[qpotlpus]

Do you have a family Barney? I find the run rate costs of raising a family are astounding even with a very healthy two incomes. It doesn’t shock me that most households barely scrape by at the end of the month without any reserves to save.

[berberous]

Out of curiosity, and I don't have a family, what are your costs?

I suspect you can support a family pretty cheapily. The problem is everyone wants to "do everything possible" for their kids -- pay for the best child care, the best schools (or housing in a good school district), clothes and phones to keep up with the Jones' kids, $500k to bribe your way into USC, college tuition, etc. Yes, that all adds up, but I suspect you can also allocate an appropriate percentage of your income to retirement and just pay less for some of those things.

[thehoff]

Adding our kid to our health insurance (through employer) added $300 a month. Trying to be responsible and saving for college adds $100 a month.

Kid is too young to stay at home by himself and we don't live by family. So we pay for before/after care (school hours are from 9-3:30). This is astonishingly $600 a month, a relatively cheap option around here (there's cheaper but not by much).