First up, congratulations, 🙌 while it is an exciting time in your life it can also be very stressful!! There is nothing quite like the deadline of a new arrival to kick you into a panicked frenzy to get your financial world sorted ahead of their arrival (even if you have been meticulously saving for some time). Obviously, everyone's circumstances are going to be different but here are some tips to get you started:

 Understand your leave entitlements:

Thanks to the recent government changes these entitlements have now increased! It's important to get your head around what paid and unpaid parental entitlements exist for both parents (assuming there are two of you on this journey). Will you be relying on the Government Paid Parental leave entitlements, or do you have additional paid leave? Once you have figured this out you should know how much of an ‘income gap’ you are likely to have and how long you or your partner's parental leave can be.

 Cashflow & debts:

Once you have your ‘income gap’, look at your current costs. What does it cost to run your life now, without a baby? Can you immediately cut some costs, or subscriptions that you aren't getting value out of? Think subscriptions that you no longer use & call providers and consider what are nice to haves.

 If you have bad debt, you might want to consider prioritising paying down these debts that have high interest rates, whilst you have more income and fewer expenses.

 Now, what additional costs do you need to build in for the baby’s ongoing needs? The cost of living has risen a lot, so you might want to do an audit of what you need and see if you can cover it completely, or if there is a ‘cashflow gap’ that you will need to bank cash for, ahead of time. This should be (ideally) on top of having a few months' worth of expenses in an account for any emergencies that pop up.

 If you have a partner, how do you split your expenses? If funds aren’t pooled you may want to talk about how funds a split while you or your partner are on mat leave and who will be contributing what during this period. Splitting expenses 50/50 may be considered normal, however, if a partner is receiving little to no income during mat leave, they may need to consider other methods during this period.

 Buying & upgrading:

If this is your first baby, find out from others what they would buy again and what they didn’t use or need. It is natural to want to be prepared and buy the best of everything, but, there are only a few things that you should buy new like car restraints. Spending less and being strategic (borrowing, swapping or renting stuff) can often mean you have less financial pressure and therefore the ability to, perhaps, have more time with baby if that’s what you want. I have watched people buy new, big fancy cars, bigger houses and ever so fancy tiny little baby clothes... and often it has just created more stress and pressure on their finances.

 Get life admin sorted:

There can be a bunch of it. So, here are the financial ones I often see get forgotten about...

 If you have Private Health coverage, are you covered for pregnancy and is there a gap or will you be going public?

 Do you have your insurances sorted? Many people consider things like Life Insurance and Income Protection needs when they have a dependant. You may also need to think about if you already have some in your Super, and if it’s enough.

 People also don’t realise that the 2019 Protecting your Super changes mean if you haven't made a contribution for 16 months, you may automatically lose your insurance in Super. It's important to check this out, especially if you plan on taking an extended period off work. It might be an idea to call your super fund to see what rules they have.

 Make sure your Super is all up to scratch, consider if you should consolidate accounts (check your insurances in their first), and make sure you discuss having Super contributions split from any working partner's balance into the partner who isn't getting any contributions added. Women retire with a huge amount less than men, and we live longer... so don’t miss this step.

 Make sure you have the correct beneficiaries on your insurances and super plus an up-to-date Estate Plan (Wills, Power of Attorney, Guardians...etc).

Consider investing:

If cash is tight, this may not be an option, yet... but investing for little loved ones is a wonderful way to have less toys go to landfill, money stashed for school fees or funds you can gift to them when they are old enough to do something meaningful with it. If cash is tight, you can always ask family and friends to contribute instead of buying gifts for a baby shower or birthdays...etc.

Stay connected:

If you can, try to stay up to date with what’s happening in your industry, organisation and team whilst on leave (no doubt easier said than done!). But with women, on average, earning less than half of their pre-baby salary in the first few years of a baby’s life, there is significant long-term financial implications. This may mean your partner needs to step up and do more domestic and child-related activities, which we know largely falls onto the already full shoulders of women. Having a conversation ahead of the birth about this, rather than when you are feeling so sleep-deprived you end up exploding in a desperate request for help, will make sure you both go into it aligned.

 The take-home income to childcare cost debate is one I see regularly. Largely this only looks at how cost beneficial it is for women to stay at home, rather than going back to work. But, this thinking is often short-sighted. They often forget to include Super, job satisfaction, promotion opportunities and future income impacts by staying out of work for a long period of time (if you want to, that’s up to you... but if costs are the only deciding factor – make sure you think big picture).

Have a money dilemma?

Money dilemmas can be a nightmare! They can leave you up all night ruminating about what to do, have you feeling alone and isolated or just plain ol' stuck. So, we are here to help. I am going to tackle one a week and give you my unbiased, no BS general thoughts on how to tackle your conundrum. We would love for you to send yours (or someone you know) in. 

Obvs all of this is general advice only... especially important to note any and all of the comments above do not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of the information provided and the nature of the relevant financial product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.