The Parent “Power Pause”: How to Take a Career Break and Come Back Stronger

Neha Ruch: [00:00:00] When you make room for family life, you're actually also making room for yourself [00:00:05] to explore new interests, meet new people, deepen your sense of self, and that [00:00:10] really starts with deciding that this time is also yours.[00:00:15]

Jennifer Borget: Welcome back to A Better Way to [00:00:20] Money. I'm Jennifer Borget. We talk a lot on this show about the big financial [00:00:25] moments: buying a house, building savings, planning for the future. But there's [00:00:30] one decision that quietly reshapes all of those things, and most families make it with [00:00:35] almost no financial plan in place: the career pause.

One in three working [00:00:40] mothers is planning a pause in the next two years. Half are planning to downshift. [00:00:45] But what does that mean for their careers and their identities? Today, I'm talking with Neha [00:00:50] Ruch, Stanford MBA, founder of The Power Pause and author of a [00:00:55] best-selling book by the same name. Since 2017, she's been rewriting the story on [00:01:00] what a career pause actually means for ambitious parents.

So, if you've ever thought [00:01:05] about pausing your career to fully step into the parenting role and wondered how [00:01:10] this will actually impact your future, this episode is for you. Before we get started, [00:01:15] if you're starting your transition into parenthood and trying to figure out what it means for your [00:01:20] money, we've got a free tool to help. Download Northwestern Mutual's Family [00:01:25] Finances workbook at northwesternmutual.com/podcast.

All right, let's [00:01:30] dig in.

About 10 years ago, you had a Stanford [00:01:35] MBA, a decade of experience in brand strategy, and a [00:01:40] newborn. So, take me back to the moment that you decided you were going to pause work outside of the [00:01:45] home.

Where were you? What was going on? What do you remember from that?

Neha Ruch: Oh, it ... [00:01:50] That memory is burned in my brain. It was, like [00:01:55] you said, 2016. For context, it was the height of the Lean In movement, [00:02:00] the height of the girlboss era. We all remember what that backdrop looked like. And I [00:02:05] was in this white glider in my son's [00:02:10] nursery.

I'd reached the ends of the internet on my phone. Like, I was on Aunt [00:02:15] Becky's daughter's Instagram. And yeah, I finally [00:02:20] felt at peace. And I think I call that out, because [00:02:25] when I decided that evening that I really wanted more room for family [00:02:30] life and to slow down in my career for a while, it wasn't [00:02:35] because I thought it was better for my son.

I really did it for [00:02:40] definitely a confluence of reasons. I think one part, it financially made sense for our [00:02:45] family. My husband at the time was traveling a ton, so it reduced the stress in the home. But [00:02:50] even more than that, when I mention feeling at peace, I think I'd spent so many [00:02:55] years climbing, and I wanted to rest into this feeling of finally [00:03:00] belonging.

This kid didn't want me to be anything other than what I was, and that [00:03:05] just felt freeing. It felt like it was going to open me up. And so I felt pretty clear [00:03:10] in that moment. I should call out that I initially downshifted into part-time work, so I [00:03:15] went two days a week, and then maybe a year and a half to two years later, I [00:03:20] fully paused.

Jennifer Borget: All right. Yeah, I completely understand that. It's interesting that you [00:03:25] say that it wasn't for your son, because I think we hear a lot of times [00:03:30] that's what people are saying. Like, "Oh, I did it for them." But you realize it was [00:03:35] multilayered for your family.

Neha Ruch: I also think when you get really clear about [00:03:40] why you're making a decision, it takes back the power in [00:03:45] some way, right? We hear and see so many headlines right now about women [00:03:50] getting pushed out of the workforce, and certainly we recognize the failures in [00:03:55] infrastructure around family life and workplaces. [00:04:00] And we're also seeing a lot of women wanting to [00:04:05] reexamine their relationship to work, wanting to figure out and define work that [00:04:10] works better for their families.

We're seeing a lot of women use this moment to recalibrate. I think when we [00:04:15] really own why we're making a choice, it does two things. One, it certainly allows us [00:04:20] to take back the reins on the story, but it also allows us to put down the armor a [00:04:25] bit between women. I think we've been, for so long, told if we [00:04:30] choose to stay at home while we're trying to create secure attachment with our kids, and then we're [00:04:35] working, we're trying to model ambition for our daughters.

As soon as you make it about the kids, [00:04:40] the elbows come out because no one wants to think that they're doing something harmful for their [00:04:45] kids. And the reality is all the research in the world (especially there's a great [00:04:50] feature in Harvard Business Review by Stuart Friedman) points to [00:04:55] how our careers impact our children is zilch.

It's really how we show up in the [00:05:00] hours that we're with them. It's less about the hours and more about the presence. And when it comes to that, then [00:05:05] you get to make the best right choice for you and your family.

Jennifer Borget: When you were in this pause, I'm [00:05:10] wondering, was there a moment that was most surprising to you? Was there a moment that [00:05:15] your former Stanford self would have just found totally absurd? [00:05:20]

Neha Ruch: Yeah, so many. So many. As soon as I started circulating [00:05:25] wanting to take my foot off the gas, I heard everything from [00:05:30] "Are you going to be bored all day? Are you giving up?" To “Are you wasting that [00:05:35] Stanford Business School?”

I literally had someone say, "You're wasting a spot at the [00:05:40] school." And I think it's a really important reflection on and meditation on where [00:05:45] we were in culture at that moment, right? Those came from really well-intentioned [00:05:50] peers and family members, and it came from this real place of [00:05:55] concern about my state of mind, about my enjoyment and fulfillment in this [00:06:00] life.

And yet, I was walking around with this kid, going to playgrounds and play spaces, [00:06:05] meeting really interesting women who were making bold choices to make room for [00:06:10] family life, and none of them matched the sort of outdated [00:06:15] bored archetype. And I think that was the moment when I started thinking, "Oh, [00:06:20] there's a mismatch," and it's surprising, but I'm starting to dig into and understand why it [00:06:25] exists.

Jennifer Borget: And with that unwelcome commentary, it seems like one of the most common [00:06:30] icebreakers that people hear when you meet someone is, "Hey, what do you do?" And for someone who's [00:06:35] maybe just taken a step back from their career, that question can feel like a trap, kind [00:06:40] of. So, how did you navigate that?

Neha Ruch: Ugh, it's so loaded. It's so [00:06:45] loaded. “What do you do?” has come to stand in in this culture for who are you, right? So, [00:06:50] if you have had a really succinct way of answering that, you've come to rely on that as a [00:06:55] way in which to present yourself. I had spent the better part of 10 to 15 years saying, [00:07:00] "I run brand at a tech company." And in five words, I had [00:07:05] somehow conveyed importance and significance.

And for [00:07:10] all the reasons we can get into, stay-at-home mom didn't have the same cache, right? [00:07:15] It just clearly dredged up very antiquated language. It didn't really fit [00:07:20] how I was feeling because there was nothing shut in about my reality.

I [00:07:25] was moving around in the world. I was thinking about what came next. And I think you have [00:07:30] to brace yourself for it feeling difficult, first of all. I did not know how caught off guard I [00:07:35] was going to be when I was asked the first time, and I word-vomited all over the woman who asked and [00:07:40] then left being like, "Now I feel worse than if I'd just said stay-at-home mom."

So, [00:07:45] after doing that probably a handful of times, I had to really think [00:07:50] critically about when someone asks (because they're inevitably going to ask), how do I want to [00:07:55] respond in a way that makes me feel good? And I landed on this script, [00:08:00] which was "right now," because it's for a moment in time, right?

I think [00:08:05] that's one of the key parts of this—that I didn't choose to pause for the rest of my [00:08:10] life. A pause isn't a period, so it's "right now I get to spend [00:08:15] time with my kids", because that's what I'm actively doing, right? That is how I'm spending my time. "I get to spend [00:08:20] time with my kids, and we'll see what comes next."

And I think for other people... [00:08:25] I run a membership [organization] where so many of the women on career pause are actively [00:08:30] exploring their next chapter.

Jennifer Borget: If you're planning your own career pause, it's clear. [00:08:35] The families who come out on solid financial footing are the ones who went in with a plan. [00:08:40] Because the decisions you make around a pause don't just affect this year's budget; they're connected to [00:08:45] retirement accounts, insurance coverage, and long-term earning trajectory.

The [00:08:50] gap between “We figured it out as we went” and “We built a real plan together” [00:08:55] can be significant, and it compounds over time. A Northwestern Mutual advisor can help [00:09:00] you grow and evolve with a real financial plan, whether you're protecting income, [00:09:05] planning around an earnings gap, or mapping out a re-entry into the workforce. An advisor [00:09:10] can help you build something that actually fits your life right now and opens up [00:09:15] more options down the road.

Coming up, Neha walks us through the conversation every couple [00:09:20] should have and the action steps to take before one partner takes a pause. Let's [00:09:25] bring her back in.

Now, when families are, you know, running the childcare [00:09:30] numbers, sometimes that's a part of the decision for a lot of people, and they realize going back to work means maybe [00:09:35] they're barely going to be breaking even.

How should a couple talk about the math [00:09:40] without making it purely about the dollars and cents?

Neha Ruch: Well, I'm so [00:09:45] glad you bring this up. This is such a layered conversation because I think the first piece is to call out that [00:09:50] one in three women today feel forced to pause because of the cost of childcare, [00:09:55] and 60% of women cite financial considerations.

So, we ran a [00:10:00] study called the American Mothers on Pause survey in 2023 of [00:10:05] 1,200 at-home parents and 1,000 members of the general population. So those findings, I think, illuminated that [00:10:10] for so long we've said stay-at-home motherhood or career breaks are a luxury when what we find [00:10:15] is actually it's not (to say that working out of the home is a luxury, right?)!

There are plenty of women [00:10:20] who can't forego the income, and yet the real privilege is to get to choose. [00:10:25] And for a lot of people, regardless of whether it's a financial no-brainer or not, [00:10:30] having those empowered conversations in the beginning with their partner, where they are [00:10:35] actively planning together, sets everyone up for a really financially [00:10:40] dignified transition.

What [00:10:45] we typically advise is that partners, whenever they're [00:10:50] considering a career shift of any type, they're really looking at it about six months in advance, [00:10:55] which means that they might be at that point sitting down at the [00:11:00] beginning of a year. I always think about this, the beginning of the year, as a really incredible [00:11:05] way to get on the same page about your values and what you both wish for in the year [00:11:10] ahead.

And I know money is one of those things we don't think of as romantic, but actually what you're [00:11:15] able to do at that point is then start to say, "Well, what are the areas that we [00:11:20] value the most right now? And where do we together not feel comfortable spending as much [00:11:25] or maybe where we want to be spending more?"

I think the key part of this is that you're deciding [00:11:30] together and that you're this interdependent household. No matter whether someone's contributing more [00:11:35] or less, someone's contributing everything from a paid income, together you're deciding on [00:11:40] how the joint household income is going to be spent against your values.

And then from [00:11:45] there, you can say if someone expresses the wish to downshift [00:11:50] their career for a chapter, you together might have the conversation about how the [00:11:55] household benefits, because it's not just the partner who is downshifting that benefits, right? The partner [00:12:00] who's working out of the home benefits from having someone who is [00:12:05] able to handle the load so that they're able to single-task in the workforce without [00:12:10] having to worry who's doing pickup and who's going to be there if they jump on that flight the next week.

[00:12:15] So, I think being able to establish that through budgeting is a really important piece of this puzzle, but [00:12:20] the planning should start at least six months in advance, and hopefully it's a practice the couple [00:12:25] started well ahead of having children.

Jennifer Borget: Can we talk about, maybe when people [00:12:30] are having this discussion, the babysitter guilt? Because I've heard there's this very specific [00:12:35] shame spiral that kicks in the moment you're not earning money anymore. Suddenly every [00:12:40] little, small spend feels like it needs to be justified or defended. [00:12:45] How do couples rewire that kind of thinking?

Neha Ruch: I think it really starts with this [00:12:50] idea of interdependence.

So going back, I want to underscore this idea: [00:12:55] The reason I spend time on it is because I, for one, did struggle [00:13:00] with investing in a babysitter, because I believed that suddenly if my entire value [00:13:05] was supporting the household and I wasn't doing paid work, I didn't deserve paid help. [00:13:10] The challenge with that is that no one should work [00:13:15] 24/7 without breaks. And not having—whether it's [00:13:20] childcare or whether it's a meal delivery service or a cleaning person once every two [00:13:25] weeks, that benefits the whole household, right?

Because it reduces the stress in the [00:13:30] whole household unit. And I was lucky enough to have a partner who was the one who made this case to [00:13:35] me, because I did go through a period without help in the home. And he was [00:13:40] the one who said, "I feel the burden. I feel the stress. Our kids feel the [00:13:45] stress. I, as a partner, feel like the expectations are very high when I walk in the door at [00:13:50] 6:00 PM."

He was able to express to me that it [00:13:55] impacted our whole family to invest in the support. And I think [00:14:00] that couples, especially the partner who is at home, needs to step into this [00:14:05] idea that help helps the whole family. So to that end, then [00:14:10] help or childcare or meal delivery services or cleaning is yet another line item in [00:14:15] that overall budget, and the family is allocating a [00:14:20] portion of the joint household income to that category because it [00:14:25] benefits everyone.

And by the way, I would add that if someone is wanting [00:14:30] to stay in the workforce, too often we simplify the math [00:14:35] and say, "Well, my entire salary would go to childcare." Well, [00:14:40] actually, it's the joint household income, right? And both parents contribute to that joint household [00:14:45] income, and the childcare doesn't come out of the mom's salary; it comes out of both, right?

And then of course, there are [00:14:50] nuances that we found. It's a confluence of [00:14:55] different factors, like it was for us—between the cost of childcare and my salary, between the [00:15:00] stress in the home because of my husband's job, combined with my very deep [00:15:05] desire to spend time with my kid.

That's where the math is when you're looking at [00:15:10] all the different factors and combining them.

Jennifer Borget: Running all the numbers, like you're saying, and [00:15:15] looking at it almost like a family business, treating it like you're running all [00:15:20] of the profit and loss and things like that. You mentioned [00:15:25] taking a discussion about six months before one of the partners decides to [00:15:30] take a pause. What's the very first conversation that they need to have there?

Neha Ruch: I [00:15:35] would say the very first is laying out the numbers. So, if it isn't already in a digestible [00:15:40] format, I can tell you we use an Excel spreadsheet, and we run it [00:15:45] almost like a P&L of a business where there's income in [00:15:50] and then there's income out, and you're essentially looking at all of your expenses and you're tracking [00:15:55] them for that period. And I think what's important to call out there, because—you mentioned it earlier— [00:16:00] this then reduces the pressure on the partner pausing to say, "Okay, well, now [00:16:05] I'm going to not spend any money, and for the next couple years I'm going to become a piggy [00:16:10] bank," as opposed to the couple making a shift because they together decide [00:16:15] this is of value to the whole family system.

Jennifer Borget: Yeah, working on it together. I know I've had [00:16:20] friends that have told me that they kind of feel like there's this struggle sometimes at [00:16:25] home, saying, "Oh, I feel like I keep having to ask my husband for money, but I'm shopping for the whole family; [00:16:30] I'm shopping for the kids." And I'm like, "Do you guys have combined accounts?"

[00:16:35] She was saying something about one had a credit union and one had something else, [00:16:40] and I was like, "Well, can you set up an automatic transfer or something?” Because that's got to feel [00:16:45] bad having to go and ask for money, even though it's [00:16:50] a collective effort."

Neha Ruch: It is a collective effort, but I think it's important to call out [00:16:55] that if one partner isn't on board, when you ask what's the first [00:17:00] conversation you should have, it's deciding together that this is the best solution for the [00:17:05] family. And if a partner is reluctant, it's important to hear that [00:17:10] and continue to have the conversation. We have financial advisors and marriage [00:17:15] therapists in our community who are able to guide couples through those conversations to get [00:17:20] each of them on board.

Or you just keep going back to the sofa or the table and having that [00:17:25] conversation. I think there are also other ways to make room for family life. It isn't as black [00:17:30] and white as “fully pause or fully stay” in the workforce. So, if there [00:17:35] are some nerves, like there was for our family, I think considering a part-time [00:17:40] solution, whether it's at your existing employer or at another comparable business, is a [00:17:45] great way to test the waters in between.

I also would say [00:17:50] if your relationship is at all rocky or going through a rocky period, [00:17:55] this isn't the time to take a career pause and make a big career shift. I [00:18:00] think it just adds pressure into the system, as opposed to [00:18:05] allowing yourself to do the work to feel like you're coming at this really big decision that impacts [00:18:10] both lives from a really stable place.

Now, I caveat that [00:18:15] there are some times when, whether it's a family relocation or a child with special needs, someone has to [00:18:20] pause, and the relationship is feeling rocky naturally because of the stress. In that [00:18:25] case, there's a lot of shame and stigma around prenups or postnuptial agreements. [00:18:30] You know, we enter contracts all the time in the work capacity, and that's all it is: [00:18:35] It's a way of protecting everyone's interests and keeping people, feeling safe so [00:18:40] that they can then work on shoring up their marriage and doing the work of raising a [00:18:45] family.

Jennifer Borget: Now, for a new parent who's taken a pause, [00:18:50] and maybe they know they eventually want to go back, what's something small that they can [00:18:55] do today so that they're not starting from zero in a few years?

Neha Ruch: I think this is a really [00:19:00] fun part of the conversation because when you [00:19:05] do part with the traditional workforce, you are given this opportunity. You might not feel it right away, because [00:19:10] there's definitely a bit of getting your sea legs. But you're given this opportunity to [00:19:15] really think about what comes next, and I think the biggest difference [00:19:20] between the power pause and just a pause is this concept [00:19:25] that when you make room for family life, you're actually also making room [00:19:30] for yourself to explore new interests, meet new [00:19:35] people, deepen your sense of self.

And that really starts with [00:19:40] deciding that this time is also yours. And one of the best ways to do that, I [00:19:45] think, is—it sounds trite and played out, but I think putting pen to [00:19:50] paper on small goals for yourself. I'll go back to when I [00:19:55] had a three- and a one-year-old, right? And I was feeling really... it was around that time that I [00:20:00] didn't really have childcare, so I was feeling really—I'll be honest with you—I felt like a failure.

I felt [00:20:05] for so long the idea of success had been handed to me as [00:20:10] a salary and a title and a pay bump, and suddenly I had a three-year-old who was going [00:20:15] through a pushing phase and a one-year-old who wasn't sleeping through the night. And I realized attaching [00:20:20] my success to their behavior was a surefire way to feel like a failure.

[00:20:25] So I started thinking, “Well, if no one's telling me what success [00:20:30] looks like, maybe this is my chance to actually design it for myself. And at least for this [00:20:35] chapter, I get to figure out what my own metrics are”. And I [00:20:40] wrote out my ideal day in five years. And it's [00:20:45] not to say I was going to be that person, but I wrote it out in great detail, like what I [00:20:50] was wearing, where I was living, what my house looked like, what it felt like, what my relationships felt [00:20:55] like, what my hobbies were, how I was with my kids, what I was spending my time on.

[00:21:00] And when I looked at it, it started to reveal [00:21:05] those are your deepest, most authentic true goals when no one else is looking. [00:21:10] And the reason that those seemingly small goals are relevant is because they start to plant the [00:21:15] seeds. They start to orient you toward “Well, what could come next?” They help [00:21:20] you start to think like, "This time is mine. I'm going to not just use this time to be [00:21:25] in full service to my kids and my home, but I'm also going to reserve a little bit of [00:21:30] time for me," right? I think as you design your days, it [00:21:35] helps you think, "Okay, well, maybe I need those naps and night times. Maybe I'm not going to like ... [00:21:40] cooking elaborate meals for my family isn't really high priority."

So, you can see how [00:21:45] just the process of deciding that you can move yourself toward [00:21:50] that next version reclaims this time for yourself in a big way [00:21:55] and, by the way, also gives you a little permission to invest in that help. I [00:22:00] think it was around that time I thought, "Okay, well, maybe I do need 12 hours of childcare a [00:22:05] week, and even if it's moving me toward an [00:22:10] an ideal version that's five years away, having that help [00:22:15] is an investment in my future, too."

Jennifer Borget: That's the kind of five-year plan I can totally get behind. [00:22:20] Yeah. I love that. Thinking of how you want your day-to-day to look.

When [00:22:25] someone is ready to reenter the workforce, how do you actually put a dollar value on [00:22:30] what you've been doing to make sure that you don't get “penalized” for the time that you've spent [00:22:35] working at home?

Neha Ruch: Yeah. First piece of this is [00:22:40] there's been a lot of headlines around wage [00:22:45] penalty if you take a career break, and I'm going to call out that that research [00:22:50] is a bit flawed. The reality is there's a wage penalty if you're a [00:22:55] mother, full stop. Whether you stayed in the workforce or you stayed out, you get 83 cents to the dollar [00:23:00] if you're a mother.

You get 79 cents to a dollar if you [00:23:05] took a career break. And so I want to double-click on that only [00:23:10] because then the difference is 79 cents to 83 cents, not 79 cents to the full dollar. [00:23:15] So I think we have a lot of work to do in [00:23:20] figuring that out. I think the other piece of this is that many women [00:23:25] returning to the workforce, 84%, do not return to the exact same role that they were in [00:23:30] before.

In this chapter, one of the most [00:23:35] interesting and sort of exciting part of it is that you're networking all the [00:23:40] time. Relationships are built on playgrounds and play spaces and PTA—because in the end, [00:23:45] networking is just relationships, and you're building really authentic relationships in [00:23:50] motherhood, right?

Those women become your counterparts and sounding boards [00:23:55] on those ideas, and we've had examples of women who start meeting each other to be [00:24:00] accountability partners to shape that next chapter. You're starting to do some serious self-study [00:24:05] on what lights you up because you suddenly have time to say, "Oh, I'm lingering on that [00:24:10] content more. I'm meeting friends who are working on this. How might I follow that curiosity, and [00:24:15] how might it shape what I want to spend my time doing?"

But when we polled the American women [00:24:20] on pause, what we heard resoundingly as the number one criterion for [00:24:25] women returning to the workforce was flexibility.

The close second [00:24:30] was meaning; then close third was less stress, and then the last, well, [00:24:35] the fourth of those was salary. So you see how women are [00:24:40] shifting priorities, and it tends to intersect with a moment of recalibration. They might have [00:24:45] spent almost 15 to 20 years in one career, and it's coming with this: "Well, how might [00:24:50] we take all of that time and talent and experience [00:24:55] and reconfigure it to work better for us?"

[00:25:00] In terms of that sort of dollar value, I think it's really important to say it's not apples [00:25:05] to apples. I think women are really reexamining how to reenter [00:25:10] on their own terms, so what they do doesn't necessarily look exactly like what they did [00:25:15] previously.

Jennifer Borget: And I'm assuming it doesn't necessarily mean [00:25:20] they're returning to a traditional nine to five. There are other paths that can work [00:25:25] financially, not just logistically, right?

Neha Ruch: Yeah, and I would also say that's a really important [00:25:30] piece of reentering: We see that women are often reentering through [00:25:35] other mom friends. So your bridge back is two things. It's your network that I [00:25:40] hope and I advise women to sort of keep up during their time away. And as I mentioned before, the [00:25:45] professional goals: They might be having a coffee once a quarter with an old mentor [00:25:50] or someone you used to work with because that can be an amazing way to return to the work that you're [00:25:55] doing or were doing previously. I think mom friends are an incredible opportunity right now [00:26:00] because you see a boom in women-owned businesses as women pause and then [00:26:05] pivot into building their own business for that autonomy and flexibility.

And it's all relevant [00:26:10] because the reality of women's lives today is we're keeping ourselves [00:26:15] connected and active even if we're on a career break. And those experiences are very [00:26:20] relevant.

Jennifer Borget: In a similar way, I used to be working in the news business [00:26:25] and stepped away after I had my second kid, started working part-time, and just [00:26:30] kind of fell into a business doing stuff in the creator space and freelancing [00:26:35] and writing and video editing. Something I never expected was using the skills that I [00:26:40] had learned from doing news and things like that.

Neha Ruch: It's so interesting. I'm looking at you and being like, [00:26:45] "Aren't we all poster children for this?" The research also shows that one in [00:26:50] three American women currently who are working out of the home will pause their careers in the next two [00:26:55] years. One in two will downshift their hours, and 90% of the [00:27:00] women who are currently at home are returning to the workforce, which means we're actually all more [00:27:05] alike than we're different, and we're all shifting.

I think the sort of black and white [00:27:10] ideas of stay at home and working have just done us such a disservice.

Jennifer Borget: Oh, I think [00:27:15] you're so right. It's so true. So, for a listener who's [00:27:20] maybe mid-decision right now, or mid-pause, what's one concrete [00:27:25] financial move that they should try to make this week?

Neha Ruch: Talk to their partner. [00:27:30] Talk to their partner if they don't have a budgeting system in place.

Whether you use [00:27:35] YNAB or you use Mint or you use an Excel spreadsheet, [00:27:40] I think getting everything down on paper so that it's visible to both of [00:27:45] you is really, really important. I think that's how you stay financially dignified, making [00:27:50] sure there are regular conversations about money.

Jennifer Borget: That's Neha Ruch, founder [00:27:55] of The Power Pause and author of the book by the same name.

That conversation really [00:28:00] hit home for me. I've gone through a lot of the same things myself as a working parent. My [00:28:05] decision to go from a full-time news job to part time and then pivoting into [00:28:10] a more flexible career in the creator space was the right move for me, and that's what we [00:28:15] all deserve, to have the flexibility to grow and evolve.

And sitting down with a [00:28:20] Northwestern Mutual advisor to make a plan will give you more options and less stress. [00:28:25] Whether you're making this decision right now or getting ahead of it, the best thing you can do [00:28:30] is start the conversation early, with real numbers in front of you. To help you do exactly [00:28:35] that, grab Northwestern Mutual's free Family Finances workbook at [00:28:40] northwesternmutual.com/podcast. It'll walk you through budgeting for major life [00:28:45] moments, protecting income, and thinking about the long game. [00:28:50]

Next time on A Better Way to Money ...

Christina Eaglin: You really have to be [00:28:55] strategic about “How are we going to afford childcare?” One of the couple's biggest [00:29:00] mistakes is thinking, "Oh, it's just a transactional item." Oh, no. You need to start planning that [00:29:05] now.

Jennifer Borget: We've spent this season talking about the big life moments that [00:29:10] reshape your finances, but few hit harder than the cost of childcare.

Christina [00:29:15] Eaglin, author of Who's Watching My Baby?, joins us to talk about why costs keep [00:29:20] climbing, what most families are leaving on the table, and how to stop scrambling and [00:29:25] start planning. Tap follow in your podcast app so you don't miss it.

Northwestern [00:29:30] Mutual is the marketing name for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company (NM) and its [00:29:35] subsidiaries, including Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (NMWMC), [00:29:40] investment advisory services and federal savings bank.

NM and its subsidiaries are [00:29:45] in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Not all Northwestern Mutual representatives are advisors. [00:29:50] Only those representatives with “advisor” in the title or who otherwise disclose their status as an [00:29:55] advisor of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company (NMWMC) [00:30:00] are credentialed as NMWMC representatives to provide advisory services. [00:30:05]

Neha Ruch and The Power of Pause are not affiliated with Northwestern Mutual, [00:30:10] and the views expressed by Neha Ruch do not necessarily represent those of Northwestern [00:30:15] Mutual or its subsidiaries.