It costs $10,000 to have a baby, according to leading investment adviser, Scott Pape.
In the year leading up to pregnancy, he says $10,000 “at the very least” should be put aside.
The Melbourne-based finance guru puts the average cost of having a baby in a private hospital at $8,500 per birth – not including obstetricians, nappies or push presents.
Writing for his Barefoot Investor blog, Pape says the same amount of money is needed if you plan to give birth in a public hospital.
“Think of having a baby as like starting a business. There are significant upfront costs that can be amortised over subsequent product releases, but these upfront costs are really going to hit you,” he said.
The financial guru says some first-time parents suffer from “little emperor syndrome” and go “a little ga-ga” when they are expecting.
But some of the costs can be lowered by purchasing second-hand strollers or cribs.
"The first 12 months of being a parent are stressful. You have no idea what you’re doing. There’s very little sleep...You basically surrender yourself and serve the baby," he said.
"And so the best gift you can give yourself in that first year is not having to fight or worry about money."
Entitlements
When you finally do give birth to your priceless bundle of joy, you can claim government parental leave pay - which is currently $672.60 per week before tax for a maximum of 18 weeks.
The minimum wage is currently in addition to our existing employer provided paid or unpaid leave.
The birth coach who says labour doesn’t have to hurt. Post continues after podcast.
Some parents are also eligible for Centrelink benefits, including the Family Tax Benefit, parenting payment, rent assistance or a health care card.
But Pape recommends saving $10,000 "baby bounty" in addition to any entitlements.
This is sound sensible advice but can you put a price on a newborn?
My baby has already paid me back, he's the greatest gift I've ever been given.
Top Comments
I'd like to see a follow-on from this article that lists out costs for having a baby, for all us newbies out there that don't know - general estimates of vaginal/c-section birth at public/private hospitals, of nappies/formula/doctors visits, and anything else you can think of. That would be super helpful! :-)
If I'd waited to have a space ten grand in the bank to have my child, I'd still be waiting (and he's four now). You don't 'need' that much money if you are a normal, lower middle class person, have your child through the public system, and don't spend money on expensive unnecessarily baby gadgets and top of the line furniture.
I'm not saying have loads of children if you can't afford them, but this is a pretty out of touch, out of reach suggestion for the average person. Also, little babies aren't that expensive to care for, they don't need much - you know, besides all of your attention and time ;).
They do start getting more expensive as they get older, so if you do decide to save up $10K before you get pregnant, maybe you should put it in a high interest account and save it for the teenage years?