200K / 18 years = 11K per year.

Nowhere in the graph Jacob linked to was there even near 11K of kids associated expense. Clearly, your numbers are not applicable to the majority of the population.

That is besides the point. I am calling BS on you saying that kids are the primary reason that you did retire at your age. You have none!

You do not retire early solely because you do not do something, what you actually do do is the main driver.

Imagine this fictitious conversation:

Me: Hey Bob, how come you retired so early?

Bob: Well, I have never owned one, but I can say with certitude that the main reason I was able to retire early is because I did not buy a Yatch*. Here is a study showing how expensive boats are: http://www.boat..etc

Me: !?… Huh… Ok?

*Replaceable with other things that you do not have and that are thought to be expensive.

See how stupid that sounds?

Crazy stuff for someone with such a wholesome image. If you’re interested: http://www.investinganswers.com/a/10-warren-buffett-facts-you-wont-believe-are-true-3616.

As far as this heated discussion about kids, I’m pregnant with my first. I’m not giving up the ERE dream though, so I’m just going to ignore most of the analysis on this thread and deal with “leaks” as they arise : )

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1916278,00.html

It costs over $200k to raise a kid, and that does not include college costs. That is more than $10k every year excluding college. Throw in college and it gets much worse.

That’s a BIG leak from a household income of $60k before taxes.

I find it funny that the first thing you say in your comment is that having kids is the largest leak anybody can have in their boat you then go on to presume that this is the primary reason that Jacob was able to retire.

Did you even look at the graph Jacob linked to??? Cars and housing are the biggest leaks in the family unit budget, not kids (i.e., food or supplies and toys). You do not need a Ferrari nor a McMansion to raise kids.

The premise of your argument is false.

Obviously I am being sarcastic but man I couldn’t imagine being so obsessed with hating children. I am childless as well but if I hear a crying kid I don’t become immediately enraged and post tirades on the internet. You are acting very defensive but if I recall you threw the first stone in this thread.

Here in the Pacific NW, we have a chain of brewpubs called McMenamins that stresses the family aspect of pub life. Children are fine in pubs/bars; quit hiding real life from them.

ROFL

Today, my wife and I took our kids – ages 3 & 5 – to a big tattoo show here in Sydney [shock, horror?] It was a great day, and they behaved themselves and won plenty of smiles from scary-looking people

Only in the US do people waste time getting so huffy about stuff like this. I remember a young Danish mum leaving her kid outside a NY cafe in the pram while she went and got a beer, as one does in Denmark without incident. Despite the pram being visible through the glass facade, the mum got arrested and hit front pages in the news, with hordes of Americans outraged.

Weird and scary puritans, I say.

The problems with the previous studies is that they are of too-low resolution, not taking sufficiently many life-circumstances into account. For example, parents with many kids are often poor and, consequentially, less happy than the average; the correlation between number of kids and happiness is in this case misleading. (Interestingly, the recent study shows that 1 kid makes rich couples much happier – but that 2 or more kids makes them markedly unhappier).

Most of the previous studies have also just measured average happiness. This is also very misleading – if you measured winning an Olympic gold medal in this way (years of hard training vs. a few golden-glowing days of euphoria, and even ignoring the life-long satisfaction derived therefrom) or climbing Mt. Everest, then you would find the same sort of very negative results. In fact, most things would not be worth the effort, if measured in this way; best just to lie on the couch all day.

Furthermore, many of these linked studies investigate short-term effects, like change in happiness on getting your first kid, your second kid, and so on. The average happinesses decrease – but this is part of the heavy, short-term costs that I have mentioned previously, not the long-term effects (according to the recent study, the first kid makes women happier – if they want kids in the first place, that is, but makes men unhappy, but additional children often bring have neutral or negative effects, depending on somewhat on social circumstances).
What all of the studies either agree with or do not address is that one’s meaning/fulfillment is greater with kids; and that the spectrum of emotions is greater: greater amplitudes of happiness and of depression, for instance.

Kids do hurt a marriage, as these studies and articles point out:

http://www.ramonacreel.com/BlogEntry.asp?Entry=697&Name=Kids+Curb+Marital+Satisfaction&Category=Articles+About+The+Child-Free+Way+Of+Life

http://www.ramonacreel.com/BlogEntry.asp?Entry=759&Name=True+Or+False+Having+Kids+Makes+You+Happy&Category=Articles+About+The+Child-Free+Way+Of+Life

http://www.ramonacreel.com/BlogEntry.asp?Entry=754&Name=Kids+Are+Depressing+Study+Of+Parents+Finds&Category=Articles+About+The+Child-Free+Way+Of+Life

And finally, the next time I hear a lame “deal with it” response to people complaining about parents taking kids where they don’t belong, I will show them this little gem:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/03/02/brooklyn.babies.in.bars/index.html?hpt=C1

Kids in bars? OMGWTF?

@ deegee – Your ideas will die with your genes.

Hah, at my parents house, we have opened windows in the winter (they live in michigan) because it was sooooo hot. I always go in and turn down the thermostat upon entering (rude, I know, but I don’t like sweating while sitting).

In the summer it is nice to have a cool house- but then I hate going outside! Thanks for the great post.