Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Parenting
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 02-23-2010, 04:23 PM
 
2,605 posts, read 4,676,449 times
Reputation: 2194

Advertisements

Some people can handle more than one thing at a time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-23-2010, 04:34 PM
 
Location: here
24,873 posts, read 36,046,636 times
Reputation: 32726
I don't know if anyone else has said it, but kudos to the OP for planning ahead! more people should think things through ahead of time!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2010, 04:37 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,687,327 times
Reputation: 30710
Quote:
Originally Posted by hypocore View Post
Start with what the local OB's and hospital's charge and figure your portion. Unless you have top notch insurance, you could be paying out of pocket anywhere from $1000 to $10,000 depending on what's covered under most normal circumstances for your pregnancy and delivery bring. Add complications and it can go up tremendously. (friend had a baby with heart issues and her first two bills were 6 figures with many more after that)
Most insurance plans have individual and family annual limits. For instance, my family will never pay more than 1.5k per year regardless of how many expenses we have in that year. So there is no way for my bills to go up tremendously. My deductible is very black and white. I don't even need to check with the OBs and the hospitals on what their bills will be because my obligations are very clear in my insurance. Furthermore, hosptials and doctors allow payments. It's not like she needs the deductible money up front. Only copays are required in advance.

Quote:
Originally Posted by redpanda View Post
I'm so very happy that we didn't have a child till we were financially ready--parenthood is quite difficult as it is without making it MORE difficult by struggling financially as well.
The OP and her husband are professionals. She will be working full time by fall 2011. The only financial preparation she needs is to save enough money to cover the baby expenses and her loss of salary while she's not working. That's very doable. It's not like the OP and her husband are light years away from affording a baby. I think it's a shame that people are discouraging her. She is at the point where it's ALMOST time. She has plenty of time to save the money she needs.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2010, 04:37 PM
 
Location: here
24,873 posts, read 36,046,636 times
Reputation: 32726
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoExcuses View Post
Some people can handle more than one thing at a time.
"handling it" and "enjoying it" are 2 different things.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2010, 04:38 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,687,327 times
Reputation: 30710
Quote:
Originally Posted by rkb0305 View Post
I don't know if anyone else has said it, but kudos to the OP for planning ahead! more people should think things through ahead of time!
I think it's great too! That's the main reason why I think it sounds like they are very close to financially affording this in the near future!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2010, 04:43 PM
 
Location: Denver 'burbs
24,012 posts, read 28,354,751 times
Reputation: 41121
Quote:
Most insurance plans have individual and family annual limits. For instance, my family will never pay more than 1.5k
That's great....but be aware than many policies (especially for smaller companies) have MUCH higher annual limits. My husband's company for instance. The policy they offer has an annual limit of $8K. Now, if you have that baby in December and it needs additional healthcare into Jan. you could find yourselves $16K in the hole in 2 months. Not to mention, their insurance monthly premium might go up also. My company has different payments for 1, 2 or "more than 2" dependents.....

Which was one of the reasons I went back to work - for a larger company with much better insurance coverage.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2010, 04:44 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,687,327 times
Reputation: 30710
Quote:
Originally Posted by maciesmom View Post
But the stress of trying to finish school/student teach/establish 2 careers, while being a first time parent added to financial difficulties certainly has both an emotional and psychological impact on the marriage and family. No one is saying wait until you win the lottery.
Did you miss that she will be done with school and student teaching in December of this year?

And her husband already established his career. (They didn't get that mortgage without his having a job!) She's the one who continued on for a masters. Their lives are more in order than when most people have children.

I'm not saying that you're not giving good advice. You are. I just think it's more doom and gloom than this particular OP needs based on her specific situation. Her life is very much in order and her finances will only get better once she starts her career. My goodness, she's going into the perfect mommy career. If she waits ONE more year and has a baby in the Summer 2012, she'll have the entire summer off WITH PAY to spend with her baby. If she times the pregnancy right, she won't even need to save for her maternity leave because of the career she chose.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2010, 04:51 PM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,687,327 times
Reputation: 30710
Quote:
Originally Posted by maciesmom View Post
That's great....but be aware than many policies (especially for smaller companies) have MUCH higher annual limits. My husband's company for instance. The policy they offer has an annual limit of $8K.
My point was that it could be very easy to figure out what the costs will be. With a deductible plan, there's no need to check with the hospital and the OP to estimate costs. A deductible type insurance plan makes it very straight forward. I guess I would have been clearer if I had merely said to check with the insurance company. That's where to check. If her husband has a terrible insurance plan, they can simply postpone until she's working. Teacher Unions usually secure excellent benefit packages.

Quote:
Originally Posted by maciesmom View Post
Now, if you have that baby in December and it needs additional healthcare into Jan. you could find yourselves $16K in the hole in 2 months.

Which was one of the reasons I went back to work - for a larger company with much better insurance coverage.
You bring up a good point. There's something to be said for planning a deliver earlier in the year for people who have terrible insurance plans.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2010, 04:52 PM
 
Location: Denver 'burbs
24,012 posts, read 28,354,751 times
Reputation: 41121
I didn't miss it at all. She has said they are already in financial straits because of her lack of income. If that were not the case I would agree with you. I don't think it's doom and gloom to consider reality. You can't be prepared for every little thing but you can try to cover the bases. Not to mention, you are assuming she'll find a job right away...I don't think anyone can assume that currently.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-23-2010, 05:00 PM
 
406 posts, read 1,491,951 times
Reputation: 235
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoExcuses View Post
As I posted before, I believe it's more important to be emotionally and psychologically prepared for a baby than financially. There will always something to hold you up going strictly on finances.
Perhaps. But having a baby because you "wanted" one before you were financially ready for one would show emotional and psychological immaturity as well as a lack of preparation. To quote the old adage, "if you have to ask..."

Waiting to start your family till you're financially ready is just another form of delaying gratification...it's not a bad thing. I'm not sure why so many people are coming down so hard on the other side of the coin. No one's telling this young woman, or anyone else for that matter, to never ever have kids; they're just explaining how they afforded children. In my case, I waited. That's how you afford anything, from a baby to a trip to Africa to a home of your own--you save and wait.

The thing with kids is that you can't UN-have them. Once they're there, they're there. And I would never, ever want to be in a situation where I defined (for example) something crucial like braces as "not a need" and sent my poor child to school to be tormented for having funky crooked teeth. That's why I waited--so my kids won't have to suffer for my inability to delay gratification. Guess what? I'm still just as much of a mama as I would have been back in the day.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Parenting

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top