Stressed About How You and Your Partner Are Going to Pay for a Baby? Here's Our How To Guide
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There’s so much excitement wrapped up in preparing for a newborn baby. Your life will never be the same - and neither will your wallet. It’s important to start preparing financially for a baby as early as possible so that you can set you & your baby’s future up for success.
Here are some tasks you may want to consider doing to prepare for welcoming a newborn into your family:
Pre-delivery Planning
Before your newborn arrives, you’ll want to start planning for the added financial costs that will come with the addition of an extra family member. Here are a few tasks you’ll want to consider:
Understand what your health insurance covers & anticipated costs.
Even if you have health insurance, the medical costs of having a child can be expensive. It’s important to plan for these costs early on in the pregnancy so that you can forecast how much you’ll need to budget for prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care.Plan for maternity/paternity leave.
Will you and your partner (if applicable) receive paid leave? And if not, how will this affect your bottom line? Accounting for changes in household income will help you determine how much you have to alot towards budgets.Prepare a pre-baby monthly budget (diaper bag, stroller, etc.)
Have you considered all the additional items you’ll need to purchase for your newborn? Extra expenses like strollers, diaper bags, baby clothes, and more can add up, so you’ll want to estimate how much you can expect to spend on these items pre-baby. To save costs, you may want to consider buying items second-hand - especially for items such as baby clothes, that will be grown out of quickly in the first few months of the baby’s life.Plan your post-delivery budget (food, diapers, checkups, clothing (how quickly they will grow out of their clothes), baby food, etc.)
In addition to your pre-baby budget, you’ll want to consider the recurring, long-term costs post-baby. These may include expenses such as diapers, baby food, and the cost of childcare.Choose a pediatrician within your insurance network.
Your baby will need ongoing pediatric care once born, so it’s important to consider pediatricians that will be covered by your health insurance network so that you can avoid steep out-of-pocket costs for routine medical care. Once you’ve selected a provider, you should be able to estimate how much you’ll spend on pediatric care each month by factoring in co-pay expenses.Ensure you have ample funds at ready in your emergency fund.
You never know when an accident will happen, especially with kids. Make sure you have ample funds stocked away in your “rainy day fund” for use in emergencies.
Post-delivery Financial Tasks
Once your baby has been delivered, there are a number of financial tasks you’ll want to begin tackling. Some will need to be addressed within the first month post-delivery, and others can be addressed throughout your child’s life. Regardless, make sure to add the following to your baby-budgeting to-do list:
Obtaining birth certificate and social security number from the county.
Before you’ve even left the hospital post-delivery, talk with the hospital staff about obtaining the necessary paperwork for your child’s SSN and birth certificate. Alternatively, you can contact your state’s office of vital records for the birth certificate and a local Social Security office to obtain a SSN for your child.Add your child to your health insurance.
As simple as this task may seem, it’s important to remember to add your child to your insurance plan within the first 30 days of birth. Doing so will ensure that you don’t find yourself with a sick baby and no coverage.Consider a life insurance policy on your child.
While life insurance isn’t typically something many consider until later in life, you may want to think about creating a policy for your child. Rates for children are normally fairly low and can protect your family financially should an unexpected tragedy occur.Begin planning for childcare.
The cost of childcare can often be one of the most expensive costs of having a baby, so it’s important to start planning early. Additionally, finding the right babysitter, nanny, or daycare to care for your child can take weeks - sometimes months - to do. The sooner you start planning for childcare and its associated costs, the better.Begin saving for their education.
It’s never too soon to start saving for your child’s education. The cost of higher education has grown astronomically over the years, and the earlier you start planning for the costs of your child’s college the more easily you can take small steps towards saving for it. Prioritize your other financial obligations first and consider allocating some of the remaining funds towards saving for your child’s future.Add them as beneficiaries on your will/life insurance policies.
While no one wants to think about the possibility of a tragedy occurring, it's important to build plans in the event that something should happen to you and your partner (if applicable) so that your child is well taken care of. Consider choosing a designated guardian and how you may want to divide up your estate.
Are you and your partner (if applicable) trying to conceive or expecting a child? The Cincinnati Birth center offers no-cost, one-on-one fertility consultations to help you prepare for your family planning journey in addition to a range of birthing services. Contact us to learn more about how you can schedule a consultation with one of our team member’s.
