Ultimate Financial Planning Guide for the Physician Mom To Be
Ultimate Financial Planning Guide for the Physician Mom To Be
Personally, many of the costs you describe (besides childcare unless you have a stay at home parent) are optional. Yes I realize things are different “now” but My parents did not spend money on camps, enrichments etc. I’m sure I will, but it really is optional. They don’t need to cost that much.
But to be on the safe side I’d just save up another 3 months of emergency funds and dip in to that if needed.
Thanks for all the wonderful advice! I like to plan often and early, so this is excellent information
But to be on the safe side I’d just save up another 3 months of emergency funds and dip in to that if needed.
What would be the best account to save that additional 3 mo of emergency funds that I may need to dip into if I have to leave work before my husband starts his attending job/or maybe never; a CD?
Edit – Just saw your husband is a resident. Assuming he’s making decent PGY3, PGY4 money, and you’re living below your means, and you don’t take a huge amount of time off, you should be fine. Now if you’re on bedrest for 20 weeks before the child is born, might have to make some adjustments. Do you have family to lean on, etc?
@Craigy- What do you consider is a “huge amount of time off” for a child? What do you consider is the appropriate amount? What information do you use to make that decision? Financial? Child development research? Maternal/ paternal post baby mental health data? Both parents’ adjustment to caring for child? Curious.
At the risk of adjusting the chip on your shoulder…
Some women take 3mos, 6mos, a year, retire altogether, etc. Add to that many women plan in advance to start their leave months before the baby is even due. That’s all good and well, but let’s face it, it’s a luxury.
Assuming ddscook takes a normal amount of time (4, 6, 8, 10 weeks?), and assuming all goes well and she’s not lying on tilt for 4 months of her pregnancy, her paid time off, her cash in the bank, her husband’s income, etc. should be more than enough to get them through a couple months of no pay.c
At the risk of adjusting the chip on your shoulder…
Some women take 3mos, 6mos, a year, retire altogether, etc. Add to that many women plan in advance to start their leave months before the baby is even due. That’s all good and well, but let’s face it, it’s a luxury.
Assuming ddscook takes a normal amount of time (4, 6, 8, 10 weeks?), and assuming all goes well and she’s not lying on tilt for 4 months of her pregnancy, her paid time off, her cash in the bank, her husband’s income, etc. should be more than enough to get them through a couple months of no pay.c
lol. I don’t know if what you write will adjust anything. I think what you write says more about you than me.
I suppose if 4, 6, 8, or 10 weeks works for you when you personally have your baby (like carry the kid for hopefully 9 months and then push kid out), then more power to you. FWIW, most obs don’t see their post delivery patients for a full postpartum visit until 6 weeks, so I don’t even know what to say about thinking one can be at one’s total pre baby self at 4 weeks. Four weeks is definitely not even close to enough for all the physical, mental and emotional recovery for me after I had my first child. So I will admit, I may be a wimp. But I definitely won’t go around doling out advice about what’s normal or enough until I have actually gone through it myself.
I throw out those questions more for those of us who will be experiencing this phenomenon to allow them to make decisions for themselves. Ddscooks is making the initiative to plan ahead, in hope to minimize the hit for her family and also be realistic, so I think we do owe it to the upcoming female physicians to tell her what its really like. If she can cover her pregnancy and new babyhood income loss herself, then she also decreases the maternity leave burden for her employers, because it may allow her employers to find a locum to cover for her without her suffering much in term of financial stability at the homefront. The worst is when the new moms can’t afford to take sufficient time off but is also not able to be fully productive at work to meet quota. In that situation, both the new mom and the practice suffer.
If you look at the financial aspects, 3K really isn’t that much. Just for thought, how much time (office panels, calls, procedures or whatever clinical medicine) do you have to do in your field to general 3K? Most of us bring in at least 20K of income per month, so 3K/month is really not significant (this is especially true in a dual income family). If I decide to work even 2 less days per month after delivery and or cut back even more and go part time or less, the lost of income will easily be more than 3K/month (nevermind whatever other optional choices I make).
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