Parent Like a Millionaire (Without Being One): Outsmart Big Baby, Save on Childcare, and Secure Your Family’s Financial Future

In this pragmatic guide, married coauthors Shen and Leung (Quit Like a Millionaire), who retired at 30, apply their frugal philosophy to the economics of raising children. Parents of a toddler, the authors draw on their expertise in saving and investing to challenge what they dub “Big Baby,” the consumer culture that encourages parents to buy more than they need. They instruct readers to optimize their kid-related spending and invest the money saved into assets that provide passive income, like real estate investment trusts and index funds. Parents can save money by buying baby gear, like strollers and clothes, secondhand; renting instead of owning a home (if the math favors doing so); buying a used car; trying nontraditional childcare options, like nanny-sharing and bartering babysitting services with other parents; moving to a less expensive city; and getting kids into magnet schools. Elsewhere, they explain how parents can optimize their tax credits, use the stock market to pay for college, and treat their Health Savings Account as a retirement savings tool. Blending personal anecdotes with cost analyses, Shen and Leung lay out an effective road map for resisting social pressure to overspend on kids. Readers will find this a welcome counterpoint to alarmist narratives about the cost of starting a family. (Mar.)