
Birth Control: A Twenty-Something’s Best Asset Class - vonnik
http://blog.futureadvisor.com/birth-control-a-twenty-somethings-best-asset-class/
======
roc
Delaying having a child for ten years also implies that the associated costs
of having that child will have continued to climb over the intervening ten
years.

As many of those costs (healthcare, childcare, education) have been growing at
similar (or greater) rates than plausible investment returns, the calculated
return of the birth control investment may be overstated a bit.

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roymurdock
Depends on where that 20-something lives. Children are considered valuable
assets in many developing countries where they start generating income for the
parents at an early age for a relatively low cost.

Would also be interesting to factor in some non-tangibles: Non-parents get
more sleep, are healthier, have more financial and career freedom, lead better
social lives, get to enjoy their favorite music and TV shows more, worry less,
have less general stress, and are _less likely_ to say they are very happy
than parents. [0]

[0] [http://qz.com/262645/people-without-kids-live-better-than-
pa...](http://qz.com/262645/people-without-kids-live-better-than-parents-on-
all-fronts-except-one/)

------
carsongross
And this is why Idiocracy will end up being prophesy: when your society makes
having kids the dumb thing to do, you end up having lots of dumb people.

I have three kids.

~~~
vonnik
We're not saying having kids is the dumb thing to do. Kids are great. Kids
with smart, caring parents are even greater. What we're saying is there are
consequences to being careless with birth control. An unplanned pregnancy can
be traumatic both emotionally and financially. People who want kids should
think about when they'll have the bandwidth to raise them. If you want to
spend your 20s raising kids, then by all means. If you're not thinking about
it, and behaving carelessly, then maybe this article will make you wake up.

~~~
carsongross
You are saying it is dumb to do from a financial standpoint. And your analysis
is entirely correct. Mr. Money Moustache made effectively the same point in a
recent blog post (although he of course had to rationalize having one child
since that's what he did):

[http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/09/10/great-news-
youre-a...](http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/09/10/great-news-youre-
allowed-to-have-only-one-kid/)

What I would note is that this is also the analysis at the start of Idiocracy:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icmRCixQrx8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icmRCixQrx8)

I believe that the second and third order effects of this analysis, which
Idiocracy points to, are negative in the long run. Idiocracy is prophesy.

I know this strikes many people as flippant, and I do find it quite funny, but
I'm entirely serious.

~~~
vonnik
Carson - we are saying that it is dumb to do _in your 20s_ if you have income
you could otherwise invest. Early investments trump later investments. We're
not saying don't have kids. We're saying that 20-somethings could do
themselves a favor by thinking long term.

If people are going to have kids, then I certainly want the smart, hard-
working, forward-looking people to have kids. We're not arguing against that.
We're making an argument about a time of life.

Personally, I have a daughter whom I love very much. She was not planned. I'm
not actually sure that this planet will be a good place for her or for humans
in a few decades, at the rate we are changing the environment. Given that we
are headed for large-scale natural disaster, you could argue that the
Idiocracy already prevails. Or from another angle, that humans act like idiots
when in large groups. In either case, the quality of the humans reproducing
may be a moot point.

------
incongruity
This also makes the point for why access to (and use of) birth control/family
planning (and, even abortion) are so important for the financial wellbeing of
lower-income individuals (women in particular, due to the imbalance in
biological burden).

------
klochner
Infinite ROI: stop having sex.

~~~
jackmaney
That's a failing business model, and I suspect you know it.

~~~
wolfgke
Not necessarily: Why do you think porn sites exist?

~~~
jackmaney
ROFL

And just what do you think happens in many of the videos and pics on these
sites?

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xdissent
Observation unrelated to article content: For some reason this site hijacks
the swipe-left and swipe-right actions on a magic mouse, preventing Safari
swipe navigation. It scrolls up and down instead.

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angersock
Note: this was (briefly) flagged as dead, either through automagic or mods.

This is exactly the sort of article that I like seeing on HN: funny, well-
written, and with hard (snicker) numbers to back up its assertions.

~~~
vonnik
Thanks, angersock. Not sure why it got modded. We were pleasantly surprised
that it climbed to #9 on organic upvotes, disappointed when it got knocked to
#54. I posted it. I manage the blog where it was published, and I don't know
what we did wrong...

