Most stay at home moms are proud of their status, and should be. It takes a serious commitment to be there all day for your family and rely on someone else’s income. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have plans for the many uncertainties in life.

This is something to discuss with your husband. You should have a plan agreed upon for the many issues that can happen to a family that relies upon a single income, such as the loss of a job, death or injury of either spouse. These aren’t fun things to think about but that means only that it’s all the more important to have a plan in place.

The stay at home mom or dad gives up a lot. It’s years of work lost, which has a major impact on one’s career. It’s less money for retirement. It’s falling behind in the field that you used to work in.

Stay at home parents can take the time to limit their financial vulnerability. It’s not all about finding a work at home job either, although that can help.

Continue Your Education

Keeping up with your field is important if you want to go back to work someday, especially if you worked in an industry that changes a lot. Take classes online, through a community college or technical school.

You don’t have to stick with whatever you have experience with, of course. You can use your time to study for the career you’ve always wanted.

Pick a course that will give you the flexibility to be there for your family. You don’t want your school time to take as much time away from your family as a career would if your goal was to raise your kids on your own.

Set Up a Retirement Account

You don’t have to rely on an employer to have a retirement account. Include this as one of your needs when you’re a stay at home mom. Your long term well being is important to your family too.

This isn’t easy in many cases. It’s incredibly easy to neglect. Do your best.

Ideally this should be a part of your monthly budget. Have a certain part of your family’s income go into your retirement fund. Your spouse probably has one through work – don’t you deserve one too?

Start Working from Home

Yes, I said it’s not all about working from home, but we’re talking about not being financially vulnerable, not only for your own sake, but for the sake of your family. Even having a small home-based income is protection against bad times.

How dedicated you are to earning money from home depends on your needs. If your family needs the money now, you’re going to have to be very dedicated. If it’s more to keep your work skills up, you may not need to work so very hard at it.

Even if your at home income doesn’t equal what your family needs to get by, it’s going to be a help if times get rough. It’s something you may be able to build upon if your family suddenly needs that income.

If you’re planning on working outside the home as your children get older, take that into consideration when you work at home. Do things that will look good on your future resume.

If you’re planning on staying home longer than that, find something to do that you will love doing from home for the long run. Building a home business can be a lot of fun and you never know if it will take you somewhere.

With any luck at all, you’ll never need your financial backup plans. But wouldn’t you rather have them ready?

Author Bio: Stephanie Foster runs http://www.homewiththekids.com/ as a resource for stay at home moms. Learn more about becoming a stay at home Tadacip mom at her site.

Category: Finance/Personal Finance
Keywords: stay at home moms,financial problems,stay at home mom finances,stay at home mom career