How much money do you need to earn for 3 kids? Really?

[Onemorequestionplz]

How much money to you need to earn to have 3 maybe even 4 kids ?

for simplicity, not london based, average mortgage and average expenses, no debts. Older dcs would be 30 funded hrs/ school age, both parents working.

how much do you think you need to earn?

I feel with house prices now, it would be very unfair to have a child if you couldn't help them with a decent amount towards a deposit. Even if they study hard, get a good job and work hard, it will be so difficult for them

Have you stress tested your mortgage op with the rate rises? Did you buy with HTB? Our mortgage doubles in a couple of years if rates stay as they are

I don't think you can plan the next 18 years you don't know if ill health will take you, your marriage could end or your child not could be disabled or anything.

You must know if you can afford to have baby no2. I think the issue is after baby no2 people don't think carefully about the costs involved for 3+ kids.

Our nursery is £1469 most months and going up 8% which will put it at £70 a day. Our DS will hit free hours next year which makes a small, but helpful, dent in fulltime hours. We are trying for a second now because I'm about to turn 40 and see it as the last chance, our final embryo.

We are on combined 90k, with me higher and DP average earner- but nursery is brutal and for the overlap of the two little ones we will struggle for a year.

For me for the life style I want probably 350k. We have household income of 150k and have one DC. I have things like housekeeper cleaner , tutor.

Yeah we did htb too, we both work in this area and rates are coming down, they are already lower than after the disastrous mini budget, now don’t get me wrong we won’t see rates of 1% for a while but our work forecasters are of the opinion that inflation will be stabilising mid point this year and back within the Bank of England target of 2% by 2025, so mortgages rates will be a lot lower then as there will be no need to keep the base rate that high.

I would say at least 60k

My DD has a property set aside for her having 3-4 kids would mean having to buy 3-4 properties to make everything fair..

But this ideally of course! This for ANY amount of kids 😂

@Onemorequestionplz I'm keeping my spreadsheet at 5% just in case but appreciate your optimism! We bought with HTB and hoping to mortgage it out at that point but literally doubles our mortgage if rates are 5%

Best of luck with your transfer, i hope it all goes well for you :)

Things like cars and driving lessons , I had zero help from my parents and only started driving when I was 24 I also lived in a very rural area so had to move and save. Parents never helped with house deposits either or university they weren't poor either. I've funded everything myself , I think it's a very WC mentality to expect your kids to fund everything themselves.

always makes sense to finically plan for the worst, so you’re spot on in your thinking!

but there’s options with htb, can pay just the interest for a while, and wait to see how rates go over the next year or so and then add it to your mortgage. We’re considering this, maybe adding half to the existing loan and paying the interest on the other half or using a big chunk of savings to pay half and then add the other half or pay interest on the rest. Bit of a wait and see until the end of the year see how it’s looking.

rates with nationwide and lloyds are under 5 right now anyway so I’m cautiously optimistic, these things tend to be cyclical anyway. So far bank forecasters have been spot on

In my opinion when you start to have more than 2 unless you are very rich it starts to dilute what kind of life you can give your DC. Things like house deposits driving lessons , cars insurance, university costs. Kids aren't independent at 18 and you can wash your hands of them financially . It's a very long slog to independence as everything is so expensive now.

wc? Working class?

I do agree in part but I do think having children fund some of those things independently is key to building financial responsibility

Yes I'm from a working class background and although my family managed to get a good income. They had an attitude of you must struggle hard with no concessions or help like they did. I was basically put out to pasture at 18 same with my siblings. I have worked hard but I don't want my DC to struggle like I did..

Yes but things like driving lessons are pretty much a life necessity especially if you live rurally. I would expect my DC to have a part time job while at uni to fund stuff like clothes and phone but necessities I would fund as it's needed.

@Fifi0102 I agree. Times are different today and rent is a huge chunk!

I get 3 is unaffordable for many. My parents did fund me or my brothers driving lessons and university though. I don't think everyone can or should pay that.

I have 3 DC.

I had my first when I was working full time and my household income was under 10k a year. I’ve pushed it up since then and now my income is closer to 30k which is more than I could ever have dreamt of earning when I was younger.

I have bought a house and built a life on that, never had any help with university, house deposit or driving lessons from my own parents, I moved out and was financially independent at 18. We’ve never been on huge exotic holidays but we have a lovely time on the holiday we do get. I can’t see why my DC wouldn’t be aiming for independence by late teens, they don’t have to move out but 2/3 are earning their own money now and the oldest has three jobs just like I did at that age.

Experience and character matter just as much as further education, they are welcome to go to university if they wish and I save for their futures but that doesn’t mean that they get everything in life just provided for them. I’m not sure that would be good for them.

I think if you never had the opportunity it clouds your view. My DF outright refused to fund university although his income was counted he was a high earner and refused driving lessons. His attitude was I didn't need university why should you. I was planning on studying a course with professional registration. The buses ran every two hours and stopped early he said I should walk to work which took 1 hour 20 mins each way. I moved out at 18 and later managed to move to a busier place with better transport links. I also met my DH and I was counted as estranged for uni purposes.

See my parents grew up working class I’d say but my mum had a small business and my dad worked his way up to an MD of a very well known (at the time) utility firm but they went through hardship and it was always a conversation, this is what we can do and what we’re going to support with, now do your best with it. They told me to get a job at 16 if I wanted a car as a car is an expense and needs to be funded, so I had a block of of lessons and the rest to be funded myself, it was £25 a lesson and I earned £50 a week so it seemed fair. Birthdays and x mas I was told you can have presents or you can have x amount of cash, I chose cash to fund any deficit in my car insurance. As I funded my deposit myself I guess I was late onto the property ladder 29, so peak property prices, but at that point I don’t know, I didn’t feel like they should give me a deposit.

I don't get it either. If the op has two kids already it doesn't take much to figure out whether they can afford another one.

My DH had his driving lessons paid for , they also gifted him 30k deposit money he's one of three. My parents are more wealthy than ILs and it was embarrassing they felt sorry for me. They couldn't understand why parents wouldn't help if they had the means . Me and my DH work very hard never not had jobs and we now are very very comfortable more so than my parents so I suppose I got the last laugh. I don't credit my parents really at all for any help in getting where I am today. I wouldn't want my DC working 3 jobs and killing herself just one is fine.