Mark Edelson on Faith, Family, & Finances

Q&A with Mark Edelson, Catholic Financial Coach, based in the Hudson Valley, NY.!

Today we focus on finances and family planning through the lens of the Catholic Church, and how you can afford a doula if you are expecting & plan for the future! 

Tell us a little bit about who you are and how you got into financial coaching?

My Catholic faith has always been a central part of my life. Coming out of college at Franciscan University of Steubenville, after studying math and finance there, I knew that I wanted to serve our Lord as His instrument in any way I could. I also always had an interest in finance growing up, and was further encouraged by my father, who is a financial advisor and has helped so many of his clients and their families.

Shortly after school, I started by working in business consulting, and then spent some time teaching and working with my father. As God would have it, years later I had the blessing of leading a Catholic young adult group called Credo Young Adults, where I met my wife and many of my closest friends. From interactions with members of the group, I realized they were looking to live out their faith in a secular world. At the same time, though, many had not received proper financial education and were looking to manage their finances in a way that coincided with their faith. As a result, I started giving talks to this group and others based on my own experience of how we can see the connection between our faith and finances. Along the way, I started sharing financial lessons I learned from my own experience.

I received such positive feedback from this that I decided to start my own business as a financial coach so that I could provide financial knowledge and resources from a Catholic perspective to help others understand the basics of personal finance and make informed decisions.

What are your thoughts on today's economy and how it is effecting Millennial and Gen Z's attitude towards starting or expanding their family? How does faith affect this attitude?

This is a great question! I believe we're living in a time where necessary life expenses have become challenging to keep up with. The cost of housing alone seems to have skyrocketed in the last few years, while even a trip to the groceries seems to really take a hit on our finances these days. As a result, it seems as though the modern attitude is that we need to look for any ways possible to try to save and keep our financial heads above water. This can lead to couples waiting to have their first child or have additional children as they think about adding the cost of healthcare or diapers to their already challenging budget.

I think faith does play a central role in all this, where if we look at the core of marriage, it is meant to be both love-giving and life-giving! As a result, we should always be open to life, but at the same time we can still practice economic prudence in discerning the particular timing of children or the total size of our family. For instance, we probably don't want to have 5 kids in the span of 6 or 7 years, but we also shouldn't wait 5 years to have our first child just because we can save some money.

What do you think would help young or new families balance the often conflicting values of saving for the future and living in the present moment?

Again this is an excellent question! I think in any financial plan or budget, it's important to realize that it is perfectly okay to leave room for enjoying the present moments God places in our path and appreciating the present time with people in our life. At the same time, we can still do that in a way that is mindful of saving for the future. For example, we may leave room in the budget for a date night out with our spouse once a week, but maybe we limit it to just the one night going out because we want to put more money into our savings for our long-term goals.

We also may want to go on a summer trip somewhere to experience adventure together with our family, but we can be cognizant of limiting our travel costs and maybe not needing that 5-star resort that looks so good online. Ultimately I believe it is important to live in and enjoy the present moment, as God gives us these moments to strengthen us and have hope for the incredible future He has in store for us!

What financial considerations should be taken into account when starting or expanding a family in terms of budgeting for expenses related to pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum?

One thing I like to propose to my clients is something called an income and expenses tracker. This is a tool where we list out all our monthly expenses (mortgage/rent, groceries, electric bill, car payment, etc.) and compare our total expenses to our net income (our take-home pay after taxes). This helps give us an idea of whether we are running a monthly surplus (where our income is greater than our expenses) or a monthly deficit (where our expenses are greater than our income). For this I like to use a spreadsheet, but this can be done simply with pencil and paper as well.

Using this as the foundation, it's then important to appreciate that there will be certain times when our expenses will change or we will have to plan for "one-time events" like pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum expenses. For the "one-time events," we should focus on trying to run a monthly surplus in the months where we don't experience these non-recurring changes in our expenses. This allows us to throw that excess income during these months into savings to cover these "one-time events" in later months. If we've built up a little cushion in our savings, then we can be better equipped to cover the initial costs associated with pregnancy and childbirth.

Along with this, if we are looking to start or expand our family, we will need to build those longer-term expenses into the "expenses column" and see if our net income will still cover these additional expenses. If not, we may have to look for opportunities for bringing in additional income, or we may have to discern if we can afford to start or expand our family at the present time (while certainly not cutting out the possibility altogether).

What are some ways families can budget or subsidize the costs associated with hiring a doula or other childbirth support services?

I think this question also ties into the theme of using an income and expenses tracker to keep track of how our total expenses align with our net income. We can add a row in our spreadsheet or a line item on our piece of paper for including these expenses of hiring a doula or other childbirth support services in our calculations.

At the same time, I can share from personal experience how helpful having a doula or similar support services can be, as my mother used a doula for my own birth! From a financial standpoint, it may be the case that having this more "preemptive" care may save us healthcare expenses on the back end by taking the proper precautions and preparations essential for a healthy and smooth pregnancy and childbirth.

Regarding working Mothers - what are some financial considerations for planning for maternity leave or taking time off work to care for a new baby, while ensuring financial stability for the family? Is it worth it?

My short answer would be that if your work allows for this possibility, it is absolutely worth it! As we try to live out our faith in everything we do, it is important to recognize that money is not the only consideration when it comes to family life. I don't think I know a single mother, when given the opportunity to have a maternity leave, who has said that she regretted having that initial time with her new baby. I am no doula expert, but I do know that this initial time can be a special time of bonding for the new child with the mother! However, it would be important to find out from your employer what type of maternity leave is permitted, especially if we don't want to leave that job.

I believe the financial considerations would come into play in the extent of the maternity leave. For instance, could we only afford to go 2 or 3 months without the mother's income, or is it possible for us to take a year where we are solely relying on the father's income or some other source of income? This is where having a concrete examination of our finances like an income and expenses tracker helps us to put things in perspective month to month and plan for these types of family lifestyle changes.

In your opinion, Is it a "good deal" financially to start a family in today's economic climate? Is it possible to be successful? What does that look like to you?

While I wouldn't necessarily say that it is a "good deal" in today's economic climate to start a family, I certainly believe it is possible to be successful! This idea of success can certainly vary and depends on the context, but I would say financial success means being comfortable with where we stand financially, both in terms of comparing income to expenses in the present moment and trying to achieve our longer-term goals.

It may require hard work and planning to get to that point of being "financially successful," but what I love to tell people is that financial success is always within reach for everyone! It may take some of us longer than others, but if we are faithful in sticking to a good budget, looking for ways to grow our income, and doing everything possible to reduce our debt or stay out of debt altogether, we will be amazed at how God can multiply our efforts!

Final thoughts on faith, finances and family planning!

I would say that at the end of the day, our goal should be to see our life and everything we do in the context of our faith. In other words, we should strive to live an integrated life, where our faith, finances, and family planning are not seen as separate, but as deeply united! If we do this, I believe we can experience true joy, fulfillment, and spiritual freedom!

Thank you Mark for sharing your thoughts on this topic!! Go connect with Mark below if you are on the hunt for a faith filled financial coach!

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