BenefitMe -
New parent :
What impact will it have
over my finances?

28/10/2021
benefitme-chatbot
Sophie works full-time as a secretary in a conference center. She has decided to take the plunge and become a new parent. She is aware that there will be additional costs associated with this decision, but she is not sure how this will impact her current resources.

Thanks to the BenefitMe tool, which the conference center provides to all its employees, Sophie can simulate this life project and realize the impact this decision will have on her finances.

She then logs into her dashboard from where she can see her current situation. Indeed, the BenefitMe tool retrieves the HR data of each employee of the conference center. At a glance, Sophie can see her salary statement, her activity rate and her insurance policy. 

Step 1: Define your current data

In order to better plan her expenses and to know her available income, Sophie enters her expenses in the "Budget" tab. She begins by entering her monthly expenses, which include rent, food shopping, transportation costs, etc.
This brings the total annual expenses to CHF 32,840, or about CHF 2,737 per month. His disposable income is calculated as the difference between his annual net salary and the sum of all expenses.

Step 2: Reduce her work rate

Sophie plans to spend time with her child, and to do so, she would like to reduce her work rate. She feels that 80% is sufficient once her maternity leave is over.

To see the impact of this decision, she will run a simulation of the reduction in her work rate. She goes to the Time tab and simulates a change of rate to 80%. She immediately realizes that her vacation days have been reduced to 16 days. 
In addition, when returning to the dashboard, the summary of the Compensation card has changed. A new column has appeared, which illustrates the change in his salary induced by the decrease in his work rate.

Thus, his net salary goes from CHF 55'594.- per year to CHF 44'475.- per year. 
With a work rate of 80%, his annual disposable income drops from CHF 13,191 to CHF 5,361, a loss of nearly CHF 8,000 net per year!

She is not very happy about this. But she does not lose hope and continues her simulation.  

Step 3: Fill in future expenses

After researching on the web and with her friends and family, she simulated the fixed and variable costs that would arise when her child arrived.

She added the following fixed costs:  
  • Baby food: such as purees, compotes, milk supplements: CHF 150.00
  • Diapers and baby care products: CHF 100.00
  • Clothing: approx. CHF 50.00
  • Auxiliary costs in the home, e.g. laundry: approx. CHF 40.00
  • Other health costs: CHF 20.00 
Fixed costs per month that may be deductible:
  • Contribution to the health insurance with accident insurance: CHF 80.
  • Childcare costs: She will be able to rely on her parents to look after her child most of the time. However, she must plan to have her child cared for at least one day a week, i.e. CHF 520.00 per week.  
Variable costs:
  • Room for baby : 600.00
  • Stroller : 450.00
  • Car seat : 400.00 
In total, the costs after simulation amount to CHF 42,920. However, she knows that she will be entitled to a social assistance of CHF 2000 at the birth of the child and CHF 300 monthly allowance. She enters this as variable costs in the application.
Unfortunately, she realizes that the costs exceed her annual disposable income by more than CHF 3'000. She decides to change the simulation of her work rate to 90%.
In this case, she can get away with it, but at a very low cost!

Fortunately, she has savings of CHF 37,830. The question she now asks herself is: Is she ready to dip into her savings in case of a hard time?

The tool BenefitMe was able to highlight the financial impact Sophie will have in this new life.

Ask for a demonstration !