Can we afford a house while paying for two kids in daycare?
“Move near family” ends $101k ahead of “Buy now, both keep working” at 55.
In today's dollars, from the same engine you'd plan with.
Omar and Layla are 32 and 31 and earn $180,000 between them. Their oldest is two, a baby is on the way, and they rent a two-bedroom apartment for $2,400 a month. Daycare already costs $1,800 a month; with the baby it will be $3,700.
They have $65,000 saved and want a house with a yard. They don't know if they can buy one while paying for daycare, whether Layla's job pays for itself once daycare is counted, or whether moving near Omar's parents, who would watch the kids, makes more sense.
4 futures
Each line is one future, projected year by year. Tap a name in the legend to hide or show it.
The numbers
At 55, the future with the most is “Move near family”: $2.61M in today's dollars, against $2.51M for “Buy now, both keep working”.
In every future, the money lasts to 95, where the projection ends.
| Future | Works until | At 45 | At 55 | At 65 | Money runs out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy now, both keep working | 55 | $1.19M | $2.51M | $2.73M | Never |
| Buy when daycare ends | 55 | $1.19M | $2.52M | $2.74M | Never |
| Layla stays home first | 55 | $1.00M | $2.27M | $2.38M | Never |
| Move near family | 55 | $1.31M | $2.61M | $2.99M | Never |
Net worth in today's dollars, by Omar's age, in their plan as written. A single projection with steady returns (no market swings), run by Life Budget's engine as of October 4, 2026: income, payroll and state tax, retirement-account rules, the mortgage and inflation, year by year.
What happens in each future
Buy now, both keep working
- At 33: Buys the house for $500k ($50k down). Debt payments are $33k a year.
- At 55: Last year of work; from here they live on what they've saved.
- At 62: Every loan is paid off.
- The money lasts to 95, where the projection ends.
Buy when daycare ends
- At 37: Buys the house for $500k ($100k down). Debt payments go from $0 to $30k a year.
- At 55: Last year of work; from here they live on what they've saved.
- At 66: Every loan is paid off.
- The money lasts to 95, where the projection ends.
Layla stays home first
- At 33: Buys the house for $500k ($50k down). Debt payments are $33k a year.
- At 35: Cash and savings run out; from 35 the retirement accounts cover the gap, with $5k of early-withdrawal penalties.
- At 55: Last year of work; from here they live on what they've saved.
- At 62: Every loan is paid off.
- The money lasts to 95, where the projection ends.
Move near family
- At 35: Buys the house near family for $350k ($70k down). Debt payments go from $0 to $21k a year.
- At 55: Last year of work; from here they live on what they've saved.
- At 64: Every loan is paid off.
- The money lasts to 95, where the projection ends.
Questions
Are Omar and Layla real?
No. This is a sample household, written to be typical of people asking this question. Their plan runs on the same engine yours would: federal and state income tax, payroll tax, retirement-account rules, mortgages and inflation, year by year.
Does a second income pay for itself with two kids in daycare?
This year's paycheck minus daycare is only part of the answer. The job also brings retirement contributions, an employer match and the years they compound, and stepping away interrupts all three. The "Layla stays home first" future counts them over a whole life, not just this year.
Why does daycare matter so much if it ends?
Because it lands in the years savings have longest to grow. Money that goes to daycare at 33 is money that isn't compounding until 55.
What does "today's dollars" mean?
Every figure is shown in what money buys now, with inflation taken out, so a number decades from now can be compared with one today.
Can I change their plans?
Some of it. Under "Try it", move the sliders and the engine re-runs their plans; nothing is saved. To change everything, create a free account and plan with your own numbers in the same simulator.
Run your own numbers
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