Cameron and I had our first child, Gaines, last summer and he recently celebrated his first birthday. Since a lot of our friends are having children and I have several clients who are having children or becoming grandparents, I thought it would be helpful to highlight a few items that I did personally after Gaines was born.
- Added him as a contingent beneficiary to our retirement accounts and insurance policies. I always recommend having a primary and contingent beneficiary listed on eligible accounts.
- Updated our estate documents to include new provisions and name guardians in the event something happened to both Cameron and me. If you don’t have estate documents in place or they haven’t been updated in a while, this is something you want to consider.
- Updated our cash flow (i.e. budget) to include updated and new expenses (i.e. food, clothing, diapers, toys, childcare, the list goes on and on!)
- Set up a 529 plan for his education savings. I also started contributing monthly to the account and included the monthly amount in my budget mentioned above.
- Set up a custodial investment account. This is similar to how many parents set up a bank account for their child. I plan to deposit money that is gifted to him for birthdays and holidays from parents, grandparents, and other friends and family members.
- Reviewed life insurance coverages to ensure it was still sufficient for our needs. It was.
- Increased our contributions to our Flex Spending Account (FSA) and Dependent Care Reimbursement Account (DCRA). These were both available through Cameron’s employer and help with the increased costs that come with babies and toddlers.
- Added him to our health insurance plan. This is required by most insurance companies within 30 days of the baby’s birth.
- Created an email address for him so we can send emails to the address with pictures and other memories (Cameron’s idea 🙂 ).
I’m sure I forgot some items so I’ll plan to do a follow-up post in the near future. If you have any questions or thoughts on the above topic, feel free to reach out.
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