Awkward discussions about reproduction early in the financial planning process might help avoid money worries adding to reproduction issues down the track.
Costs of assisted reproduction including IVF are considerable which should be taken into account when making financial plans around starting a family.
“For me, I find this comes up when talking to clients about having a family,” said The Wealth Designers senior adviser Cara Graham CFP®.
“My approach as an adviser is I don’t want to bring it up – I wait for them to bring it up and to tell me. If someone is in their 20s I don’t want to assume.”
Cara has first-hand experience after going through IVF & IUI (intrauterine insemination) together with her wife.
Since her own journey, Cara has been able to better discuss with clients the additional expenses people may want to account for when they ask how expensive fertility treatments may be.
“If they want to know more, we can delve into the process.”
“The difficulty about planning is you don’t know what each path will look like – every family situation is different.
“I might be meeting with a single woman who might share their goal of starting a family – the conversation may include looking to freeze eggs.” This can cost around $6000 plus storage costs of $300 to $500 a year.
Cara’s advice: “Keep it light, don’t get too deep. Often when talking about difficult topics you can use a bit of humour.”
Cara said sharing her own experience can help to lighten the conversation.
There are also clients who want grandkids and are willing to help with the costs, she said.
Costs to consider
If you need sperm – costs are around $10,000 for 10 vials. While this is cheaper in Australia than the US, the US allows the sharing of more personal and medical history details. There are also more donors to choose from in the US.
Plus, there is the cost of the cycle of insemination – which is around $2000, and also appointment fees for doctors, referrals for genetic testing,
Different surgeries in the lead up to the actual IVF process, might include fibroids and endometriosis, and these can be expensive surgeries.
All procedures will also necessitate time off work. For IVF there are blood tests almost every day and there is a need to be available for follow-ups.
For clients thinking about assisted reproduction, Cara suggests clients build up to six months’ leave. And she also suggests that people think about their place of work, and whether it’s the right place for them to stay. “If you are in an employment situation where there is no flexibility for appointments etc before you have children – then it might not be the right place to work when you have children.”
Like any other planning with children, you also need to know what the maternity and family leave situations are and plan accordingly.
Checking private healthcare currently is also important. For those who don’t already have private healthcare but may need it with the extra medical procedures should check on the waiting period before they can make claims.
Government rebates are also available but as these are subject to change you will need to check what is available to you before commencing. Your providers will have more information on this.
Life insurance/income protection
The needs will likely change to meet your client’s future goals – if they’re looking to pay off debt and support dependents you should recommend cover as early as possible in case things change. You also don’t know the same eligibility will exist later.
Expecting the unexpected
As well as planning around maternity and parental leave, advisers need to consider not only the financial planning costs of fertility treatments and family planning but the additional challenges that women experience with the ups and downs of hormonal challenges.
While they may not seem a natural consideration in the financial planning process – the physical and physiological impacts of family planning can lead to requiring time off work, perhaps not working at all or a longer than anticipated journey to parenthood.
Starting a family, whether through assisted means or even naturally, may incur unplanned expenses – so any discussions about family planning are relevant to a client’s financial planning needs. And it’s better to have awkward discussions early to enable clients to be better prepared for their future.
