The
Stay-At-Home Mom:
It’s challenging enough to survive on
two incomes in this day and age. When the difficult
(and of course rewarding) decision is made to
stay at home with your children, what can you
do to fill the income void in your household?
Your
children are the most important things in the world
to you. They deserve your full attentionand you
have gladly chosen to stay home and care for them.
You know that you have made the right decision.
Your choice to be
a stay at home mother has come with a price though.
Careful budgeting alone cannot offset that missing
second income. Yes, you and your husband are getting
by and your family is enjoying quality time together,
but you have sacrificed income and benefits to raise
your children.
Depending on your
profession, your financial sacrifice can be very
significant after a few years. In Ann Crittenden's
book "The Price of Motherhood,"
she calculated that a couple that once earned
over $80,000 annually could lose over $1 million
dollars in lifetime earnings after they have a child
and the woman leaves work and stays at home.
Your retirement is
in jeopardy as well.
No matter what level
your previous earnings were, there are long term
consequences on your finances for the years spent
raising children instead of earning a paycheck.
Aside from salary, you are not earning any pension
benefits from an employer or medical insurance,
both of which are quite valuable.
And
few women when they decide to stay home consider
that they will cease to accrue any social security
benefits from the federal government. No income
for you means that your benefit rating with social
security is stagnating.
It's a shame that
there has to be such a cost for you to stay at home
with your children. You certainly value your work
as a mom. It's nice having time to nurture your
children's education and interests. You even get
to have fun, and you do not envy the scheduling
hassles that working mothers face as they juggle
job commitments and children's appointments.
You are not alone
either. More women are deciding to leave the career
track and stay at home with their children. There
is a growing trend for families to decide to make
it with only one person working outside the home.
A report from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2001 showed
that in 1998 59% of mothers with infants worked
at a full time job, but that had dropped to 55%
in 2000, only 2 years later. The appeal of actually
being the one to raise your children is undeniable
and more families are pursuing this important goal.
Being a stay at home
mom has many positive points, but you still miss
being able to earn an income. You want to continue
developing your skills and creativity. Maintaining
your professional skills that you worked hard to
get before motherhood nags at the back of your mind.
You wish you had a way to transform your time into
money without compromising your need to be at home.
You can enjoy
the security of a second income again.
There is a revolution
starting in our society. People are deciding that
they don't want to struggle through a traffic jam
every day and spend 10 hours at an office away from
their families in order to live. It's time for you
to start learning how people are earning a comfortable
living from their homes. You can start a home based
business, raise your children, and have a profitable
professional existence at the same time.
Bringing
in a second income and avoiding childcare costs
would be doubly profitable. Think of all the important
things in your financial life that you won't have
to put off anymore.
After
starting your home based business you won't have
to scrimp and save so much. Yes, youwill still bargain
hunt because it's smart and you're good at
it, but you won't have to feel guilty about that
occasional dinner out.
There is no arguing
that the work you do as a mother is exceedingly
valuable. The salary research company Salary.com
even attempted to calculate what a salary for a
stay at home mother should be. After factoring in
everything from childcare, transportation services,
accounting, laundry, cooking, management, and much
more, Salary.com came up with a figure of $90,000
a year. This sounds like a lot but it was based
on a 90 hour work week.
As nice as it is
to know that your work as a mother is worth nearly
six figures, there is no salary fairy out there
that is magically going to start writing you checks.
You need to take action and earn money your own
way. The way to do this is with your own home based
business. As your own boss, you will be able to
integrate earning an income into your other valuable
and important duties.
With the income from
your home based business, you will be able to enjoy
the benefits of financial security. You won't have
to worry so much if your husband loses his job.
With your business income you could even give him
the freedom to pursue a career change that he has
been dreaming of.
To start earning
money for today, for your retirement, and to give
your children every advantage, fill out the questionnaire
below. You will then receive information about a
home based business opportunity that will let you
start supporting your family in every way.
