Traditional household costs often just include food, mortgage or rent, kids' education, medical needs, and allowance for miscellaneous. But over the years, the financial needs of families have also evolved as different kinds of familial situations come about. Paula Polito, chief client strategy officer at UBS Wealth Management says, "Life for modern families is very complicated".
While traditional families and modern families have a lot in common, there are financial hardships that occur only in modern families.
SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES
Single parents have more financial problems than unseparated parents. Single moms or dads have to spend for daycare for the kid(s) as the single parent goes to work. Paying for custody battle will likewise make you end up in debts. There are also fears for your child's financial security so you definitely have to consider life insurance. Single parents not only go through solo financing, they also have more things pay for compared to regular families.
BLENDED FAMILIES
Blended families are families consisting of parents and their children from their previous relationships. The biggest possible financial problem in this situation is not just counting their assets but also determining liabilities from previous relationships. It is also a big deal discussing who pays for what and what would happen if the marriage ends up in divorce. Blended families normally plan what happens to their financial assets when they get married. What they usually miss is planning for future issues like leaving inheritance to heirs.
SAME SEX FAMILIES
Same sex couples go through a different set of possibilities when it comes to financial problems. For instance, partners might not have access to each other's pension benefits. It's also complicated once they buy a property in places where same sex marriage isn't recognized. It's also possible that their child loses inheritance especially if the parents of the couple do not approve of their relationship.