Net Worth
$385KTop 42%PeakWorth
$4.2M+$182KNet Worth
$385KTop 42%PeakWorth
$4.2M+$182KFI Age
50y 1m-11moUSDA pegs raising one child to age 18 at ~$310,000 before college. PeakWorth models the childcare, schooling, and 529 choices that swing that by $200K+ — and shows exactly how each path moves your FI Age, not just your monthly budget.
Modeled swing from your choices
$200K+ per child
Cost of raising one child (0–18)
~$310,000
Median full-time daycare
$1,300/mo
Child tax credit (2026)
Up to $2,000/child
Childcare in major metros runs $1,500–$3,000/mo per child — often the largest line item in the household budget, larger than the mortgage. The decision to have one parent stay home, use daycare, or use a nanny can swing 5-year household wealth by $100K+.
Run the math both ways: total daycare cost minus tax credits + lost retirement contributions vs lost salary, lost career trajectory, and reduced 401(k) matching from the at-home parent.
Aim for the cost of an in-state public university (~$110K all-in over 4 years for 2026 newborns). Anything above that is a stretch goal. Don't sacrifice your own retirement — students can borrow for college; you can't borrow for retirement.
New SECURE 2.0 rules let unused 529 funds (up to $35K) roll into the child's Roth IRA, removing the historical risk of overfunding.
Child Tax Credit (up to $2,000/child), Dependent Care FSA ($5,000/yr pre-tax for childcare), Child & Dependent Care Credit, and education credits later. These can add up to $5,000+/yr in tax savings — easy to miss if you don't ask.
One gotcha for lower-income families: the Child & Dependent Care Credit is nonrefundable and is applied after the Child Tax Credit, so you can earn it at the statutory 35%/34% rate yet see it reduced to $0 on your return when the standard deduction and the $2,000-per-child CTC already zero out your federal income tax. PeakWorth shows the credit you earned before that cap applies.
PeakWorth adds each child as a time-phased set of cash flows — heavy childcare in years 0–5, school costs, then college — and runs it through the year-by-year deterministic simulation to age 95, netting out the Child Tax Credit, Dependent Care FSA, and other benefits you actually qualify for.
The result is the change in your FI Age and PeakWorth (highest projected lifetime net worth), so 'can we afford another child?' or 'daycare vs a stay-at-home year?' becomes a dated, dollar-and-year comparison rather than a USDA average.
Generic articles can only go so far. PeakWorth runs every scenario against your real income, expenses, and goals — so you see the dollar-and-year impact of every decision before you make it.
Look at marginal cost: incremental childcare, food, healthcare, housing if needed. Often $800–$1,500/mo for years 0–5, declining after.
Run total household cash flow including foregone retirement contributions, career trajectory loss, and re-entry difficulty — not just the daycare bill.
Target in-state public university cost (~$25–30K/yr in 2026 dollars). Save more only after retirement is on track.
Retirement, almost always — students can borrow for college, you can't borrow for retirement. PeakWorth shows the FI-Age cost of over-funding a 529 before your own plan is on track, and SECURE 2.0 lets up to $35K of unused 529 funds roll into the child's Roth IRA anyway.
It depends on childcare choices far more than the headline $310K. PeakWorth models the years 0–5 daycare spike against credits and any lost income, then reports the precise FI-Age shift — for many households it's a couple of years, not a decade.
Calculators, true-cost pages, and audience playbooks across the PeakWorth network.
Built for
PeakWorth for new parents
A baby changes the math — childcare, 529s, and your FI Age.
Built for
PeakWorth for the sandwich generation
Kids and aging parents at once — see what gives.
Tradeoff
Childcare decisions
A 5-year choice that reshapes the next 30.
Cost of
Private school, K through 12
13 years of tuition. The trade-off for your retirement date.
Decision guide
Buying a home
Rent vs buy, down payment, true cost — by the numbers.
Built for
PeakWorth for life transitions
Marriage, kids, job change, inheritance — model every scenario.
PeakWorth is the financial decision engine for households — your Personal Financial Strategy OS, a real-time engine that calculates every decision's impact on your future. The Decision Hub, an AI advisor, and a live projection that show you exactly how each move shapes your wealth and your FI Age.
