Keep separate accounts for having kids for your elders, for marriage, and for old-age security
Original: eternity4719 · source details
Original author: eternity4719 · Chinese source: · English adaptation: parveen0029. Translation and grade notes ↗
Bibliographic titles are retained in their original language.
Source author's views and grades; not individually verified by this site.
Cost and benefit at a glance
- Check the cost Cost ↓
- There’s no monetary cost — only the cost of having a sincere conversation. The real challenge is speaking openly about these topics without dodging them.
- Then the source benefit Benefit ↓
- The reasoning here mirrors that in Section 10. External expectations are valid considerations, but their associated costs must be recorded on your own ledger, not someone else’s. T…
In plain terms
Others may expect you to have children, and that can certainly be one factor to consider. Yet the time and money involved are expenses you personally bear. “Relying on kids for old-age support” deserves its own separate calculation, since it hinges on another person’s financial capacity and willingness two decades down the line. Be sure to also write down the consequences of choosing not to have kids, so you can compare both sides fairly.
This guide's cartoon · show illustration
Enlarge illustrationOriginal illustration with Chinese lettering; the English dialogue is below. Humour is a reading aid, not evidence.
English dialogue
- Who's counting the money?
- Count the time as well.
Cost: what it takes
There’s no monetary cost — only the cost of having a sincere conversation. The real challenge is speaking openly about these topics without dodging them.
Benefit: what the source reports
The reasoning here mirrors that in Section 10. External expectations are valid considerations, but their associated costs must be recorded on your own ledger, not someone else’s. This is especially true for “relying on kids for old-age support,” which depends entirely on another individual’s future financial situation and willingness to help.
Conditions, limits and disagreements
Make sure to list both the consequences of having kids and those of not having them, then compare them side by side. Recording only one side of the equation doesn’t truly qualify as keeping accounts at all.
Original references
Original bibliographic titles and links are preserved; some titles are in Chinese.
作者经验，无直接文献；同类分析见第 10 节
Medical, legal, financial and policy conditions vary by person, place and time. Policy material primarily concerns mainland China; check the cited document and current local requirements.