What to Financially Expect: After Your Child Arrives

Has your child arrived already? This is certainly a special time for you and your partner. Our previous Tip Tuesday blog focused on what to expect when you’re expecting a child. The important financial aspects of life were covered and discussed on how they could be reached realistically. Yet, although you prepared well before your child was born, now that your bundle of joy is here, there are financial aspects that you need to focus on from here moving forward. So let us examine some main financial things you should consider after you have your child.

Know Your New Expenses

Although you should have updated your budget before your child arrived, it can sometimes take time to fully estimate the nature of your new expenses. Most of these expenses, such as baby supplies and necessities, will be continually made. This newfound amount of costs can make an impact on your lifestyle. Yet by having an updated budget, you should be able to track your expenses steadily.

Life Insurance

This is one of the first things you should do once your baby is born. Now you may be thinking, ‘why does my newborn child need life insurance? That is an understandable question since none of us want to think about the worst. Yet, in the worse case of an event occurring, having life insurance can drastically reduce the funeral costs.

Adjust Your Will

Once you have a child, this most likely is the last thing you want to think about. Yet ensuring that you adjust your will is vital to ensure it is updated. The sooner you get this done, the less you have gnawing on your mind. When you update your will, you want to consider your wants with your spouse. By speaking together and thoroughly analyzing your financial assets, you can make a sound decision on how you are writing your will. Then, after it is rewritten, make sure that you sign with two witnesses to legalize it.

Child Care

After your child is born, you most likely may have some time off work. While it is nice to enjoy your time with your child, it is wise to start looking into childcare now. It can take weeks to get accepted into a child care centre, let alone even find a location that seems appealing to you and that is in close proximity to you. The sooner you start looking into child care for your baby, the less stress you will have when it is time for you to return to work. Not only this, you could save money by doing thorough research into all options available.

Keep Saving

Some new parents make the mistake of taking a break from putting money into their savings accounts. They could reason that the newborn child is making it tighter to save. No matter the reason, you should always keep saving, especially after a newborn baby. Your expenses may be tight, yet if you stop saving, if there ever were a financial emergency, you would be in quite a difficult situation. Although your saving amount might be lower, you can ensure the wellness of your finances for your child by adding a small amount to your accounts each month.

After your child is born, although as tiring as it is, you must take the time to analyze your finances. Then, when you are prepared and expect all financial aspects after your baby arrives, you can stay financially stable.

Sources

-Government of Canada (2022). Financial Checklist When Having Children. Retrieved from

https://www.canada.ca/en/financial-consumer-agency/services/starting-family/financial-checklists-children.html

-Renter, Elizabeth (2019). Preparing For a Baby? Tackle These 15 Financial Tasks. Nerd Wallet. Retrieved from https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/health/prepare-finances-for-new-baby