Good Financial Reads: Expectant Parents

Following along with the blogs of financial advisors is a great way to access valuable, educational information about finance — and it doesn’t cost you a thing! Our financial planners love to share their knowledge and help everyone regardless of age or assets.

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Catch up on some of the latest posts with this week's roundup:

The Financial Key to Growing My Family of IVF Babies

by Tim Hale, Hale Financial Solutions

After a couple years of marriage, Kellie and I were beginning to suspect that we couldn’t have children naturally. This was a serious downer, but the path to growing our family through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) was lighted as we talked with friends and family who shared the same disheartening experience but later found success.

But there was another problem at work--it was financial. IVF costs a TON of money and health insurance didn’t cover much of it. We’re talking around $15,000 for the whole process, and that assumes it actually works for you the first time around. In our case, “retries” are another $2,700 each. (I’m in the wrong business.)

We were diligent savers with a sizeable emergency fund--perfect for something like this--but one IVF attempt would have bled our fund dry.

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10 Tips on How to Prepare Financially When Expecting

by Daniel Pichardo, Bridge Capital Consulting, LLC

The anticipation of bringing a baby into the world will certainly change your outlook on life and spark a fire in your emotions and feelings in ways you’ve never experienced before. Whether you’ve been preparing to have a baby for a long time or suddenly hit by surprise, your life changes instantly and you start to look at the world in a much different light. Having a baby brings much joy and there is so much to look forward to. There’s nothing like your initial ultrasound and hearing your baby’s heartbeat for the first time, the anxious excitement of telling your family and friends, the official Facebook announcement, and picking a name, to those first butterflies, signs of a baby bump, and random cravings. However, these feelings are not unwarranted. 

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Beyond Adoption: The Cost of Expanding Your Family

by Brian Thompson, Brian Thompson Financial, LLC

We’ve spent much of November talking about adoption in honor of National Adoption Month. By now you should have a good handle on how the process works and what it costs. However adoption is just one way to expand your family. Today I’ll cover some additional methods, including the costs and planning issues they entail.

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