is that you should take advantage of it. Take a 2 week scuba-every-day vacation to the cayman islands. Go to Hawaii several times.

My BIL and his spouse (both earning good incomes) shamelessly spoil their niece.

He's thinking age 55 for his ER, when her pension kicks in with medical benefits. Until then it's Las Vegas, Ocean City, Atlantic City, Branson, you name it.

What per cent or children are having orthodontic work?
Anecdotally, it seems just about all of coworkers' children were.

In what must be an amazing coincidence, at least 100% of the kids referred to orthodontists need orthodontia.

The rest of them get it when they're grownups...

 

[W2R]

As a total outsider, I have a question.

What per cent or children are having orthodontic work?

Anecdotally, it seems just about all of coworkers' children were.

My daughter (now 29) didn't have any orthodontic work. Her upper teeth came in perfectly straight, and her lower teeth were slightly crooked. Her dentist said that they weren't severely crooked and she didn't really need an orthodontist for dental health, but that if she wanted one he would refer her.

We decided not to do it. That didn't go over too well with her (to put it mildly), but it wasn't her decision.

 

[jazz4cash]

Disclaimer: I have not read every post to this thread

Question: How much do children cost?\

Answer: It depends..............especially on your location

A pet peeve of mine with this otherwise awesome board is that folks rarely identify thier location and it makes a huge difference when subjects such as this are brough up. Having moved from Indiana to Maryland I can attest there is a significant difference in cost of living in various areas of the country that translates most specifically to taxes, food and housing. When we lived in Indiana and traveled "back home" to the DC area with infants, we brought all diapers and formula with us. I cried when the kids graduated from formula to milk. So, I would say..........it depends alot on your location.

 

[Nords]

A pet peeve of mine with this otherwise awesome board is that folks rarely identify thier location and it makes a huge difference when subjects such as this are brough up.

People are generally hesitant to post personal details like that on a discussion board where they could show up in Google or other search engines, but you may find their location in their profiles (which don't show up in Google).

 

[MMM]

Absolutly nothing as long as they belong to someone else.

 

[BUM]

According to recent studies, our children are doing so poorly in school that employers are taking action overseas and domestically. I guess that means the younger generation costs more and is worth less

 

[PatrickA5]

Kids cost a fortune, but are worth every penny. My 3 kids are pretty much my wife and I's entertainment in that we spend most of our time doing things with the kids and going to kids events. I'm not sure what we'd be doing without them, but someday I guess we'll find out.

My best guess is we spend 30K - 40K total per year on our 3 kids (not including college). According to Quicken, we have spent a total of $11,377.78 on our kids in a little over 4 months (excluding college). This is for a 19yo, 16yo and 9yo. We spend a lot more than some parents we know. We also spend a lot less than others.

My 19yo college runs right at 17K per year (state college - mid-America). So, including college expense, we're looking at probably 50K per year for all three.

My guess is I would be easily retired by now without kids (48 years old). I plan on retiring at 58, so I guess that means my kids cost me 10 years of retirement. Worth every minute.

 

[brownds]

I just returned from the orthodontist today with my 15 year old. Cost of two or two and a half years of orthodontics = $5,250.00

ouch!!!

Just one more thing to ponder.........