Tradition holds that children are of divine provenance and anything needed for their care would come from that source. However, as it is also traditionally said God is more likely to help those who help themselves, it may make some sense to do some financial planning before your little one arrives.
Because almost no statistics exist on the cost of raising a child today in T&T, the Sunday BG did some estimations. It is not cheap.
From infancy to the age of 18, children need food, clothes, healthcare, schooling and associated supplies. These do not take into account the extras: presents, extra-circular activities, vacations and emergencies.
Financial advisers Winston Williams and Keith Charles, both of whom the Sunday BG regularly consult, estimated that basic costs could run between $400,000 and $600,000. Some of the readers we reached out to on Facebook put the cost at over $2.5 million per child. Figures from the US (they vary widely there, too) suggest that raising a child could cost anywhere between US$250,000 to US$1,200,000. That's between $1.5 million and $7.6 million.
Beyond the cost, consistently registering across the comments was the strain raising a child put on a family's financing, even when the parents are prepared for it. This, of course, based on the assumption it is a two-parent household. Single parents and the parents of children with special needs have additional financial challenges.
Then, the financial cost of parenting may not necessarily stop at the age of 18.
Another US trend that seems to be catching on in T&T is the "failure to launch" syndrome. Initially used to described adults who missed key psychological milestones, it has also come to characterise that mass of Gen Ys (American slang for individuals born between 1981 to 2000) who are finding themselves back at home after leaving university. Unlike the US, where the problem stems from student debt, the high cost of housing and lack of suitable employment seem to be the culprits in T&T.
"If the average three-bedroom home costs $1.2 million, for 30-year mortgage, the payment is going to be somewhere in the vicinity of $11,000," said Williams. Keeping their debt service ratio in mind, Williams continued:
"Can a young graduate and really afford a house if they just started working? The answer to that is no. A young university grad coming out makes between $8,000 and $12,000. With the two of them, that's a maximum combined income of $24,000. You can't get a house for $1.2 million with that. So what we do? We live by Mummy and Daddy."
In addition to bearing miscellaneous costs of having adult children at home, parents may also be paying for adult children away at school or completing graduate programmes locally or contributing to the care of their own parents.
Timing is everything
As a parent, you may feel the need to provide your children with all the benefits you may have never had. But at what cost to yourself? While children can find many ways to fund a tertiary education, parents only have a few chances to get retirement right.
"If you are spending money on your children's education, you cannot make that accelerated contribution toward your retirement plan," said Williams.
"At 58, smack in the middle of the time when you want to be pumping as much as you can into your retirement fund, you are now paying for your child to enter university for a period that will extend beyond the 60, when you are looking to enjoy your savings and your hard work."
This is assuming, of course, that you started having children in your 40s.
Some of our social media contributors said it may be better to have children later when you are reaching the peak of your income earning, but Charles thinks differently, advocating that parents get all the big expense, including their children out of the way when they are young.
"The early start allows for addressing financial exigencies that may occur in the child's dependency age," he said, "These can better be addressed by a parent during their income-earning years rather than during retirement where income may be more or less fixed and the ability to fund and or access financing due to age restrictions at financial institutions might be limited. Child bearing at an early age together with big-ticket financial decisions such as home ownership and purchasing a vehicle might be an ideal mix."
However, if you're a woman, having your children earlier may not always be in the best interest of your career. Williams said over their lifetime, women tended to earn less than men as well as retire earlier to take care of ailing parents and in-laws, resulting in less retirement income accumulated. Meanwhile, they live longer in retirement than men and have to factor in the smaller span of time over which they can have children.
"I think for women, because of the ticking clock and those other factors, I think they need to have a greater sense of responsibility in terms of how this impacts their life and not take the approach, whenever it happens, it happens.
"I think for the professional women, it should be between 25 and 30. To give you a chance to retire comfortably. I might even push it a little upward for the professional woman, until she is about 32. By the time the child is 18, she is 50 and she still has time to accumulate. But anytime you push it beyond that, the time of you educating your children and the time of your retirement are going to cross and something is going to have to give," Williams said.
He said while men are likely to suffer some financial impact when they have children, particularly if they are the only breadwinner in the home, it is not the same as with women.
Ultimately, the Pan American agency head said, women needed to strike a balance between her desires and the potential costs.
Williams said if a parent realises that their child's education and their retirement are all happening at the same time, a certain "crowding" effect can take place and another choice may have to be made here as well.
"If you find that crowding effect happening there, you need to either postpone your retirement maybe. If you have your child later, then you understand that the age 60 requirement is not practical. You may need to push your retirement to 65 or even 67," he said.