I'm just wondering, is there any rule of thumb to estimate how much a child will cost, as a portion of your income?
I know there are general rules like, rent/mortgage should remain less than 1/3 of your gross income, but is there any such thoughts on costs of children?
I have diligently saved for about 10 years now, and am starting to get that "baby fever" at age 32 (wife is 30). Without children, i estimate I can retire by 50. But I have no idea how it affects the budget to have 1 or 2 children.
I realize this can stretch from having a child in public school, state college, cheaper after school activities like public sports, etc, all the way to private schools and ivy league college educations, but I assume there is probably an average somewhere.
If it is up to me, it is public school and state college (unless they can work through college like I did, or get loans to upgrade the college experience). But, it is very hard to estimate a budget when you have this big variable expense in the near future.
I guess I just wanna estimate when I can ER, with or without kiddies
I know there are general rules like, rent/mortgage should remain less than 1/3 of your gross income, but is there any such thoughts on costs of children?
I have diligently saved for about 10 years now, and am starting to get that "baby fever" at age 32 (wife is 30). Without children, i estimate I can retire by 50. But I have no idea how it affects the budget to have 1 or 2 children.
I realize this can stretch from having a child in public school, state college, cheaper after school activities like public sports, etc, all the way to private schools and ivy league college educations, but I assume there is probably an average somewhere.
If it is up to me, it is public school and state college (unless they can work through college like I did, or get loans to upgrade the college experience). But, it is very hard to estimate a budget when you have this big variable expense in the near future.
I guess I just wanna estimate when I can ER, with or without kiddies