All tagged mommymoney
A stay-at-home mom is a working mom.
Based on an analysis by salary.com, the annual salary of a stay-at-home mom post-pandemic was $184,820. Unfortunately, the reality is that no matter how much these figures have risen over time, stay-at-home moms do not see a single cent of this salary. Before you become someone else’s caretaker, set money aside for the sole reason to have it as a cushion for when and if you decide to leave the workforce to care for others.
“Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future.” - Maria Montessori
With our little girl turning 1, I thought I would share some of the books that helped us in the first year. There is no shortage of books for new parents so this isn’t the most comprehensive list. It’s funny how many become parents without formal guidance or education. Many think that parental instincts kick in when the baby is home, but sometimes that’s far from the truth. It helps to be prepared by reading a book or two from people you’ve been there and done that.
“When moms first come back to work they need someone to tell them, ‘You are going to feel crazy. It’s ok to feel crazy. You won’t always feel crazy.’”
With Mother’s Day coming up this week, I wanted to write a post specifically about how motherhood affects the financials of women. This article comes from my perspective as a new mom, but I know there are other people out there (dads, aunties, grandparents, etc.) playing the role of mom so this article goes out to you as well.
The Motherhood Penalty is defined by AAUW as the “phenomenon by which women’s pay decreases once they become mothers”. This is a contributing factor to the current gender pay gap.
There continues to be economic and social benefits to having children, but women should stop being penalized for having children.
“A woman who dies without adequate life insurance should have to come back and see the mess she created.”
Momma (and dads out there), I want to talk about life insurance for a sec. I know it’s not easy to talk about life insurance because we associate it with death and death is never an easy subject, but this is real life and part of a good financial plan is to protect your loved ones should something happen to you. I’m not an insurance salesperson but here’s my perspective on it.
One of the big questions that many parents ask when it comes to funding a 529 Plan is, what happens to the funds if my child doesn't end up going to college? So imagine all of these years, you’ve been saving for college. Family and friends have contributed to the account. The account has grown thanks in part to your early saving and the stock market growth. Then the time comes for your child to go to college, but they end up not needing the funds for a host of many reasons. One may be that they have received a full scholarship and have no need for the funds, or they’ve decided not to pursue the traditional 4-year university route and instead go to trade school, or they’ve decided to take a break from school so that they can figure out what they really want to do. The good news across all of these scenarios is that you don’t have to forfeit any of the funds in the 529 Account.
It's important to keep this mind especially when it comes to money. Money conversations must start at home. Parents and guardians must accept the responsibility of exposing their kids to money concepts before media and peers influence that money mindset. If there’s fear, secrecy or anger in the money conversations now, that can get carried over to adulthood.
It’s important to realize that our kids need parents who are physically, emotionally and financially stable so by extension, we need to take care of ourselves first and that means investing in our well-being. Here are 7 financial moves that will benefit your children.
“Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.”
This post in our Teach Kids Money Series comes from Laurel of Mothers Teaching Money.
I see financial literacy as a collection of skills and mindsets which when learned and practiced often enough become habits. A child is not born financially literate, they are raised by us their parents, families, communities and schools. There are literally hundreds of teaching moments every day that are brand new but often confusing for children. The parent is already occupied with the ‘moment’ so it won’t take any extra time to turn it into a financial lesson
“Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.”
With many households experiencing economic hardships, it’s more important now more than ever to have money conversations and teach kids the basics of financial literacy. Times are different and it’s very easy for kids to be influenced by social media and their peers without truly understanding the consequences of their actions. Kids who grow up without a proper financial foundation may grow into adults who fear money leading to inaction or bad decisions, furthering a cycle of bad money habits.
So what can we do?
The good news is that parents can start money lessons at home. To help you, we’ve rounded up some resources from financial educators who specialize in teaching parents AND kids all about money. There’s no shame or blame in financial education. If you are learning new money concepts along with your child, then let it be the case.
As the effects of COVID-19 are being felt globally, many leaders have asked citizens to self-isolate and self-quarantine to prevent the spread of the virus even further. Self-quarantine can seem scary as it means being isolated from people and things that we love. Instead, let’s look into self-quarantine as an opportunity to catch-up on the things we’ve not had time to do due to personal, professional and familial obligations. I think the biggest opportunity here is the time you’ll have to review and manage your finances. Now is the time to act. If you have a bit of downtime, instead of fully engaging on Netflix marathons (which is fine in moderation), may I suggest taking a look at this list of items you can do to strengthen your finances for the days ahead.
This post is part of the #MommyMoney Series. A series that explores money, motherhood and financial independence. The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are (Still) Going Broke is written by Elizabeth Warren with her daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi. This month’s book is not your typical personal finance book. It doesn’t espouse the same list of recommendations on how to save, what accounts to open, etc. Instead, it is a well researched book about the American family, its American dream and challenges of being middle class in the current financial and government system.
