L
Loud-living-dogma
Guest
This is a huge question - - too bad the Church dropped the ball on this for pre-marriage prep. My husband and I were on completely different pages for this.
- Status
T
TheLittleLady
Guest
I work for parishes.
Most US Dioceses use the FOCCUS inventory. Those who do not still cover the important things like finances and children.
Seems you had a rather unique prep.
Most US Dioceses use the FOCCUS inventory. Those who do not still cover the important things like finances and children.
Seems you had a rather unique prep.
T
TC3033
Guest
The only person that can answer that is you.
The most that we had in full time daycare was 2, and ya…that was about $1200-$1400 a month. Once we got #1 into DC and saw how much that cost, we knew what we were walking into when having 2 close enough together to warrant both going to DC.
D
dochawk
Guest
It’s not just the taxes, either.
You have the extra work clothes, the extra transportation costs, the extra time for the transportation, and so forth.
And they is the matter that someone else, rather than you, is the one raising the children for all that time.
Also, consider how taxes work – and even though the size of the two checks might look the same, the taxes on one income are significantly less than 1/2 as much as a tax on two incomes; conversely to income is of the same amount are taxed more than twice as much as the one paycheck.
The increased income also reduces eligibility for child tax credit, early and got a credit, and so forth.
The reality is that in many cases, the second income really only goes to cover the costs of a second person working.
hawk
You have the extra work clothes, the extra transportation costs, the extra time for the transportation, and so forth.
And they is the matter that someone else, rather than you, is the one raising the children for all that time.
Also, consider how taxes work – and even though the size of the two checks might look the same, the taxes on one income are significantly less than 1/2 as much as a tax on two incomes; conversely to income is of the same amount are taxed more than twice as much as the one paycheck.
The increased income also reduces eligibility for child tax credit, early and got a credit, and so forth.
The reality is that in many cases, the second income really only goes to cover the costs of a second person working.
hawk
J
jlc2k2
Guest
As another poster said, you cross that bridge when you get there. If that time comes, the person you are then with the resources that you have then will deal with it.
That time did come for us (a toddler and 2 infants). We couldn’t afford a daycare center so we had family friends take certain days each week to care for them. 1 is godmother to 1 of the twins. 1 is godmother to my youngest. These were people we barely knew when we were starting our family but had become our closest friends by the time we needed their help.
That time did come for us (a toddler and 2 infants). We couldn’t afford a daycare center so we had family friends take certain days each week to care for them. 1 is godmother to 1 of the twins. 1 is godmother to my youngest. These were people we barely knew when we were starting our family but had become our closest friends by the time we needed their help.
A
Allegra
Guest
Play pens are NOT a cage, nor are they cruel. You are very misinformed if that’s what you think. Yes, constantly leaving a distressed infant alone in a playpen all day is neglectful. However, as your baby gets older, it’s actually healthy for their development to have a safe, confined area with a few age appropriate objects that they can explore and manipulate. Used correctly, playpens provide babies with a safe space to develop their gross motor skills like rolling, balancing, sitting up, pulling up, etc. It’s also a necessity for their safety for you to have some place that is safe to put them while you leave the room to use the restroom, shower, cook, clean, answer the door, tend to other children, etc. That doesn’t necessarily have to be a playpen, but it certainly could be.
A
Allegra
Guest
You’ll be fine. Many, many women have done it before you. The newborn months are hard, but you won’t be waking up three times in the middle of the night forever. In a few months, she’ll be sleeping through the night. It won’t be too much longer until she sleeps an eight hour night or less.
A
Allegra
Guest
Women shouldn’t feel guilty for wanting the win the lottery either, but sometimes you don’t get what you want. This is especially true if one doesn’t do anything toward getting what they want other than wanting it. If a women is dead set on being a SAHM, she’d better take some steps to make sure that’s what she gets. First of all, she needs to find a husband with the ability to earn a living wage on his own and who is like-minded regarding the mom staying at home. Then she needs to make sure to do her part to come to the marriage debt-free and preferably with some savings that could be put toward the purchase of a home. Then she needs to work on being knowledgable about ways to make money from home and to be frugal as well.
Last edited:
A
Allegra
Guest
They generally charge more for an infant because of higher ratios. In my state, the ratio for babies under a year is 5:1 and the best centers try to stay well below that for most of the day. Once they hit 12 months, they can go up to 8:1, so they don’t have to charge as much.
T
TC3033
Guest
I really question that, I guess that can kind of depend on your definition of many. Do you happen to have some studies that show this?
My wife doesn’t pick up part time min wage summer jobs because yes, at that level she would have basically been working to pay for DC.
Last edited:
A
Allegra
Guest
They should have. That’s part of the pre-cana curriculum.
A
Allegra
Guest
When you have more than two children, it’s almost always cheaper to have a nanny come to your home than to put them in childcare, even if it’s the most expensive, professional nanny in the world and you hired them through an agency.
Would it be financially worth it to pay for childcare for three children when it takes up more or all of your salary? That depends on a lot of circumstances. If you are just working some hourly-wage job to help with the financial status of the family, probably not. But if your family’s insurance depends on that job, that’s another thing to consider. Also, if the job is a career that would be very difficult to return to after staying away for a few years, it might be worth working for a year or two for free in order to hold on to that position.
In my current case, one more child in daycare would basically consume my entire income right now. However, my family’s health insurance and my life insurance are dependent on my employment. My position is an extremely good one in my field with very good benefits and would allow my children to attend a much better school than the district we live in. If I took a couple years off, my current position would not be available. Also, my eldest is almost kindergarten age and even if I had a baby tomorrow (which is not at all expected) it would only be a year with three children in childcare before my eldest went to kindergarten. So for my family, it would absolutely be worth in it the long run to keep my job. (particularly since I can take three months for maternity leave and have two more months off in the summer anyway.) Each family has to determine for themselves whether both parents continuing to work is in the best interest of the family longterm.
Would it be financially worth it to pay for childcare for three children when it takes up more or all of your salary? That depends on a lot of circumstances. If you are just working some hourly-wage job to help with the financial status of the family, probably not. But if your family’s insurance depends on that job, that’s another thing to consider. Also, if the job is a career that would be very difficult to return to after staying away for a few years, it might be worth working for a year or two for free in order to hold on to that position.
In my current case, one more child in daycare would basically consume my entire income right now. However, my family’s health insurance and my life insurance are dependent on my employment. My position is an extremely good one in my field with very good benefits and would allow my children to attend a much better school than the district we live in. If I took a couple years off, my current position would not be available. Also, my eldest is almost kindergarten age and even if I had a baby tomorrow (which is not at all expected) it would only be a year with three children in childcare before my eldest went to kindergarten. So for my family, it would absolutely be worth in it the long run to keep my job. (particularly since I can take three months for maternity leave and have two more months off in the summer anyway.) Each family has to determine for themselves whether both parents continuing to work is in the best interest of the family longterm.
Last edited:
A
Allegra
Guest
You can get up to 30% of it back on your taxes though. That’s nothing to sneeze and made a big difference in our decisions regarding childcare.
D
dochawk
Guest
Studies? No
But I am A bankruptcy attorney, and see a great many budgets.
And the math really isn’t all that hard when you have the tax tables in front of you. Studies with him to determine whether An individual couple would be better off or not; each need to do the math.
Start with The standard Deduction (and for 2017 and earlier, the exemptions). This shields approximately the first $20,000 in income for a family of four from any income taxation.
Then look at the child tax credit – even before the recent changes, this meant that a family of six was paying no taxes at about $50,000 a year.
During in this range, and I believeSome white after it, There is the refundable portion of the child tax credit and the early income credit, both of which drop as income increases.
There is there a chunk of 10 or 12% income tax, a long stretch of 15%, and then 25%.
If the first person’s income brings the family into the 15% bracket, even though there is not much tax on most of that income, All Of the second person’s income is subjected to this rate, Or possibly pushing into 25%.
NowAdd 8% For Social Security, approximately 10% for Obama care subsidy fade out, and you were looking at 33% to almost 50% before considering state taxes. Note that the air and income credit faces out at 33% on the dollar after it peaks—So it is quite possible for persons of Moderat means to see only 1/3 of the second paycheck.
Now add the costs of working, and daycare, and figure out where the breakeven even is for one child – $15 an hour? More? And add a second or third child…
hawk
But I am A bankruptcy attorney, and see a great many budgets.
And the math really isn’t all that hard when you have the tax tables in front of you. Studies with him to determine whether An individual couple would be better off or not; each need to do the math.
Start with The standard Deduction (and for 2017 and earlier, the exemptions). This shields approximately the first $20,000 in income for a family of four from any income taxation.
Then look at the child tax credit – even before the recent changes, this meant that a family of six was paying no taxes at about $50,000 a year.
During in this range, and I believeSome white after it, There is the refundable portion of the child tax credit and the early income credit, both of which drop as income increases.
There is there a chunk of 10 or 12% income tax, a long stretch of 15%, and then 25%.
If the first person’s income brings the family into the 15% bracket, even though there is not much tax on most of that income, All Of the second person’s income is subjected to this rate, Or possibly pushing into 25%.
NowAdd 8% For Social Security, approximately 10% for Obama care subsidy fade out, and you were looking at 33% to almost 50% before considering state taxes. Note that the air and income credit faces out at 33% on the dollar after it peaks—So it is quite possible for persons of Moderat means to see only 1/3 of the second paycheck.
Now add the costs of working, and daycare, and figure out where the breakeven even is for one child – $15 an hour? More? And add a second or third child…
hawk
D
dochawk
Guest
That stay at home mothers don’t get that same credit has long been one of my pet peeve’s… I believe that as of a few years ago, it shares a With the child tax credit, though – but don’t hold me to that; I don’t often have reason to look at that part of the forms.
hawk
hawk
A
Allegra
Guest
Huh? I think you are really over-exaggerating the effect of a second income on taxes. Unless the second income increases the family earnings to the point of going up several tax brackets, it’s not going to have a significant change on the percentage of taxes the family pays. And if it does increase the family income that much, that person probably should have been the one who was working all along!
A
Allegra
Guest
Sometimes God does provide in that way!
J
jlc2k2
Guest
Yep! And when my oldest was a newborn there’s no way I could have known what resources and challenges we’d have 2 years later. 
A
Allegra
Guest
I agree. I’ve never been able to use the childcare credit before because we’ve always had nannies working under the counter. It’s irritating, but basically the childcare providers income tax subsidizes the tax break to the parents. If the childcare provider isn’t paying income tax (and since SAHM moms don’t usually get paid for their work they don’t pay tax on it.) they there is no one putting into the system to help offset the cost. I wish they would just give a couple or three grand to every parent of a child under kindy age, but I don’t see that happening.
D
dochawk
Guest
This comes Primarily spacefrom actually havingRun the numbers for my own family several times over the years, Including times of near poverty, normal times, and times of high income.
The effect of phase out of particularly the earned income credit is staggering. And, believe me, I calculated the net phase out rate on the Obama care credit to the penny when my wife started working at the preschool.
A family with two children under 16 doesn’t even make close to twice as much at $60,000 as $30,000 (and again, that is before child care).
Our tax code is very progressive at the lower levels, with much of this coming from the credits which are phased out as income increases. The catch is that in many cases, the phaseout is so steep that it forms a disincentive.
People really need to look at the numbers and their specific cases, with very specific incomes and potential income, and actually sit down with the tax forms before making this decision.
(Please excuse the auto capitalization; I am having to do this on an iPhone with dictation)
hawk
The effect of phase out of particularly the earned income credit is staggering. And, believe me, I calculated the net phase out rate on the Obama care credit to the penny when my wife started working at the preschool.
A family with two children under 16 doesn’t even make close to twice as much at $60,000 as $30,000 (and again, that is before child care).
Our tax code is very progressive at the lower levels, with much of this coming from the credits which are phased out as income increases. The catch is that in many cases, the phaseout is so steep that it forms a disincentive.
People really need to look at the numbers and their specific cases, with very specific incomes and potential income, and actually sit down with the tax forms before making this decision.
(Please excuse the auto capitalization; I am having to do this on an iPhone with dictation)
hawk
- Status