I think one problem with waiting till everything is perfect is that the people who are most prepared and have the resources to raise children, don’t have them. They wait till they are what they think is financially secure, they have a long term career, everything is stable, and then they have one kid or decide to have none. Instead, like lumberjack said, people who are not ready, have kids and then struggle to raise them. Those are the trends. I’m sure it has always been like that to some extent, but it seems to be getting worse. I see it around all the time. Young professionals too busy getting ahead in life to raise a family. For the record, I am 25 and in no shape to have children, so I guess I should have about three. I don’t have or want any.
Got married early because I met the right person.
Had kids early because I didn’t want to be an old fart with babies keeping me awake all night. (I know two guys my age – 40 – with newborns. No f’in way I’d be open to that.) Plus I still wanted to be young enough to do fun stuff after they were out of the house.
Bought second house about 4 years ago. It’s appreciated about $200,000 since.
You do it your way…I’ll do it mine.
I got married at 26 in Miami. Once we got home we moved into our first house. We bought it for ?67,000 in July 2000, it’s now worth ?130,000.
I now also have a son who’s 15 months old. We never planned to have children this early. We couldn’t be happier.
Since starting my job in June 2000 my salary has nearly tripled.
We took a chance buying our house and were stuggling the first year that we were in our house. We’ve completely gutted the house, rebuilt the garage and this year will remodel the garden.
When we bought the house everyone we spoke to thought that we were crazy to buy a house for that amount, if we hadn’t bought one then we’d still be looking now…!!
Callum David Bell was born on the 26th or Sept 2002, he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to the two of us. I spend as much time with him as possible. I train later in the evening now when he’s in bed so that I don’t miss out on seeing him.
We had a very good Christmas and spent all the time with each other. Next Wednesday (7th) we’re off to Fuerteventura in the canary islands for two weeks. This will be excellent, very much looking forward to it.
Cheers…Stubob…
I am on the Steeleyes plan. I got married at 23. By the time I was 25 I had my first kid and bought my first house. My wife stays home with the baby and I work. Our house just appraised at $110,000 more than I bought it for 1.5 years ago. I could sell it tomorrow at pocket at least 100 grand. To me, that’s the best short term investment I could have made. On a police officer’s salsry, I need to save all I can but am seriously looking into investing more for our future. Especially if the wife wants to stay home to raise the kids permanently. I vote for buying over renting any day.
S99: The land of the Cold…Canada, but not in the richest provinces like Alberta or Ontario. Living in the upcoming new third nation has its advantages. Id switch places with someone in the US anyday, however. In the meanwhile, I`ll keep studying and hoping I win the green card lottery.
CHAR: No prob. I get your point. And, yes, index investing is nice. I have always had this fantasy of investing in the S&P500 and letting it do its thing. When I hit a certain amount of safe money, all exceeding money will go S&P.
P-LOGIC: I guess its the classic dilemma. For my part, being rather annoyed of seeing people raising (and almost looking like loving) their pets far more scrupulously than their kids, Id rather prefer they do less and better ones. Fuck demographics - this earth can very easily handle a deflation of it`s numbers.
When it comes to financial security there are two kinds of people, those who invest and those who wish they did.
Yeah Dan, I don’t know what could be done I just think it’s a shitty thing. I’m part of the problem because I would do the same thing, wait till I am older, if I ever do. Also the world is not experiencing a negative population growth. Just certain demographics. Who cares really, nothing we can do.
When I hit a certain amount of safe money, all exceeding money will go S&P.
Dan, you seem like a smart guy. So I’m sure that you probably already know that putting your money into S&P is probably at least as safe as keeping it in a bank. Yes, the US stock market could tank. But if that happens, most banks are going to fail anyway, and you’re still out.
I think that when it comes to investing people make one of two very serious mistakes. Either they are too optimistic, or too scared. Don’t be afraid to do things a little differently. It’ll pay off for you.
Not trying to run your life for you, but you seem like one of the more intelligent of the T-nation, and I’m right about this one. 
Might want to sit back and re-think this particular issue, considering the enormous potential impact it could have on your life.