How To Prepare For Maternity Leave Financially

The time off work spent with a newborn is one of the most memorable times in a parent s life.

How to prepare for maternity leave financially.

Saving for maternity leave. Paid time off is a wonderful way to financially prepare for maternity leave. You can learn more about parental leave and your finances as well as other financial issues that affect women at women s money week. I recommend always taking the conservative approach.

The family and medical leave act fmla allows eligible employees up to 12 weeks of job protected unpaid leave from work per year for certain family and medical reasons including for the birth of a child. This can be a time of amazing bonding with your baby but for many it is a stressful experience with the addition of a much reduced family income and financial strain. If you estimate five weeks paid leave budget for 3 4 weeks and keep the surplus aside for your emergency fund. To avoid financial shocks work with your family to follow best practices to create a budget that works for you.

H owever most companies cap your pto off way below this. Like any other major life event financial planning is crucial to make the experience as stress free as possible. If you are entitled to leave payments figure out how much this is and plan your maternity leave budget around it. To financially prepare for maternity leave you need to know how long you plan to be away from work without pay.

To take a full paid maternity leave you d need 480 hours of pto if you work 40 hours week. This means that you will get a paycheck even when you do not physically go to work. My wife and i compiled a list of the most important things to do to financially prepare for maternity leave. How to financially prepare your family.

Begin saving money from every paycheck and from those reduced expenses. So save as much as you can. This post is a part of women s money week 2015. Carl september 25 2020 september 25 2020.

Always do your research and communicate openly with your employer. How to financially prepare your family. When you prepare financially for your maternity leave you will enjoy that time with your child that much more. With so many unknowns taking ownership of your financial circumstances to prepare for a baby is empowering.

Which covers many of these items below and more with additional resources. The time off work spent with a newborn is one of the most memorable times in a parent s life. Just because your maternity leave doesn t start for 6 months doesn t mean you should wait to prepare financially. We also created a free financial checklist baby on the way.

Saving for maternity leave. After all saving for maternity leave is the precursor to a total budget overhaul once the baby arrives. Like any other major life event financial planning is crucial to make the experience as stress free as possible.