Who will take care of you when you’re old? This is one of the most annoying and irritating questions childfree women are usually confronted with.
It’s a question that I always find puzzling because – do you seriously expect a childfree person to create another human being for the purpose of free elderly care?
That’s a cruel and selfish reason to bring children into this world.
I come from a part of the world where children are viewed as old-age insurance.
In the midst of this type of society, I had a father that was hellbent on raising kids that were equipped to provide for themselves without depending on anyone including children.
And he set to that task like a dog with a bone. Because of that upbringing, I never had any concept of children as old-age insurance.
Indeed, my father provided for himself until he passed and he felt it was a very important lesson he should imbibe in his children.
I began planning for retirement in my mid-20s before I even decided to become childfree. Back then, you could say I was indifferent to the idea of having kids.
And I know I’m not the only childfree person who is very invested in retirement planning.
Really, Who Will Take Care of You When You’re Old?
Wait for it…people I hire and pay for with my large nest of retirement funds.
That’s who.
As with all things in life, you need to prepare and that includes retirement, whether or not you have children.
Children Are Not a Guarantee for Care When You’re Old
By the way, having children is in no way a guarantee they will take care of you when you’re old.
Check out examples of some “amazing” children below:-
- 91-Year-Old Man Raises Money to Prevent Eviction by Daughter
- Elderly Chinese Woman Nearly Starved To Death By Own Children
- 92-year-old man Dead in Chair in Home for 2 weeks Before Family Noticed
- The ‘repugnant’ son who charged his own Mother £400-a-day for visiting her care home
- I dedicated my whole life to my kids — then, my son abandoned me
- Homeless woman who slept in a laundromat for 25 years made people believe she was childless when in fact she was a mother of 2
And no, these children are not the exception. This happens quite often albeit not to these extremes.
How Do I Fund My Retirement as a Childfree Person?
I will be writing a host of posts in the future regarding childfree personal finance and how to start getting yourself ready for retirement as a childfree person.
But a good place to start is by maxing out your retirement accounts every year. This will depend on your country.
In Canada, that means maxing out my Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) and Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) which I invest in low-cost ETFs via Questrade.
In the US, I believe this is known as a 401K and Roth IRA.
And if you live in a country that doesn’t have specialized plans like these, you can still open an investment account and start trading in low-cost index funds. If you’re new to this, I highly recommend:-
- Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez – very good for restructuring your mindset around earning and spending money.
- The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, and Michael LeBoeuf
- I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
- Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam
- Wealthing Like Rabbits by Robert R. Brown
These books are a good place to start if you’re new to savings and money management.
PS – do not hand over the management of your money to someone else completely and do not invest in anything you don’t understand. I learned that lesson the hard way.
But That Means You’ll Die Alone
Newsflash – everybody dies alone.
By planning for your old age NOW, you’ll be financially equipped to pay for care when you’re too old to do it yourself or just don’t want to do it anymore.
I think it’s pretty clear having kids cannot and should not be a retirement plan. Not in the current world we live in and not with the way the world is going.
Childfree Chica is living her best childfree life and enjoying every moment of it. She funds her childfree adventures by making smart financial decisions and investing her money wisely. You can learn more about her and this community HERE. Interested in telling us about your childfree journey? Submit your story here.