In our previous piece in this series, we went over how a fee-only financial planner can help you when you get married. Another stage of life that a financial planner can help you through is when you start a family. When starting a family, we review your cash flow, plan for college education funding, complete a disability and life insurance review, and make sure your estate plan is complete.
When starting a family, your cash flow is going to start looking a little different! Monthly expenses are going to include things like diapers, wipes, and baby food. With expenses going up, your cash flow may become a little tighter. We will work with you to strategize a new budget considering all of these new expenses.
Another thing to consider once having children, is college funding. College tuition is expensive, and it’s only going to get more expensive as time goes on. While it may be hard to set money aside so early for something so far into the future, it pays off in the long run. We will look into different investment vehicles for college education savings such as 529 Plans or UGMAs and see which fits best for your situation.
Now that you have dependents other than your spouse relying on you for support, taking another look at your life insurance and disability insurance needs is very important. Life insurance is to replace your income for your dependents if you pass away and disability insurance provides income in case you are unable to work due to a disability. Protecting your loved ones in both of these situations is an important consideration.
Having children brings about a need to update your estate plan. Most importantly, your attorney will need to add guardianship provisions. These provisions are in place so that in case something happens to both of you, you can choose who takes care of your children rather than the courts deciding for you.
If you have any questions about how we can help you during your stage of life, please feel free to reach out to us! This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized advice, and we suggest you discuss your specific situation with a qualified financial advisor.
