Except for the fact that people who have not had any kids are not speaking from experience. Us who have, did not have kids at one time so generally remember that part of our lives.
My 2 kids (16 & 13) are the best parts of my full life. We are a very close family and the best parts of my day is at the dinner table when we all get to talk about our days. We have traveled extensively together since they were very young and continue to. I can't imagine going somewhere without them. It's the best and we all look forward to it twice a year. Both are great people, smart, funny, confident, athletic and they add so much to my life.
I occasionally have a weird dream (or perhaps a strange nightmare) where I am kinda back to square one...no wife and kids, but the same age and still retain all my worldly goods. It's a huge empty feeling!
So sure if you don't have kids you'll have more money and time...but to do what? Hobbies?!
E86S54
BTW...I'm in my mid-40's and plan to retire in a couple of years...to spend more time with my family.
With all due respect, your post was very insulting to us childfree people.
Your post was a good example of we in the childfree world describe as getting “bingoed”. It is typical of many childed people to stereotype childfree people as having empty lives.
What E86S54 fails to realize is that not everyone wants to have children. Childfree people like me see no positives to having children of our own, only negatives. Childfree people like me are also quite capable of having positive experiences with children without finding it necessary to have them. This is evident by the volunteer work I do as part of the school Scrabble program. That's a hobby, something I treasure a lot. [I have had nightmares about discovering I DID have kids and how awful my life would become. Good-bye to all things I enjoyed having by being childfree.]
We childfree people know in advance that we don’t want to see our finances worsened by having kids. We treasure our peace and quiet and don’t want to see that ruined by having kids. We know in advance that we don’t want to be surrounded by stinky diapers for several years.
Do people have to go skiing in order to know they don’t want to buy skis?
Do people have to buy old coins to know they don’t want to be coin collectors?
Do people have to buy houses to know they don’t want to live in houses?
These are all simple examples of lifestyle choices which people don’t make because they know in advance they don’t want to have. It is no different with having children.
But with children, once you have them, you can’t give them back if you end up not liking them. That is why it is extremely important to know in advance that you don’t want to have them. Remember that Ann Landers survey back in the 1970s in which 70% of the respondents wrote to tell how if they had to “do it over again, they would not have have kids?”
I hope you are able to retire in a few more years and enjoy spending more time with your family. Can you do that without belittling the choices we childfree made to also retire early?