September 25, 2024 • 16 mins
Is there ever a right time to have a baby?
With living costs high, many people postpone parenthood until they’re in a more secure position. But there are plenty of ways to prepare your finances and plan for your future family.
Financial educator and mom of two, Charlotte Jessop from Looking After Your Pennies, is back to give money tips for new parents and anyone thinking of starting a family.
Charlotte joins our host Kia Commodore to cover spending priorities, building a support network, career, childcare and lots more.
You can play the podcast and find other useful content on Legal & General’s website:
https://www.legalandgeneral.com/podcasts/a-little-bit-richer
You can find out a little bit more about the costs around having a baby on Legal & General's website:
www.legalandgeneral.com/insurance/life-insurance/lifestyle/things-to-consider-before-having-a-baby/
You can follow Charlotte for more money tips on social media:
Instagram @lookingafteryourpennies
TikTok @lookingafteryourpennies
Kia and her guests share their own personal thoughts and opinions in this podcast. These might be different from Legal & General’s take on things. They give information for a UK audience that’s relevant at the time of recording.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kia (00:02):
Hey, this is Kia. Is it ever a right time
to have a baby? Navigating the cost of parenthood can be
daunting. So we've got an expert here today to help
us balance work and home life. Whether you are a
new parent or expecting the world of parenting can feel
like a foreign one. Welcome to another episode of A
Little Bit Richer, brought to you by my friends at
Legal & General. Charlotte Jessop from the Looking After Your Pennies
(00:24):
platform is here to help us navigate financial planning when
it comes to parenthood. Charlotte is a financial educator, coach, writer,
and vlogger. Welcome, Charlotte.
Charlotte Jessop (00:36):
Hello.
Kia (00:37):
So we're talking about the topic of parenthood and becoming
a parent is an incredible experience with all the joy
and love that it brings. And as a former bundle
of joy I should know that all too well, but
it is a very big decision. So I want to
ask you, is there ever a right time to have a
baby? And what advice do you have for people considering
(00:58):
starting or growing their family?
Charlotte Jessop (01:01):
This is a great question. Honestly, from my own personal
experience there's not a right time. I made the decision
to be a parent purely from an emotional standpoint rather
than a financial one. I got married when I was
26 and I knew that I wanted to start a
(01:22):
family pretty much straight away, and that was what I
did. A year later, I had my first daughter and
then I had another one two years after that. And
my finances at that time, I had not long bought
a house before that. I just finished paying for a wedding
and my finances probably weren't rosy. When I sit down
(01:46):
and look at the money I have now, I sit down and think, "
Oh, it'd probably be a lot easier now." But I
think the reality is that if you sit there and
you try and rationalise every decision you're going to make,
there's never a right time because if it's not the
finances that are stopping you, it's the things that you enjoy.
It's like, " Oh, I want to travel." Or " I want
(02:07):
to buy a house." So there want to always be something that stands
in your way of making that decision to be a
parent. Try not to wait for perfection. You just got
to take a little bit of a leap and figure
the rest out on the way.
Kia (02:22):
That's really comforting to hear because knowing that there is
no right time just gives you that confidence to say, "
Whenever you feel like you want to do it, just
do it." We've spoken about it before on a podcast
about the legal and general research that revealed some key
milestones. Like parenthood is being delayed and the average age
of having a baby is later than it ever has
(02:42):
been at 32 years old. So I want to ask
you, why do you think that is?
Charlotte Jessop (02:47):
Do you think there are some personal development that happens
at some point around when you turn 30? There may
be changes in your perspective on life and family and
that sort of thing. But also there are some things
that we've already touched on, things like career. I was
fortunate that I entered a career that allowed me to
progress fairly quickly. And I felt that was in a
(03:11):
strong place. That isn't the same for everybody. It can
take a few years to find a career that's right
for you. Education, more people are going to university, doing
postgraduate study as well. So all of those things make
a difference. And also when we look at finances, it's
been a rough few years.
Kia (03:30):
It's been rough. It's been rough.
Charlotte Jessop (03:32):
We look at the likes of COVID. We've also got
things like the cost of living crisis and this has
made things more expensive and people I think are potentially
waiting for those things to maybe settle down. House prices
are huge now. So it makes sense for people to
want to feel a little bit more secure in their
financial situation, but also these personal development milestones that I
(03:56):
think as women we have more freedoms. We were able
to make bigger and better strides in our careers than
my parents, than their parents were. So actually there's a
real sense of wanting to take advantage of that. So yeah, I think
there's a whole host of reasons. And I completely understand
why people would want to delay that.
Kia (04:17):
There is such a big shift between generations that if
you just take my parents versus me. So my parents
had me at 24. I'm 26, and I cannot even
fathom having a child right now because where I am in my career
and things I want to achieve. So yeah, I think
it's a different world that we're living in. Absolutely. So
(04:37):
let's talk about finances then. Our favorite topic to talk
about. So as a parent yourself, can you talk us
through some of the financial impacts of having a baby?
So more so the short- term costs when they're younger,
what are some of the costs that we can expect when
you have a baby?
Charlotte Jessop (04:56):
So I think this is what most people focus on.
You're like, " I'm having a baby." And you kind of
get very caught up in this bit. And actually it's
kind of fleeting. So they are going to need some clothes
and they are going to rapidly grow out of those
clothes as well. So I always urge people to go
second hand for things particularly like those newborn clothes because
(05:20):
it could be a week and they're done.
Kia (05:22):
A week?
Charlotte Jessop (05:23):
So clothes is obviously a main one, but lots of
people buy that for you, and it's their number one thing
to buy. You need things like car seats, and that's
probably one of the few costs that you can't really
avoid because recommended that you buy those sorts of things
brand new so that you know they haven't been in
accidents and stuff like that. Then you have to get
this kid out and about. You might want some sort
(05:44):
of push chair or I was quite a fan of
baby wrapping. And then you have things like feeding. So
depending on how you choose to feed your child, you
might have costs involved there. And then there's things like
nappies and all of these sorts of things. And whether
you choose to go down a kind of disposable nappy
route or a reusable nappy route, both of those things
(06:06):
involve costs. On top of that, you're then going to want
to do stuff with your kid. And there's always a
societal pressure to get your kids out and about and
learning baby sign language or baby yoga. These are all
things that I did with my children. I look at
it now and I'm like, " Why on earth did they
think they could do yoga when they were three months old?"
But a lot of this is about socialising and that's
(06:28):
hugely important as a new parent to just get out
and meet other mums and that sort of thing. So
those are costs as well. And as they get older,
you then enter into things like the school years and
nursery and that sort of thing. And then there's I
think a significant proportion of the costs of having a
child is around childcare. So even if you take six
(06:48):
months a year off after you've had a child, you
are going to at some point pay out for childcare.
And there are ways that you can negate this or
reduce this in some way, but that is a significant cost
that I think is a huge factor in why people are
choosing to delay parenthood. When you send them off to
school, I look at my kids now, I basically need
(07:09):
to just redirect my salary to the school's bank account
because it's Christmas Jumper Day, it's anti- bullying week and
they got to wear yellow socks.
Kia (07:18):
I used to love that school though. Mum give me
a pant. Guys, I love it.
Charlotte Jessop (07:21):
So yeah, there's always a new thing. They've had a
school photo and you couldn't possibly not get that photo-
Kia (07:27):
Of course.
Charlotte Jessop (07:27):
... because they're not smiling. So you still have to
pay for all of those things. And it's always something.
There's a school trip. My eldest daughter has recently signed
up to rock band lessons.
Kia (07:40):
Wow.
Charlotte Jessop (07:41):
So that's where my salary is probably going.
Kia (07:42):
Is being directed. Wow.
Charlotte Jessop (07:44):
So if she's not a rock star in the next 20 years-
Kia (07:46):
I want to see her on the charts. She has to
be on the charts.
Charlotte Jessop (07:50):
Yep. Yep, that's it.
Kia (07:52):
Wow. The costs really do add up, but I don't
think that should be a reason to not have kids.
It's just being aware. You'd rather know than go into
something and have no idea. So I think that's all
we're trying to do. Just bring awareness to it, but
don't let that be a reason to not pursue-
Charlotte Jessop (08:07):
Absolutely.
Kia (08:07):
... the joy that is parenthood. So what are some
of the considerations longer term that people should be thinking about?
Charlotte Jessop (08:14):
What we need to maybe talk about here is the
things that are not so obvious. And this is things
like the costs of being on maternity leave. That was a
reduction for me, quite a significant reduction in my salary
to spend with my children in those early weeks and
months, but then that also then impacts longer term as
(08:36):
well. So it's at that point where women become mothers
that we start seeing bigger gaps in things like gender
pay gap, we start seeing pension gaps, savings gaps. It's
that point. Basically we don't see a huge difference in
these things until we get to that point where women
start having babies and that's when we start seeing the
(08:58):
divide between the two. So we need to be considering
the implications of this and putting things in place to
make sure that we are offsetting or working to ensure
that there's not a longer- term damage on those things.
And that can be hard. I definitely wasn't 26 years
(09:21):
old and expected my first child going, " We really must
talk about the pension gap." That wasn't something that I
was thinking about, but being able to do this and
raise awareness of these things means that maybe we can
bring to light some of these conversations and people can
start making changes towards their finances. So you can do
things like pay into your pension while you're on maternity
(09:43):
leave, but it doesn't necessarily end at mat leave. It
can be like what happens in terms of who's going
to look after the children? Is it going to be
that one parent goes part- time or quits work entirely?
And you then go down to a single income household.
What are the costs of that? But also what are
the risks of that? Because if you're a single income
(10:04):
household, then your finances are a lot more precarious than
a double income household. And some of these conversations need
to be had, particularly if you've got a partner that
you're going on this journey with, how do you build
back in that security and how do you build back in
that equity in that financial partnership? So those costs are
(10:24):
not easy to see, but they are still there, and
I think we're hearing more and more about them now.
I guess the other thing to say on this is
it's not all financial. There are either my mental workload
has increased significantly since having children. I need a PA
(10:45):
to manage the emails from my kids' school because there's
about 30 a day. But that creates a toll and
it might be that has an impact on some of
the other things that I'm able to do, whether it's
a hobby or whether it's paid work because those sorts
of things take up time.
Kia (11:03):
I agree. I think it's good that we're having these
conversations because as women we need to be aware and
plan for that. So Charlotte, can you give any tips
for blending parenthood and your career?
Charlotte Jessop (11:14):
Yes. This is an interesting one, isn't it? Because for
me, on a personal level I'm hugely career driven and
ambitious, but also I love being a parent. So I
have to find a way to make both of these
things work for me. And it's been a journey and
it hasn't always been easy. And there's definitely been moments
where I've had to choose one over the other. And
(11:36):
there's always a sense of guilt and that sort of
thing about it. I would say lean on your village.
And we talked about those baby classes where you're doing
baby sign language, it all feels pointless, well, those people
turned into my village. I took my oldest daughter to baby
sign language class and the woman that sat next to
(11:57):
me is now one of my best friends. Her son
goes to school with my daughter. She lives around the
corner from me and she will be like, " Can I
drop my kids off at your house and can you
take them to school for me today?" And I'll be like, "
Yeah, no problem. I'm going that way anyway." And then
the next day I'll be like, " Do you mind picking
up my kids because I'm a bit late coming back
(12:17):
from work?" And these people make the whole thing work.
And this can be friends, this can be family. And
having that village, having that group of people around you
that you can call upon really does make a huge
difference to the whole experience of having kids. I think
the other thing to think about is just to think
(12:37):
creatively about your options. And we mentioned about the cost
of childcare, and this is huge. And actually my ex-
husband and I, when we had little kids, we made
the decision to both work part- time rather than pay
for childcare. Not only did our kids have a parent
with them at all times, but also by working part-
(13:00):
time we were paying less tax due to things like
tax allowances, than if one of us had worked full-
time. And it's going to be different for every parent.
But yeah try not to just be like, " Best childcare
or nothing." There might be another thing.
Kia (13:16):
There are great ways that you can kind of make things work which is good.
Charlotte Jessop (13:18):
Absolutely.
Kia (13:18):
It's good to hear. Before we wrap up this episode,
I want to ask you, what are your top three
tips if you'd like to have a child in the future?
Charlotte Jessop (13:28):
So first one, don't go overboard on the baby stuffs
because they can be really cheap and they don't need
loads of things. The thing is, you love these kids
when you wanted to have all the best stuff, but
ultimately they don't need fancy trainers that cost you 200
quid. Particularly when they're seven years old they don't know.
(13:48):
So you could just get them cheap ones and they
can run through muddy puddles and live their best lives
like that. So don't go overboard on the baby stuff
and just kind of keep those costs in check. As
exciting as it is don't. The next one, and this
might be my favorite tip, is to choose your career
wisely. And I say that I'm not turning people away
(14:09):
from following their career dreams, but if you can make
choices about the job that you're in prior to entering
the journey of parenthood it can make or break the experience.
So I'm talking about things like does the company you're
working for, what is their mat leave like? That will
make a difference to the amount of money you have
(14:29):
in those early days. Things like what are the pensions
like in that job? Are you getting a good pension
out of that job? And things like remote working, all
of this is going to impact on your experience not
only during the parenting years but onwards. And I think
if you can be in the right place with your
career and you are in a job that you love and
(14:53):
has flexibility, it can literally be a game changer for
the whole experience. And then the last one is work
on your money stuff before you have a kid. So
this can mean doing things like increasing your pension's contributions.
It can be things like paying off debt. It can
be things like overpaying your mortgage. And the benefit of
(15:14):
this is twofold. Not only do you get the benefits
of increased pension and less mortgage and stuff like that,
but you also get used to having less money. So
when you're making those extra contributions you get all of
those perks and then when baby comes along and you
start your family, you can stop doing those things and
offset that money towards starting your family, and you'll be
(15:37):
in a stronger place for it and you won't miss
the cash when baby comes along because it was already
being spent-
Kia (15:42):
It was already gone. Reallocated.
Charlotte Jessop (15:42):
... on something. Yeah. So I think if you can
do that, and it's always going to be a fine
balance. When do we stop doing all that money stuff
and when do we start having a kid? But essentially
if there's something you want to do you've got to
take the plunge eventually.
Kia (15:56):
You have to take the plunge if you want to achieve it.
Yep. Charlotte, thank you so much. This has been such
an insightful episode, especially as me who doesn't have kids
yet, but wants kids in the future. This has been
a reassuring and informative episode. So thank you so much
for coming onto the podcast.
Charlotte Jessop (16:11):
Thank you.
Kia (16:15):
Thanks Charlotte. You've given us a lot to think about.
I'd love it if you could review the podcast, spread
the word, and help others get a little bit richer
too. Keep up with the show on TikTok and Instagram at Legal &
General. Thank you for listening. See you soon.
Hey, this is Kia. Is it ever a right time
to have a baby? Navigating the cost of parenthood can be
daunting. So we've got an expert here today to help
us balance work and home life. Whether you are a
new parent or expecting the world of parenting can feel
like a foreign one. Welcome to another episode of A
Little Bit Richer, brought to you by my friends at
Legal & General. Charlotte Jessop from the Looking After Your Pennies
(00:24):
platform is here to help us navigate financial planning when
it comes to parenthood. Charlotte is a financial educator, coach, writer,
and vlogger. Welcome, Charlotte.
Charlotte Jessop (00:36):
Hello.
Kia (00:37):
So we're talking about the topic of parenthood and becoming
a parent is an incredible experience with all the joy
and love that it brings. And as a former bundle
of joy I should know that all too well, but
it is a very big decision. So I want to
ask you, is there ever a right time to have a
baby? And what advice do you have for people considering
(00:58):
starting or growing their family?
Charlotte Jessop (01:01):
This is a great question. Honestly, from my own personal
experience there's not a right time. I made the decision
to be a parent purely from an emotional standpoint rather
than a financial one. I got married when I was
26 and I knew that I wanted to start a
(01:22):
family pretty much straight away, and that was what I
did. A year later, I had my first daughter and
then I had another one two years after that. And
my finances at that time, I had not long bought
a house before that. I just finished paying for a wedding
and my finances probably weren't rosy. When I sit down
(01:46):
and look at the money I have now, I sit down and think, "
Oh, it'd probably be a lot easier now." But I
think the reality is that if you sit there and
you try and rationalise every decision you're going to make,
there's never a right time because if it's not the
finances that are stopping you, it's the things that you enjoy.
It's like, " Oh, I want to travel." Or " I want
(02:07):
to buy a house." So there want to always be something that stands
in your way of making that decision to be a
parent. Try not to wait for perfection. You just got
to take a little bit of a leap and figure
the rest out on the way.
Kia (02:22):
That's really comforting to hear because knowing that there is
no right time just gives you that confidence to say, "
Whenever you feel like you want to do it, just
do it." We've spoken about it before on a podcast
about the legal and general research that revealed some key
milestones. Like parenthood is being delayed and the average age
of having a baby is later than it ever has
(02:42):
been at 32 years old. So I want to ask
you, why do you think that is?
Charlotte Jessop (02:47):
Do you think there are some personal development that happens
at some point around when you turn 30? There may
be changes in your perspective on life and family and
that sort of thing. But also there are some things
that we've already touched on, things like career. I was
fortunate that I entered a career that allowed me to
progress fairly quickly. And I felt that was in a
(03:11):
strong place. That isn't the same for everybody. It can
take a few years to find a career that's right
for you. Education, more people are going to university, doing
postgraduate study as well. So all of those things make
a difference. And also when we look at finances, it's
been a rough few years.
Kia (03:30):
It's been rough. It's been rough.
Charlotte Jessop (03:32):
We look at the likes of COVID. We've also got
things like the cost of living crisis and this has
made things more expensive and people I think are potentially
waiting for those things to maybe settle down. House prices
are huge now. So it makes sense for people to
want to feel a little bit more secure in their
financial situation, but also these personal development milestones that I
(03:56):
think as women we have more freedoms. We were able
to make bigger and better strides in our careers than
my parents, than their parents were. So actually there's a
real sense of wanting to take advantage of that. So yeah, I think
there's a whole host of reasons. And I completely understand
why people would want to delay that.
Kia (04:17):
There is such a big shift between generations that if
you just take my parents versus me. So my parents
had me at 24. I'm 26, and I cannot even
fathom having a child right now because where I am in my career
and things I want to achieve. So yeah, I think
it's a different world that we're living in. Absolutely. So
(04:37):
let's talk about finances then. Our favorite topic to talk
about. So as a parent yourself, can you talk us
through some of the financial impacts of having a baby?
So more so the short- term costs when they're younger,
what are some of the costs that we can expect when
you have a baby?
Charlotte Jessop (04:56):
So I think this is what most people focus on.
You're like, " I'm having a baby." And you kind of
get very caught up in this bit. And actually it's
kind of fleeting. So they are going to need some clothes
and they are going to rapidly grow out of those
clothes as well. So I always urge people to go
second hand for things particularly like those newborn clothes because
(05:20):
it could be a week and they're done.
Kia (05:22):
A week?
Charlotte Jessop (05:23):
So clothes is obviously a main one, but lots of
people buy that for you, and it's their number one thing
to buy. You need things like car seats, and that's
probably one of the few costs that you can't really
avoid because recommended that you buy those sorts of things
brand new so that you know they haven't been in
accidents and stuff like that. Then you have to get
this kid out and about. You might want some sort
(05:44):
of push chair or I was quite a fan of
baby wrapping. And then you have things like feeding. So
depending on how you choose to feed your child, you
might have costs involved there. And then there's things like
nappies and all of these sorts of things. And whether
you choose to go down a kind of disposable nappy
route or a reusable nappy route, both of those things
(06:06):
involve costs. On top of that, you're then going to want
to do stuff with your kid. And there's always a
societal pressure to get your kids out and about and
learning baby sign language or baby yoga. These are all
things that I did with my children. I look at
it now and I'm like, " Why on earth did they
think they could do yoga when they were three months old?"
But a lot of this is about socialising and that's
(06:28):
hugely important as a new parent to just get out
and meet other mums and that sort of thing. So
those are costs as well. And as they get older,
you then enter into things like the school years and
nursery and that sort of thing. And then there's I
think a significant proportion of the costs of having a
child is around childcare. So even if you take six
(06:48):
months a year off after you've had a child, you
are going to at some point pay out for childcare.
And there are ways that you can negate this or
reduce this in some way, but that is a significant cost
that I think is a huge factor in why people are
choosing to delay parenthood. When you send them off to
school, I look at my kids now, I basically need
(07:09):
to just redirect my salary to the school's bank account
because it's Christmas Jumper Day, it's anti- bullying week and
they got to wear yellow socks.
Kia (07:18):
I used to love that school though. Mum give me
a pant. Guys, I love it.
Charlotte Jessop (07:21):
So yeah, there's always a new thing. They've had a
school photo and you couldn't possibly not get that photo-
Kia (07:27):
Of course.
Charlotte Jessop (07:27):
... because they're not smiling. So you still have to
pay for all of those things. And it's always something.
There's a school trip. My eldest daughter has recently signed
up to rock band lessons.
Kia (07:40):
Wow.
Charlotte Jessop (07:41):
So that's where my salary is probably going.
Kia (07:42):
Is being directed. Wow.
Charlotte Jessop (07:44):
So if she's not a rock star in the next 20 years-
Kia (07:46):
I want to see her on the charts. She has to
be on the charts.
Charlotte Jessop (07:50):
Yep. Yep, that's it.
Kia (07:52):
Wow. The costs really do add up, but I don't
think that should be a reason to not have kids.
It's just being aware. You'd rather know than go into
something and have no idea. So I think that's all
we're trying to do. Just bring awareness to it, but
don't let that be a reason to not pursue-
Charlotte Jessop (08:07):
Absolutely.
Kia (08:07):
... the joy that is parenthood. So what are some
of the considerations longer term that people should be thinking about?
Charlotte Jessop (08:14):
What we need to maybe talk about here is the
things that are not so obvious. And this is things
like the costs of being on maternity leave. That was a
reduction for me, quite a significant reduction in my salary
to spend with my children in those early weeks and
months, but then that also then impacts longer term as
(08:36):
well. So it's at that point where women become mothers
that we start seeing bigger gaps in things like gender
pay gap, we start seeing pension gaps, savings gaps. It's
that point. Basically we don't see a huge difference in
these things until we get to that point where women
start having babies and that's when we start seeing the
(08:58):
divide between the two. So we need to be considering
the implications of this and putting things in place to
make sure that we are offsetting or working to ensure
that there's not a longer- term damage on those things.
And that can be hard. I definitely wasn't 26 years
(09:21):
old and expected my first child going, " We really must
talk about the pension gap." That wasn't something that I
was thinking about, but being able to do this and
raise awareness of these things means that maybe we can
bring to light some of these conversations and people can
start making changes towards their finances. So you can do
things like pay into your pension while you're on maternity
(09:43):
leave, but it doesn't necessarily end at mat leave. It
can be like what happens in terms of who's going
to look after the children? Is it going to be
that one parent goes part- time or quits work entirely?
And you then go down to a single income household.
What are the costs of that? But also what are
the risks of that? Because if you're a single income
(10:04):
household, then your finances are a lot more precarious than
a double income household. And some of these conversations need
to be had, particularly if you've got a partner that
you're going on this journey with, how do you build
back in that security and how do you build back in
that equity in that financial partnership? So those costs are
(10:24):
not easy to see, but they are still there, and
I think we're hearing more and more about them now.
I guess the other thing to say on this is
it's not all financial. There are either my mental workload
has increased significantly since having children. I need a PA
(10:45):
to manage the emails from my kids' school because there's
about 30 a day. But that creates a toll and
it might be that has an impact on some of
the other things that I'm able to do, whether it's
a hobby or whether it's paid work because those sorts
of things take up time.
Kia (11:03):
I agree. I think it's good that we're having these
conversations because as women we need to be aware and
plan for that. So Charlotte, can you give any tips
for blending parenthood and your career?
Charlotte Jessop (11:14):
Yes. This is an interesting one, isn't it? Because for
me, on a personal level I'm hugely career driven and
ambitious, but also I love being a parent. So I
have to find a way to make both of these
things work for me. And it's been a journey and
it hasn't always been easy. And there's definitely been moments
where I've had to choose one over the other. And
(11:36):
there's always a sense of guilt and that sort of
thing about it. I would say lean on your village.
And we talked about those baby classes where you're doing
baby sign language, it all feels pointless, well, those people
turned into my village. I took my oldest daughter to baby
sign language class and the woman that sat next to
(11:57):
me is now one of my best friends. Her son
goes to school with my daughter. She lives around the
corner from me and she will be like, " Can I
drop my kids off at your house and can you
take them to school for me today?" And I'll be like, "
Yeah, no problem. I'm going that way anyway." And then
the next day I'll be like, " Do you mind picking
up my kids because I'm a bit late coming back
(12:17):
from work?" And these people make the whole thing work.
And this can be friends, this can be family. And
having that village, having that group of people around you
that you can call upon really does make a huge
difference to the whole experience of having kids. I think
the other thing to think about is just to think
(12:37):
creatively about your options. And we mentioned about the cost
of childcare, and this is huge. And actually my ex-
husband and I, when we had little kids, we made
the decision to both work part- time rather than pay
for childcare. Not only did our kids have a parent
with them at all times, but also by working part-
(13:00):
time we were paying less tax due to things like
tax allowances, than if one of us had worked full-
time. And it's going to be different for every parent.
But yeah try not to just be like, " Best childcare
or nothing." There might be another thing.
Kia (13:16):
There are great ways that you can kind of make things work which is good.
Charlotte Jessop (13:18):
Absolutely.
Kia (13:18):
It's good to hear. Before we wrap up this episode,
I want to ask you, what are your top three
tips if you'd like to have a child in the future?
Charlotte Jessop (13:28):
So first one, don't go overboard on the baby stuffs
because they can be really cheap and they don't need
loads of things. The thing is, you love these kids
when you wanted to have all the best stuff, but
ultimately they don't need fancy trainers that cost you 200
quid. Particularly when they're seven years old they don't know.
(13:48):
So you could just get them cheap ones and they
can run through muddy puddles and live their best lives
like that. So don't go overboard on the baby stuff
and just kind of keep those costs in check. As
exciting as it is don't. The next one, and this
might be my favorite tip, is to choose your career
wisely. And I say that I'm not turning people away
(14:09):
from following their career dreams, but if you can make
choices about the job that you're in prior to entering
the journey of parenthood it can make or break the experience.
So I'm talking about things like does the company you're
working for, what is their mat leave like? That will
make a difference to the amount of money you have
(14:29):
in those early days. Things like what are the pensions
like in that job? Are you getting a good pension
out of that job? And things like remote working, all
of this is going to impact on your experience not
only during the parenting years but onwards. And I think
if you can be in the right place with your
career and you are in a job that you love and
(14:53):
has flexibility, it can literally be a game changer for
the whole experience. And then the last one is work
on your money stuff before you have a kid. So
this can mean doing things like increasing your pension's contributions.
It can be things like paying off debt. It can
be things like overpaying your mortgage. And the benefit of
(15:14):
this is twofold. Not only do you get the benefits
of increased pension and less mortgage and stuff like that,
but you also get used to having less money. So
when you're making those extra contributions you get all of
those perks and then when baby comes along and you
start your family, you can stop doing those things and
offset that money towards starting your family, and you'll be
(15:37):
in a stronger place for it and you won't miss
the cash when baby comes along because it was already
being spent-
Kia (15:42):
It was already gone. Reallocated.
Charlotte Jessop (15:42):
... on something. Yeah. So I think if you can
do that, and it's always going to be a fine
balance. When do we stop doing all that money stuff
and when do we start having a kid? But essentially
if there's something you want to do you've got to
take the plunge eventually.
Kia (15:56):
You have to take the plunge if you want to achieve it.
Yep. Charlotte, thank you so much. This has been such
an insightful episode, especially as me who doesn't have kids
yet, but wants kids in the future. This has been
a reassuring and informative episode. So thank you so much
for coming onto the podcast.
Charlotte Jessop (16:11):
Thank you.
Kia (16:15):
Thanks Charlotte. You've given us a lot to think about.
I'd love it if you could review the podcast, spread
the word, and help others get a little bit richer
too. Keep up with the show on TikTok and Instagram at Legal &
General. Thank you for listening. See you soon.
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