What’s a reasonable HHI to have children here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok here. We do not own a home yet and husband is self employed so our income varies. Nervous about adding a baby to the mix.

Will waiting make things better? Kids, even 1 kid, changes everything

Of course waiting *can* make things better. A $300K DINK couple can bank $150K per year. If they do that for five years, they’re way ahead of the game in terms of down payment, padding retirement accounts, etc. before the inevitable kid expense overwhelm everything.

A 300k DINK couple who is frugal enough to bank 150k per year would still find a way to bank 150k with one kid.

[Anonymous]

The longer you wait, the more your IVF budget must increase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok here. We do not own a home yet and husband is self employed so our income varies. Nervous about adding a baby to the mix.

If you need daycare, and have two workers, then I’d be nervous at $200k if you want to live in a nice area. Fwiw, I don’t consider silver spring nice. At $300k, you are fine.

[Anonymous]

We make $110k combined and are good.

[Anonymous]

Every year that you wait increases the odds that you'll pay 20-100K per child for IVF and other interventions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make $110k combined and are good.

What do you do for childcare?

[Anonymous]

That’s a ridiculous question. “Here” is a very big place and quality of life is subjective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I make anywhere from 200k to 300k. Is this enough for a good quality life with a child?

LOL. By the time baby #3 was born, we had HHI of $180K. I think that you'll survive.

[Anonymous]

OP define good quality of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP define good quality of life.

A home in McLean /Vienna Oakton.
Daycare or nanny share
Good public schools
One or two trips a year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok here. We do not own a home yet and husband is self employed so our income varies. Nervous about adding a baby to the mix.

How old are you and DH?
How is the income split?
How much have you already saved for retirement, house, emergency fund….?

When DH and I first were together DH made about 50% more than me, so our income split was 60/40. We saved my entire take home pay and 15% of DH’s plus any bonuses. That helped set us up for future saving and helped us keep our spending at bay. When we had our first child, at 32 and 36, we had enough to pay for daycare our of my paycheck - of course we did not save as much, but we were able to still each save 15% towards retirement.

It is much easier to save if you start out saving before you get knee deep in children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP define good quality of life.

A home in McLean /Vienna Oakton.
Daycare or nanny share
Good public schools
One or two trips a year

Is this OP? You need $350k+ for that.

I however, think it’s possible to have a “good quality of life” on a <$100k HHI.

[Anonymous]

That is near the median income for Vienna. Do you want to be average middle class - public school, coupons, minimal travel, cheap extracurricular activities, home cooking most of the time, instate college? Better if you don’t commute on top. It sounds like you want to be upper middle class so I’d look further out and find a job out there or work remote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I make anywhere from 200k to 300k. Is this enough for a good quality life with a child?

Do you think that families with children who make less here have a bad quality of life?

DP

Yes. There are so many costs involved in having kids here. Sports and activities are marked up like crazy. Don’t get my started on the supplemental education needed because public sucks and there are few strong privates sub50K/annual

[Anonymous]

Hell, how could I forget the insane daycare costs