Bringing home your bouncing baby boy or girl should be anexciting time of celebration–not cause for worry about how you’regoing to pay for feeding, clothing, and caring for your new bundleof expenses. The average family will spend between $11,000 and$16,000 during a new baby’s first year, and more than $200,000before a kid’s eighteenth birthday. Unfortunately, a second childonly doubles your costs, with little economy of scale for eachadditional baby.
Before you start using these statistics as birth control, take adeep breath and know that you can have a family and make acomfortable future for your children while saving for your ownimportant goals. The Wall Street Journal Financial Guidebook forNew Parents shows you the way, with information on how to:
· Safeguard your child’s well-being with wills, trusts, and lifeinsurance
· Best weigh your child-care options and decide whether to goback to work
· Save on taxes with child-friendly tax credits and deductionsplus tax-advantaged benefits at work