New Child in the Family

With the birth or adoption of a child, securing your family's financial future is critical. To prepare for the challenge, you'll want to take a look at where you stand now, where you want to go — and what you need to do to get there.

• Getting Started
• Start Saving for College
• Assess Your Insurance Needs
• Update/Establish Wills and Trusts
• Review Your Tax Considerations

Getting Started

It's important to know the financial considerations associated with a growing family, including having a plan for both expected and unexpected events.

Steps to Consider

• Take inventory of your financial resources.
• Revise your budget to account for child-related costs.
• Identify your long-term goals. To help meet future financial needs, Fidelity suggests that you save a minimum of 10-15% of your gross income annually and make retirement a top priority and create a plan to reach your retirement goal.
• Enroll in your workplace savings plan as soon as you are eligible and take full advantage of any employer match.
• Next, reduce or eliminate bad debt such as high interest credit card debt and establish an emergency fund as a safety net, while still contributing enough to workplace savings plan to capture employer match.
• Save more for retirement using tax advantaged savings. Increase your contribution in your workplace savings plan to the maximum allowed. Then, contribute to an IRA or another tax-advantaged retirement savings vehicle.

Fidelity Solutions

• Look for savings opportunities using the Budget Snapshot.
• Understand how much you need to retire
• Open an IRA
• Commit to regular investing made easy with Fidelity's Automatic Investing Plan.
• ConsiderFidelity's Lifecycle and/or Lifestyle funds for diversification.

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Start Saving for College

College costs are soaring — but with a well-thought-out plan that's in place early, your investments may have the time they need to keep up.

Steps to Consider

• Balance saving for college with long term goals for retirement - save for college while contributing at least enough to your workplace plan to get to the match
• Calculate how much you need to save with the College Planner.
• Compare your options and choose a college savings vehicle that lets you save on a tax-deferred basis.
• For many, 529 plans make sense as they are flexible, tax advantaged accounts that can help you save for college.
• Consider your home state's plan first, as it may offer alternate state tax advantages or other benefits, though you can invest in most states' plan. Compare 529 plans
• Commit to monthly savings.

Fidelity Solutions

• Visit College Planning to learn more about college saving options and strategies, whether you are a parent, grandparent, relative, or friend of a child.
• Open an Account to help meet your college savings goal.
• Keep it simple with automatic investing and age-based portfolios of funds
• Save more with Fidelity Investments 529 College Rewards^® American Express^® Card

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Assess Your Insurance Needs

There are a number of types of insurance to consider at this time, including life, disability, and health insurance. Even if you have some coverage, now is a good time to review what you will need.

Steps to Consider

• Make sure you have adequate life and disability insurance.
• Review beneficiary designations for insurance policies.
• Review your health coverage insurance options.
• Be sure your insurance coverage is updated to include all family members.

Fidelity Solutions

• Estimate how much life insurance coverage you may need with our Insurance Needs Calculator.
• Visit Fidelity's Insurance Center to investigate term life insurance.
• Use the Fidelity Quote Tool to get an estimate premium for term life insurance through Fidelity.

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Update/Establish Your Will and Trusts

If you haven't already thought about estate planning, now's the time. You need to be sure your children will be raised and provided for if something should happen to you.

Steps to Consider

• Establish or update your will.
• Appoint a guardian for your children.
• Consider a trust or appoint a trustee.
• Review beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts.

Fidelity Solutions

• Visit the Estate Planning Action Center^SM for tools and resources to help you with your will.
• Consider Fidelity Private Portfolio Services^® for trusts/trustee services.

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Review Your Tax Considerations

With all the additional costs of parenthood, you'll want to take advantage of potential tax savings.

Steps to Consider

• Update your W-2 tax exemptions.
• Take advantage of tax savings available to parents.
• Investigate flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) through your employer.

Fidelity Solutions

• Visit the Tax Center to help you access, prepare, and file your taxes.

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