Posted on: Sunday, November 4, 2001

Cost of rearing your child now estimated at $165,630

Gannett News Service

About $165,630. That's what it now costs to rear one child to age 18, according to experts interviewed in the October issue of Parenting magazine.

And that's only the beginning, because it doesn't include child care or college or, for that matter, anything catastrophic.

So how do you protect your child's and your own financial future? The experts recommend that you go over your finances and make a plan, which includes: establishing an emergency fund, no matter how small; paying down debts, beginning with the largest; reviewing your employee benefits, then reassessing them; getting good life insurance; writing a will and saving, no matter how little.