Jay Zigmont – On Childfree Wealth

Hello, friend! Welcome to a new post in The Creator’s Roulette! A few months back, author Jay Zigmont reached to me about his book, Portraits of Childfree Wealth: 26 stories about how being Childfree impacts your life, wealth, and finances. I was intrigued and decided to host him for a guest post! If like me, the concept of childfree wealth and finances is new to you, this post will provide a good primer!

Jay Zigmont, Ph.D., CFP®  Dr. Jay, and his wife are Childfree and live in Water Valley, MS. He has a Ph.D. in Adult Learning from the University of Connecticut and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Childfree Wealth Specialist. He is the founder of Live, Learn, Plan, and Childfree Wealth, a life and financial planning firm specializing in helping Childfree Individuals. He has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Business Insider, Woman’s World, Investors Business Daily, and many other publications. Visit Childfree Wealth at https://childfreewealth.com. 

Let’s learn from him:

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Understanding Childfree Wealth

A guest post by Jay Zigmont

As I finished all of the work to become a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and finished a deep dive into the financial literature, I found that there was never even a mention of how being Childfree impacts your finances.  All of this is surprising as 11% of the US over 55 are Childfree (source), and a recent study in Michigan found that 27% of adults (all ages) self-identify as Childfree (don’t have kids and aren’t planning on having kids).  

Designing a research process

I found myself struggling with something that one of my mentors said while completing my PhD: “just because there is a gap in the literature does not mean it needs to be filled.”  Maybe the gap is there for a reason…

After I battled my own inner research demons, I decided to dig in.  I created a survey that had a mix of demographic questions and open-ended qualitative questions.  I asked a lot of the ‘normal’ questions like “What are your retirement plans?” but I also asked common Childfree questions like “Who is going to take care of you when you are older?”  I don’t know if my research process had enough rigor for some people, but for me, it got to the big questions.  In addition to the survey, I asked people to volunteer for a 60-minute interview to dive deeper.  The interview had a lot of the same questions but with the ability to dig in.  

My original goal was to survey 1000 people and interview 100.  

Recruiting people

I decided to turn to the ‘normal’ internet channels to recruit people for the survey and interview.  I even paid for ads on Reddit that said, “Childfree finances are different, help us understand how.”  What I did not expect is that the ad would be flagged multiple times as “hate speech”.  It was flagged as “hate speech targeted towards me” and targeted towards other groups.  I was absolutely floored by this.  I did some self-reflection and talked to some friends and finally understood that there was nothing I could do as to some people even saying the word Childfree may be offensive.

I had mixed results with ads on Reddit, Facebook, and others to recruit people.  I had great results when the leaders of Facebook groups and Childfree Influencers shared my request.  When Hannah from Wife Without Kids shared it with her audience, I had the biggest week ever in responses. 

Changing plans

As I went through the data and my first 20 or so interviews, I realized I was getting to ‘saturation’.  Saturation is a term in qualitative research that reflects when each new data point is not adding something new (i.e. you’ve heard it before).  I ended up with 325 surveys and 27 interviews.  

My original plan was to write a personal finance book.  Effectively I was going to write about how to improve your finances if you are Childfree.  As I started looking through the data, I realized that the interviews were so powerful on their own that they should be shared as-is.  

Participants were remarkably open in discussing their life and finances.  I had people from across the US, aged 22-52 share their struggles and triumphs.  There were people barely making ends meet, and others that retired in their 40s.  There were stories of success and loss.  People living on air mattresses and people who were jet-setting the world.  I found myself as a narrator and keeper of their stories, rather than writing my own book. 

Initial Reactions

I wanted to see if I was crazy (I might still be) or if these stories were meaningful to others as well.  I shared a couple of the stories on my blog and in a few Facebook groups.  While each story got its own reaction, the stories about people just barely making it seemed to get a lot more tracking than those who succeeded.  When I shared Carly’s Portrait of Struggle (https://childfreewealth.com/2022/02/02/childfree-struggle/ ) it really seemed to hit hard.  There is an assumption that being Childfree makes you rich automatically, which couldn’t be further from the truth.  The way I look at it is that if a Childfree person is barely keeping their head above water, then if they had a kid they would drown.  

Carly’s shares that she and her husband moved back to the US in February of 2020, and have been struggling since.  She is very happy they have a real bed now but spent much of that time living on an air mattress.  She shares her own personal struggles with both finances and mental health. Yet with the support of her husband and the Childfree community, she has been able to make it through.

The initial reactions were positive enough that I started to work on putting the entire book together.  I debated if I was going to include all of the interviews or if it would get repetitive.  In the end, I included 26 interviews (1 person decided they would rather not participate).  There is some repetition of themes, but in my mind, they ended up supporting each other.

Getting Feedback

All authors reach a point where you eventually need to put their book out there and let people react.  This was a bit of a heart-wrenching moment for me.  I think it is natural to go back and forth between believing your book is awesome and junk.  In the end, it is not about what the author thinks, but about what the reader thinks.

I did like most people and sent it to ‘friendly’ beta readers first.  To my surprise, the feedback was largely positive.  One reader did mention the repetitive nature but was ok with it in the end.  I also asked the readers to pick a favorite portrait (interview) and the answers were as varied as the readers themselves.  I had a few interviews I was concerned about as they touched on some sensitive topics but the readers enjoyed them.  I was very happy by the responses from the Childfree community. 

The real stress came when I sent the book out for reviews outside the Childfree community.  I was worried that parents would react negatively.  It is completely normal for people to have a gut reaction about being Childfree, and as my ad experience on Reddit showed, I was worried about being too edgy.  In the end, the reviews were largely positive and reflected an opportunity for parents to understand what it is like to live a life of Childfree wealth.  I am sure there are some out there who may not agree, but at least it was enough feedback to move forward.

Key Findings

What became obvious is that Childfree finances are different.  Being Childfree does not automatically make you rich, but Childfree people tend to have less debt.  Childfree people are very aware that they have to plan for their own long-term care and have changes in estate planning.  Many people I spoke to did not want to retire in the traditional sense.  Rather than following a FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) path, they are closer to a FILE (Financial Independence, Live Early) lifestyle.  If FIRE is an on/off switch for work, FILE is a dimmer switch.  The bottom line is that Childfree people have a different foundation and outcome to their financial plans, so they need a plan that reflects their life. 

In the end. 

In the end, Portraits of Childfree Wealth came out on June 1, 2022 and I am now focused on book marketing.  I’ve had some great conversations with press and podcasters who never realized being Childfree was a choice.  I’ve also had great conversations with Childfree people who may not have realized how different their finances are.  We will see how it goes, but I’m happy that the book is starting conversations.

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Did you learn something new today?

Thank you for hanging out with us today. Connect with Jay on his website and check out his book on Goodreads.

Photo on Unsplash