👶 Does Having a Kid Ruin Your Retirement?

My name is Mat. I am just a regular guy in my 40s with a full time job and a family trying not to retire broke.

This question hit me hard because when I had my daughter, I was not prepared. She came as a surprise. I owned a restaurant. I was not making much money. And honestly, I was scared out of my mind.

Then COVID hit. We closed the restaurant. I went back to a W-2 job making six figures. And for the first time in a long time, I had something I desperately needed. Margin.

That is when everything changed. I opened a Roth account. I opened a 529. Not because I suddenly became disciplined, but because I finally had room to breathe. I could plan for my retirement and my child at the same time.

Here is the uncomfortable part. The data shows it costs roughly fourteen hundred dollars a month to support a child when you factor in food, activities, and future planning like college. I did not have that going in. I had to create it.

There is no magic trick here. You either reduce what is going out, you increase what is coming in, or you do both. If you do not create that margin, the stress is brutal. For you and for the kid. And on top of that, you still have to save for retirement.

That realization forced me to take retirement seriously. I even built a calculator to make sure I stay on track. Over the last five years, and especially heading into 2026, I now treat my retirement plan like a business plan.

Because kids do not ruin retirement. Lack of planning does.
I share these stories so hopefully you do not retire broke.

#retirementplanning
#parenthood
#personalfinance
#financialfreedom
#dontretirebroke