Born Again DINKS

I learned from the comments on our post DINKS: Smart or Selfish? that many of our DINKS readers are Born Again DINKS.  They are parents who have adult children whom have moved out of their home; the parents now live in a dual income no kids (at home) relationship…again. 

Born Again Dinks are referred to in the financial world as “empty nesters”.

This is the stage of a person’s life where they may be nearing retirement, or they may have already retired.  They may be mortgage free or close to it; and they may even be considering downsizing to a smaller home, now that all of their children have moved out.

The Empty Nesters have spent their lives accumulating their wealth, and now they are enjoying it.  Since my boyfriend Nick and I are in our late twenties and early thirties, and we don’t have children, we are definitely not Empty Nesters.  I have a question for our Born Again DINKS…Is it better the second time around?

Young families are in the accumulation stage of their lives.  If you are in your mid twenties to mid thirties then you may be in this stage. This is the stage when our mortgage outweighs the value of our home, and our accumulated total savings are less than a year’s salary.  We may also still be paying off student loans and still making car payments.  Imagine how costly this could be if we add the expense of one or two kids into the equation!

I honestly don’t know my parents remained financially stable during the accumulation stage of their lives with myself and my sister Tara.  We went on family vacations every year, we always had food in the house, and we were never deprived of toys.  I was born in 1980 , and if you remember Strawberry Shortcake, He-Man, Cabbage Patch Dolls, and Pogo Balls, then you are also an 80’s child.  I look at my life now with Nick, and I can’t imagine adding the cost of a child or two into our monthly expenses.

During the Empty Nest stage of a person’s life they don’t have a lot of the same expenses as they did in the accumulation phase of their lives.  In the Empty Nest stage of a person’s financial life they are not building up their retirement savings, they are topping it off.  In many cases they are no longer paying off their mortgage; they are only paying their monthly bills.

In theory, Born Again DINKS should have a lot more money the second time around then they did the first time they were DINKS. I would like to know if this is true.  I recently asked my Dad if he enjoys not having kids at home.  He took the safe route, and responded “No Comment.”  My Dad (and other men) often use this neutral tactic to stay out of trouble when speaking with women, regardless of whether it’s his sister, wife, or daughter.

Please, Born Again DINKS let me know…Are you enjoying your life as a DINK the second time around?

Deciding to have children may not be the lifelong commitment that I thought it was.  Apparently…Once you go DINK you can go back!

(Photo By LisaSchaffer)

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