Following on from Jessica’s lovely blog post, and also from a Consumer Finance Education Body seminar I went to last week, I thought I’d bring family finance to the fore this Friday (what a lot of F’s!).
Like it or not, sometime in your life a big financial bombshell is likely to come your way.
One of the biggest of these is a baby. Yes, I know babies are actually quite tiny things but, boy, they can wreak some huge havoc!
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| Aaaah! I think she's got your nose. And my savings. |
So I was dead impressed by all the advice that’s waiting for expectant parents over at the money made clear website. And I was surprised to see that quite a lot has changed since I had babies (apparently they don’t make you bite on a bit of wood during delivery any more! And Dads can have time off too!)…
in particular I learned that:
· Yes, most Dads can have two weeks’ paternity leave (start lining up the jobs for him now)
· Expectant mums are entitled to paid time off for antenatal care (no need to take a day’s holiday or throw a sickie)
· Mums may get help with childcare costs while studying or retraining (perhaps go for a Crowd Control qualification if you’re having a large brood?)
· Even if you’re self-employed you can usually claim Maternity Allowance (if you’re a self-employed financial advisor you probably know this)
· Dads can pay into a pension for their partner (this I did know but it really is worth repeating –anything to stop women’s pensions taking more of a hammering).
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| www.moneymadeclear.org/parents |
So if you’re the type who thought that planning a family just involved sex and knitting (not at the same time) it might be advisable to get yourself over to www.moneymadeclear.org.uk/parents/
Just to make absolutely sure you don’t do something you regret. I’m speaking financially here. You cannot take babies back and ask for a refund.
Karen, I would LOVE you to do some investigation into discrimination of parents applying for mortgages. I was shocked to read in The Times newspaper at the weekend that having dependents automatically reduces the amount of money a lender will alow you to borrow. In one illustration a 31 yr old earning £30K/year would be lent £141K by HSBC but that would drop to £86K if that person had 2 children. Having children does not necessarily mean you have more outgoings than a person who doesn't have dependents. That 31 year old without kids could equally be taking care of elderly parents or financing a cocaine habit...neither of which are hard to get rid of if mortgage repayments became difficult! I think mortgage lenders should ask everyone for a complete financial piture rather than act in this prejudicial way. Thoughts?
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