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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]With the enormous caveat that I am in a very lucky place to be able to make this choice:  I have done this and for me the calculation was much more than math.  I agree with other posters that there can be commuting, clothing, take out/lunch/coffee costs to save.  And daycare for small tots, aftercare for elementary.  I have also found that I save on groceries because I love to cook and am no longer too exhausted to do it.  But I also don't have the urge to spend on other things (treats, clothes, mani/pedi, etc) to relax or splurge from a place of stress.  So there is savings there too.  It's still hard to come up with a number because our life before the pandemic was so different, like everyone's.

Here is the ROI for me:  I have time for my marriage and my DC.  I do not fall asleep reading to my DC at night two pages into a chapter. I can take DC to school and pick up.   When I pick DC up, we have a real conversation about DC's day because it isn't 6 pm where we are both hungry and wiped.  I can look for lessons that match DC's interests beyond aftercare/enrichment. I am in touch with old friends from all parts of my life.  Little things like if I pick up a plant at the grocery store, it doesn't die because I have time to take care of it (and also me!!)  I have developed a side gig that pays a fraction of my previous salary but gives me a feeling of making a difference in other people's lives.  I cook a lot, which I love.  I've got lots of DIY going on.  And I clean my own (tiny) home and I can find where everything is.

There is definitely less money and things like unexpected home/car/medical repairs - I notice that a lot more.  Because at some point if those costs add up, I've got to cut back somewhere else. But there is no price on calm, family time and tranquility.  If you feel you've got the big things covered (housing, education, health insurance, retirement fund) and can cover your monthly expenses, maybe consider some of the FIRE blogs - not just for the budgeting - but for ideas on how to focus on how you want to live, what you truly need, and sit with those concepts to determine how much you need to earn to cover that.

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Misformatted:

But there is a really big number you should add to your ROI:  the 50% spousal benefit from SS that goes to a non-working spouse.  This is indexed to the CPI and probably worth ~$1MM if your spouse makes max SS earnings for 35 years.  So how valuable are your incremental wages if you’re going to get $1MM for not WOHM?  Better to find a way to generate some non-wage income.[/quote]

People live only around 10 years into retirement, so the max the spouse can get is a little over 200K over her remaining lifetime or around 1700/month. Less than 1% of people live to be 100. Life expectancy in US is 78 years old. [/quote]

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