On 1 Year Of Being A Father

Happy Father’s Day to all the families out there.

I’m about to complete one year as a father. What’s changed for me since my daughter’s arrival last June?

These days, I get up 30 minutes early to have breakfast with my daughter instead of having a quick rushed grab-and-go breakfast. Later, I have a nice long dinner with my wife and daughter. The little one is 11 months old, and prefers to play with her food than eat it.

I realise the immense value in a full night's sleep. I've learnt to tune out the frequency of the high pitch crying of the baby when I am sleeping.

I've also learnt that having a child is a much bigger adjustment than getting married. My wife and I have the same tastes, but toddlers have a lifestyle entirely their own. Ours is awake every night, needing to be continuously fed, changed, and put to bed.

On the financial front, what have I changed?

Firstly, I doubled my term life insurance cover such that my family gets 10x my my income if I die. Any person with dependent family members must purchase a term plan – for their own peace of mind as well as for the financial support it will offer their family.

There’s no time to waste when it comes to starting a financial plan for your child. I have increased my monthly mutual fund SIP investment by 30% to save for my daughter's education expenses. It would help me beat education inflation and financially support my daughter’s higher education.

For the moment, I’m grappling with a more basic problem: planning for my daughter’s play school fees which is surprisingly high in a Montessori school in Mumbai.

That’s where I am. How about you?