whats the benefit of kids?

[Anonymous]

They are a giant financial sink hole with no upside.
I've had three and all are teenagers now. They are total jerks and act like they know it all. The oldest is heading to college next year so even when they turn 18 they are not off the books.
Without kids my net worth would be a lot more.

I love them but they are not useful to me. I was researching state law recently and ran across a few sections that discussed a parent legal right to all earned income of their children. It got me thinking that once children worked and contributed to the household. Any more they just suck up resources and provide absolutely no benefit to anyone.

My wife says they are going to help us when we are old. I calculated it up and if I had invested all the money spent on kids there would be more than enough to pay for high quality elder care. I think that might have worked out better than expecting children not to move away and show up once a week to see if we fell down a broke a hip.

[Anonymous]

You don’t have kids to start with for the “benefit.” Objectively they are loud, dirty, difficult and make your life chaos. You have them because you want to nurture and grow a human being, and you love them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don’t have kids to start with for the “benefit.” Objectively they are loud, dirty, difficult and make your life chaos. You have them because you want to nurture and grow a human being, and you love them.

So they have zero utility. They are in effect a luxury item?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are a giant financial sink hole with no upside.
I've had three and all are teenagers now. They are total jerks and act like they know it all. The oldest is heading to college next year so even when they turn 18 they are not off the books.
Without kids my net worth would be a lot more.

I love them but they are not useful to me. I was researching state law recently and ran across a few sections that discussed a parent legal right to all earned income of their children. It got me thinking that once children worked and contributed to the household. Any more they just suck up resources and provide absolutely no benefit to anyone.

My wife says they are going to help us when we are old. I calculated it up and if I had invested all the money spent on kids there would be more than enough to pay for high quality elder care. I think that might have worked out better than expecting children not to move away and show up once a week to see if we fell down a broke a hip.

Stereotype you sound asian logical and maybe a little cheap. Asians have kids so they get taken care of in their old age.

[Anonymous]

I'm not advocating for or against as my elementary kids are currently a drain on my life (and finances). Potential upsides:
* Enjoying kids and their activities at certain stages
* Kid does well financially and you get some money from them (Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin, others have parents that they take care of)
* Kids taking care of you when older (I think you're correct that hiring someone to do that is less expensive than paying costs of having a kid though may or may not provide companionship that you want)
* Grand kids (if you want to hear and see more kids of your kids in 25-30 years)
* Relatives may leave you more money in their estates or give you more money over time if you have kids than if you don't

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are a giant financial sink hole with no upside.
I've had three and all are teenagers now. They are total jerks and act like they know it all. The oldest is heading to college next year so even when they turn 18 they are not off the books.
Without kids my net worth would be a lot more.

I love them but they are not useful to me. I was researching state law recently and ran across a few sections that discussed a parent legal right to all earned income of their children. It got me thinking that once children worked and contributed to the household. Any more they just suck up resources and provide absolutely no benefit to anyone.

My wife says they are going to help us when we are old. I calculated it up and if I had invested all the money spent on kids there would be more than enough to pay for high quality elder care. I think that might have worked out better than expecting children not to move away and show up once a week to see if we fell down a broke a hip.

If they are jerks, that’s on you and your wife.

[Anonymous]

Troll

[Anonymous]

They take more than they give, and rightly so.

You did too op.

And maybe it’s still true for you?

[Anonymous]

I always wanted children and so did DH. We had twins and one has a lifelong developmental disability. We will be “on the hook” our entire lives for her. However, my son is a wonderful human being: kind, thoughtful and hard-working. He has told us he wants to look after his sister when we no longer can. So we work hard and save towards that uncertain future and just try to be there for each other. It’s a good life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are a giant financial sink hole with no upside.
I've had three and all are teenagers now. They are total jerks and act like they know it all. The oldest is heading to college next year so even when they turn 18 they are not off the books.
Without kids my net worth would be a lot more.

I love them but they are not useful to me. I was researching state law recently and ran across a few sections that discussed a parent legal right to all earned income of their children. It got me thinking that once children worked and contributed to the household. Any more they just suck up resources and provide absolutely no benefit to anyone.

My wife says they are going to help us when we are old. I calculated it up and if I had invested all the money spent on kids there would be more than enough to pay for high quality elder care. I think that might have worked out better than expecting children not to move away and show up once a week to see if we fell down a broke a hip.

You need therapy.

[Anonymous]

They aren't useful. They aren't supposed to be. They are supposed to carry on your genes- that is their primary purpose. They satisfy an animal -- specifically mammal- instinct.

If you are more reptilian by design, I can recommend some good overseas, full year boarding school. And then there's always college in Hawaii or Australia.

[Anonymous]

Yes, they are useless and you put in way more than you will ever get back financially. I say this as a parent. It's not an economically rational decision, so thank god we're not actually rational actors.

[Anonymous]

They will love you for 13 years.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are either on the autism spectrum, a troll, or have a personality disorder.

[Anonymous]

Man.. I feel sorry for your kids. I never thought about having kids, but I have two now, and though I'm not really a kid person, I love my children and never think "what was the benefit of having kids"?

Quality care is not the same as someone loving you unconditionally. Sure, there are no guarantees, just as there are no guarantees that you would get quality care when you are older. You could end up bankrupt for whatever reason.