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Myself and my 5 siblings all survived off of my mother’s public teacher salary. You don’t need a quarter million a year to have a family unless your lifestyle creep is so bad that you literally need it to manage servicing your debt. This post is really out of touch tbh.
Food. Rent/mortgage. Medical care. I don’t necessarily think you need a quarter of a million to have any kids, but comparing the situation now to the situation 20 years ago is ridiculous. Cost-of-living has increased massively. I am 40 and actually had to pay bills 20 years ago so I likely have more perspective on it than AA2 does. It is a different universe.
Coach
Of course not, but it depends on where you live and what kind of a childhood you envision for your kids and what kind of a life you envision for yourself.
No one wants their child to be "the poor one" in their class. No one in his right mind would relegate their child to some of the public schools out there.
No question that, whatever the emotional benefits, having children is a financial decision that will set your financial freedom back decades, so choose wisely whether to have them or not.
My fellow biglaw attorneys never cease to surprise me with how out of touch they are. Homeschooling exists. Coops exist.
The idea of picking money over children is just wild. Are people that attached to earthly things?
Mentor
Most people grow up with parents making a lot less. Growing up with a dad who made more than what I make now back in the 90s (in actual dollars, not adjusted) made me think people couldn’t raise kids if they made less than $500k/year. I see my siblings raising families just fine making significantly less.
No way, you can raise a family of five kids in a decent neighborhood with decent schools for under 100k. Just buy generic brands, learn to cook, buy used clothes or Walmart/Amazon (surprisingly good quality shirts for $5), go to yard sales / thrift shops, make the kids work mowing lawns, delivering papers, shelving books, let em know they need to get good grades to get a scholarship, etc. Totally doable with the right spouse.
😅 if you find housing for seven people in a decent suburb, let me know so I can move there
I have 4 young kids and am my wife is a SAHM. I am in small law, in a LCOL area (I work fully remote). Biglaw money would be nice (I make just over 200k as a 5th year), but biglaw hours would have been too demanding for our family dynamic.
It definitely depends on where you live and what lifestyle y’all have, but biglaw is absolutely not necessary to raise a family well on a single income.
Coach
Definitely not, and respectfully, if you've been conditioned to think BigLaw money is necessary to raise a family, a shift in perspective is likely needed. There are certain luxuries we have in BigLaw, like backup daycare benefits and being able to afford a good daycare (or private school, when it comes time for that) without thinking twice. But very few of my friends are lawyers and/or work in BigLaw if they are. They may have some additional budgeting that needs to be done, but candidly I would take that over the insane juggling act that is navigating BigLaw with a family at times.
I don’t know how people do this job and have kids lol.