When Mom's salary breaks even with daycare....

[Anonymous]

For how long?

Daycare takes up nearly all of my take home pay right now, but only for the year that both of our children are in full time daycare. And that doesn't count my free health care and retirement contributions from my employer.

[Anonymous]

Find a different daycare provider

[Anonymous]

We think of daycare as a household expense, same as our mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Relevant thoughts:
- What non-salary benefits are included? insurance, FSA, retirement, LTC
- How hard it is it to leave and reenter your field?
- Are you entry level? If you leave and come back, would you come back at the same level, or would you have to rebuild seniority and/or level benefits?
- How much salary increase do you get annually? If you left and returned, would you return at the same level? How much would you lose from compounded salary increases?-
- How much in retirement savings would you be losing over the years you are unemployed? Does your company match your contributions? Those matches would be lost.
- Don't forget to factor in the different in FICA benefits based on your contributions over any period of unemployment post-retirement.

There's often a lot more to consider than just a 1:1 comparison of the current year's salary vs daycare since this is only for first few years.

[Anonymous]

Look ahead. My salary barely paid for daycare for many years. But my salary increased, my kids entered public school and now I not only have a decent retirement nest egg, but between the salary increases and lack of daycare, we were able to buy a much larger house and save a nice chunk on top of retirement each month. We are very, very comfortable now and my years in my field have acquired my a lot of flexibility to take off work as needed.

[Anonymous]

I kept working, and am glad I did 5 years later. My kids are starting school and my career is taking off.

[Anonymous]

Another factor to consider is that your leave benefits are probably growing the longer you are with your company. I did SAH, loved it, and then had an easy time returning when youngest was in K but the most challenging aspect was not having much vacation time. If I'd stayed with my old employer for those 7 yrs I'd be getting at least a couple more weeks of vacation.

[Anonymous]

I took the SAH route. I didn't want to miss out on the years when the kids were little. I did consulting work here and there and am now getting back to full time work now that the kids are in school. My salary now is only a little higher then when I left 4 years ago, but to us it was all worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To think long-term.

+1

Now that kids are in school my salary, which is higher because of raises and promotions, is a great addition to the family budget. And I have a healthy TSP growing.

Instead of thinking of daycare coming out of mom's salary, why not think of it as a family expense from the overall budget including dad's salary?

NP. Because it's a cost that only exists with both parents working. For accounting purposes, it comes out of the salary of whoever would be the one to stay home. It's just basic economics, no reason to make it a feminist stand.

I agree with you. That poster says the same thing in every post relating to this.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you are building your pension etc.


Anyone care about spending time with kids in the formative years? Especially, when you are only working to make that pension contribution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another factor to consider is that your leave benefits are probably growing the longer you are with your company. I did SAH, loved it, and then had an easy time returning when youngest was in K but the most challenging aspect was not having much vacation time. If I'd stayed with my old employer for those 7 yrs I'd be getting at least a couple more weeks of vacation.

Would a couple weeks of vacation make it worthwhile to miss 40-50 hours a week with the kids?

[Anonymous]

Do you really want to be away from your children for 40-50 hours per week and do the "commute, drop off, pickup, quick make dinner, bed bath rush in a couple hours before bedtime" scramble for 401 k funding?

I wouldn't be able to make it through the day knowing I was spending that time away from my kids for so little.

[Anonymous]

I quit and SAH and have no regrets. (I'm back working FT now that they're in school). Financially I'd probably be further ahead if I'd stayed at work. But life is more than finances, and we're doing okay.

[Anonymous]

Keep working. You will not have to worry about gap in employment.

At minimum, you are still contributing to social security. In addition, you can contribute to 401K up to the amount that is matched by the employer. In the end, you are way more than just "breaking even".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you really want to be away from your children for 40-50 hours per week and do the "commute, drop off, pickup, quick make dinner, bed bath rush in a couple hours before bedtime" scramble for 401 k funding?

I wouldn't be able to make it through the day knowing I was spending that time away from my kids for so little.

There are other options. I telework so there are no commuting issues.