Did you stop investing when you had little kids?

We have a 6month old and looking to have another baby soon. We're working out our plan for the next few years and not sure whether to stop investing til the kids are a bit older as I'm currently a stay-at-home mum, or whether I should go back to work early and use my wage purely for purchasing new properties and servicing those debts.

We have a number of properties that, if we don't do anything more, will look after us in 15-20 years time (we're in our mid-30s) but it would be nice for DH to stop working for the man earlier.

So we have two options:

1. me go back to work in 12-18 months (or earlier if we find we can't have more children -we're doing IVF so we can't do this forever) and working hard to buy more properties until the kids start school. Then I focus on the kids activities and focus on running the properties. or
2. focus on the kids until they start school and not buy any properties in the meantime, then when they are at school, restart the accumulation of properties.

For those that have kids, did you make one of the above choices and if so, did it work for you? Or did you have a solution part-way between. FYI we've pretty much hit our borrowing capacity on DH's income alone and we don't feel comfortable with taking on more debt anyway with interest rates on the rise if I am not working.

Sorry it's a bit rambled but hope it makes sense. Thanks in advance.
 
my 5 years of fatherhood have set me back about a decade.

plan was to cashflow up before i was 30 in preparation for this upcoming growth phase. however, i had to sell everything to buy a bigger house for the family - although that was quite a strategic purchase as well, so i shouldn't complain.

but i'm only just starting to accumulate again now - and i'm 30 this year.

my solution? show me the cash. cash can fund low yielding, high growth properties later - let me replace my working income so i can spend a day or two a week and find/structure the better deals.
 
Our son is 4 and a half, and we started buying IPs 5 years ago.

It is simply a matter of balancing cashflow and work with lifestyle and investing. Perhaps look at investing on a smaller scale (eg buy shares each month) instead of buying property. A lot will depend on how expensive you let your kids be.

There's no right or wrong way.
 
I have three children below six,
I am the only one working as the wife is a stay at home mother.
I am lucky that I still have a good income in the six figures and am able to have a lot of time with the children.
The more children you have the less the bank will lend.
I would rather children than more money than I can spend.

This is the second marriage as the first one fell down from me being a workaholic.
I now take the time to spend with my children / grandchildren and have weekends off and special times off.
I am in my 40's so there is still time later for you,I believe children must come first:p

Is there some way you can work from home to continue earning money.You are only young once and I have found the secret to a happy and successful life is family:D
 
Renovated first house madly when I was pregnant because it was a 1br in terrible shape and it needed to be made babysafe, as well as having the dining room converted to a second bedroom.

Renovated second house madly when I was pregnant the second time as the floorplan sucked. We converted a HUGE bedroom to two large bedrooms and the former third bedroom to a monster sized family room.

Bought third house when brain was missing from second baby who never sleeps.

Building fourth house because third house has 3 bedrooms, second baby never sleeps so not good to share with a baby, 1st child is too old to share with a baby, and I'm pregnant and thus need a 4br house.

Considering I'm getting too old to have any more kids and no way in hell I want more than three, so going by the track record we'll probably never purchase another house ever again :rolleyes:

Actually I do have this vague aim of buying a 1 or 2br unit in the city so when offspring #1 hits university age I can send her away to stable, subsidised accommodation so its not going to stop at all ...

So in essense, if I hadn't had any kids I'd still be in my nice 1br cottage in the city instead of accidentally aquiring lots of spare houses in the country, and wouldn't have any goals at all to upgrade or aquire future Stuff for the kiddies.
 
I went back to work when our first born was 9 months old thinking I would get pregnant straight away. I worked for two years......

This decision is purely yours, but for us, after that second baby (my mum minded our first as I was not keen in placing him in child care) I have not worked. I am about to turn 50 :eek: and youngest has just turned 14.

We could have amassed a lot more if I had gone back to work, but it came down to what I wanted... and I wanted to stay home.

I was lonely and bored with one baby and didn't have any friends with babies, so quite enjoyed being at work again for a while, but after working for two years and having a second, and then a third, life got pretty busy.

Now I have time to work, I choose not to. I like my "me time". It really is such a personal thing, and ultimately, amassing a lot of money is not what floats everyone's boat.

I say follow your heart. If you have "several properties" that will support you in 15 or 20 years' time, why not enjoy your baby (and hopefully soon to be "babies") and see where your heart leads you.
 
we didn't start investing until our youngest was about 4 and we retired more or less when she was 13. I will never regret spending those early years with my babies. we are free to do whatever with then now but at 13, 15 and 20 quite frankly, they don't want to even be seen with us! So I am glad I was with them when they thought I was cool and knew everything lol.

Like Wylie, I now enjoy my "me time".

My litmus test for most of these "big" decisions is what would I regret on my death bed?
 
My wife and I have accumulated the majority of our portfolio since our child was born 6 yrs ago. This involved us both working full time. As a teacher I have lots of holidays which helps, and my wife is well paid for working relatively short hours.

Initially, when our child was very young (baby) it had it's challenges and we continually questioned our decision. We had support from my wife's side - my in laws came to stay with us and without this support we could not have achieved what we have. It isn't for everyone, and believe me there were times when we felt like giving up.

During this time we monitored our investment progress and had decided if we couldn't see results, then we would review our situation. Happily, the decision to invest and work while our child was a baby has paid off. The next couple of years will involve using the equity we have accumulated to invest in assets that will generate income. This may involve buying, renovating and selling at a profit to pay down debt (and repeating) buying commercial realestate, and/or shares. Not entirely sure yet.

Our plan is to work part time within the next three years, and spend time travelling extensively together as a family while allowing the assets to do their thing in the background.

Investing while you have young children is certainly possible, but you have to do what suits you. Your plan above sounds good - hold onto what you have and wait for growth/income to come.

Regards Jason.
 
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I have a 5mth old, a 2yr old and a 4yr old. I was 9mths pg with my second child when we signed contracts for our PPOR and 9mths pg with the 3rd when we signed contracts for our first IP. We figured out how much we could afford to borrow without me going back to work and then went for it - I personally don't want to start fulltime work until my kids are no longer babies. We likely will not buy another for another 2-3yr, when I join the workforce fulltime (to increase servicability and save for a deposit - It will be our new PPOR).

So I guess it comes down to what you can afford and whether you want to work or be a SAHM. If being a SAHM is what you really want, but it means you have to wait to invest, don't be put off - you can still save and learn in the meantime. If you don't mind the idea of being a working mum, then go for that.

Not much help am I? :)

I guess
 
Lifes Priorities

Did you stop investing when you had little kids?

I would suggest the thread title is a bit off the mark.

Having kids is the absolute ultimate investment!

A different asset class perhaps, but certainly an investment in one's future and one that money cannot buy.

Regardless of your investment strategy don't underestimate the value of our kids or their stay at home mums (and/or dads) regardless of the investment goals.:cool:
 
No we started when we had our first child our child is one of the main reasons we invest as it's for her not to struggle after we are gone...
 
Before we married I bought our first PPOR. It was a dump, but that was all I could afford on my wage alone. Then I married & fell pregnant straight away.

Because the house was a dump, it was in a continual state of renovation for some time and because I stopped working we had to do everything on a shoestring. I remember being 9 months pregnant, laying on the floor sewing carpet pieces together as we could not afford new carpet, but the old stuff was still serviceable.

When the youngest arrived, she proved to be quite the little tom boy and liked nothing better than to 'help' Daddy. She had a little plastic tool kit and would be Hubby's shadow. Another passion was digging in the garden and eating snails. Interesting times. The eldest was all girl, and preferred to keep right away from 'all that dirt' and play with the barbie dolls.

Even in later years, when around age 11, Hubby converted a carport into a garage. She still maintains that she built half of it. Oh, and the favourite shop was Bunnings. Strange for a little girl, but she loved it and could spend literally hours browsing the aisles if we let her.:confused:
 
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Skater, My 4yr old DD's favourite shop is Bunnings - but only because of the great play equipment LOL. :) Then again, DH and I are as 'un-handy' as they come. DH finally called hire a hubby to come and put up the child gates we had bought before our PPOR was built, for kid no.2; they are going up for kid no.3.
 
DH finally called hire a hubby to come and put up the child gates we had bought before our PPOR was built, for kid no.2; they are going up for kid no.3.
Pft, like child gates work. We ended up leaning an entire door sideways across anything we didn't want the baby into. Now we have a big shelf mounted on the wall here 5 foot off the ground with all the good baby stuff on it, and the rest is in keyed cupboards. As to everything else, it is just a big game of "where did you get THAT from? Go put it back". She has free run of the entire house except the bathroom, and the entire yard except inside the chook coop.

I got lulled into a false sense of security by baby #1 who didn't investigate cupboards, get into stuff or play. She just followed me everywhere talking. Still does. She didn't eat snails, she turned them upside down and used the slime as ink to draw with.
 
Did you stop investing when you had little kids?

I would suggest the thread title is a bit off the mark.

Having kids is the absolute ultimate investment!

A different asset class perhaps, but certainly an investment in one's future and one that money cannot buy.

Regardless of your investment strategy don't underestimate the value of our kids or their stay at home mums (and/or dads) regardless of the investment goals.:cool:

Agreed

Be nice to your kids also, one day they'll choose your nursing home


Are you ready to have kids test
 
They don't really do all that.

From my experience with my first child extrapolated, all children are unnaturally neat and organised, hate messes with a passion, and won't leave food around the place for fear of germs so the house is messier when they are not there (I'm a messy person, so is my partner) and eerily neat when they are home :D

I don't miss the arguments when she's not home but the cleaning fairy is nice to have. This house is gradually filling with toys, shoes and computer parts from the other, messier members of the family.
 
Hi beachgirl,

While having my third child did put my investment strategy on hold, it was because of the loss of income, the GFC and was not a conscious decision.

I would say: Continue as is, unless your well-being and that of your family is affected.

In fact, I started the "Real" investing after my second child was born because I thought I could not afford to hang onto my one and only IP! :)

Regards JO
 
Mrs and I are trying for our first. We have our PPOR and 3 IPs. Both of us are working. She is concerned about the amount of debts while my concern is not having enough assets. If the little ones start coming, she is possibily stop work for a year. Like most of us, we would like financial freedom. So i always tell her 'Slaught for 10 to 15 years rather than all of our lives'.

Thought friends encouraged us that babies do not spend much at least until they are three years of age, I would like to make a buffer zone e.g. illness etc. anyone has an estimated cost for a typical child?

1 day to 3 years =?
more than 3 years to 7 years =?
more than 7 years to 11 years = ?
more than 11 years to 16 years =?
more than 16 years to 21 years = ?

I remember Money magazine had something similar but couldn't remember which edition. Don't mean to quantify children in this manner. Just for financial planning purpose.


I am still trying to convince the Mrs 'there are bad debts and good debts' ;)
 
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