There are a lot of financial complications that you will experience in life and surprisingly, having a child at an old age can bring a unique set of challenges in your budget. CDC.gov shares that childbirth for women aged 35 to 39 years old has been a rollercoaster but basically on the upswing in last few years ending 11% in 2012.
There is no doubt that that a new child will affect household budget but for older parents, that will be an even tougher challenge. Having kids is what most couples aspire for and is the natural step after getting married. From courtship to lovers to engagement all the way to marriage, children seem to complete that family portrait you send out to relatives every holiday.
This is part of getting married is being able to spend the better part of your life with the person that you love and with whom you can build a family with. It usually starts with just the two of you and you plan your finances versus your goals in life. It can be getting a house of your own and getting another car so you both have something to use when you go to work.
That house can be as much appliances and furnitures as you want. It can have toilets and baths in each room, a nice patio or even that white picket fence but it seems incomplete without children running around. You can have all the cats and dogs in the world but it will never amount to having children around the house.
Financial challenges of old parents
As much as children are considered blessings, there are financial complications that it brings when you have them at an old age. Here are some of the ways childbirth at old age complicates your budget and household finances.
- Childbirth becomes tougher. The older women get, the harder their bodies have to work to carry a child for nine months and even give birth after. As some people say, childbirth puts the life of mothers-to-be danger. The idea is that the healthier the mothers are, the safer the delivery would be. But one common trend is that as you get older, the more your health suffers and the less healthier you become. This makes childbirth more challenging because you might need more medical equipments and medicines just to get through childbirth.
- Life span becomes a challenge. USAToday.com shares that the life expectancy of people in the US is at 78.8 years. This is one of the things that older people need to consider when having a child too late in life. This is the reality and they need to face it with the fact if they have kids later in life, there is a big chance that they will be gone too early in the life of their kids. This brings to question on who will look after the children when the parents are gone too soon in the kids’ lives.
- Look at insurance coverages. One of financial complications that comes with old age children planning is that insurance premiums hikes up as you get older. This puts a strain on your planned premium payments when you have to pay a steeper price as you get older.
- Updating important paperwork. A lot of things can fill up your day and you might end up putting off major financial decisions for the next day. The problem is, the same routine can come back the following day preventing you to accomplish you planned tasks. This becomes a lot harder when you have to update wills and testaments which you should be doing as you get older. That will you drafted right after getting married might not work anymore now that you have four children and a few properties that you need to divide between them. If you leave your loved ones without any will or testament, it might spell financial complications for them.
- Retirement fund in the midst of college costs. This is one tricky subject because both have its own pros and cons depending on where you are standing. It is hard enough for single parents to save for college fund, it becomes more challenging for older people. You need to understand how getting married and having kids when you are younger puts you in a position to save for a college fund first and your retirement second. But as you get older, your window of opportunity and your peak earning potential is suddenly devoted to college funds instead of your own future. Most people would try to do both at the same time which is ideal but the main difference with older parents is that you end up extending your financial plans which can spill over even after retirement. It can mean working a few more years because you do not have enough in your retirement fund to get by.
- Mortgage payments. One of the biggest financial complications when you choose to have children at an old age is that you might have to prolong paying off your mortgage loan. Having children late in life can impact your finances because you suddenly have to focus on your child first. This means that you might need to restructure your house payments to make them smaller or look for debt consolidation loans to refinance and lower down your other debts. Debt consolidation is a great idea in managing your finances but you need to keep in mind that your repayment timeframe will get longer.
Benefits of getting a smaller house
In light of the possible mortgage problem, there are a lot of older consumers joining the trend of taking up smaller homes in retirement. If you are not yet convinced, here are some of the benefits of transferring to a smaller house.
- Being free from debt. It is no secret that becoming debt free is easier said than done but transferring to a smaller house can help you get rid of debt much faster and lower the chances of running into financial complications. This is a welcome development for consumers especially for those that are headed to or already in retirement.
- Overhead expenses takes a dive. Investopedia.com explains that overhead is something that you pay on an ongoing basis. Think of this as your utility expenses and even food cost and once you transfer to a smaller house, you can be sure that you electricity and water bill will go down as well.
- More elbow room in your funds. Once you have a smaller house and smaller payments on your recurring expenses, you get to have more leeway with your spending. Having a few hundred dollars in your budget every month can go a long way in helping you enjoy your retirement and even address some unexpected financial challenges.
- Easier to clean. One of the more obvious advantages of transferring to a smaller house is maintenance. A smaller house is easier to clean and maintain and you might even be able to take on those minor repairs yourself.
There are financial complications when you choose to have a child at old age. But it does not mean that you should forget about having them even at an old age. You just need to financially prepare for it so you can enjoy parenthood without the added stress of thinking how to go about your finances.