jjquantz
Full time employment: Posting here.
The thread on "most important financial decision" seems to have devolved into a "no kids" vs. kids debate. I would like to hear stories about your experiences with having made the choice to have kids. How have you seen the financial impact of having kids early in life as opposed to later?
My wife and I had kids very early, I was 23 and she was 22 when DD1 was born. DD2 followed just under 4 years later. In our experience, having kids early tended to push us into a more frugal mindset than we would have had if we were childless. That frugalness then resulted in the ability to save large chunks of our income when the kids left home and our incomes increased. Of course, it is difficult to tell if the frugality might have been there anyway.
We have noticed many of our peers and near peers having their first offspring in their 40's and it does seem that this makes it more difficult for them to act frugally. They have money and aren't afraid of spending it on the kids. Not being in their shoes, I don't know how I would react, but DW and I are convinced that we would not be in the financial position that we are had we delayed child-rearing for 15-20 years.
Anyone have a story illustrating the opposite?
My wife and I had kids very early, I was 23 and she was 22 when DD1 was born. DD2 followed just under 4 years later. In our experience, having kids early tended to push us into a more frugal mindset than we would have had if we were childless. That frugalness then resulted in the ability to save large chunks of our income when the kids left home and our incomes increased. Of course, it is difficult to tell if the frugality might have been there anyway.
We have noticed many of our peers and near peers having their first offspring in their 40's and it does seem that this makes it more difficult for them to act frugally. They have money and aren't afraid of spending it on the kids. Not being in their shoes, I don't know how I would react, but DW and I are convinced that we would not be in the financial position that we are had we delayed child-rearing for 15-20 years.
Anyone have a story illustrating the opposite?