New Baby Money Checklist

1. Step 1 Add your baby to health insurance within 30 days

   A birth or adoption lets you add your child (and change plans) outside open enrollment, but employer plans usually give you only 30 days to ask (Department of Labor); marketplace plans give 60 days (HealthCare.gov). Coverage can start from the birth date. Compare plans while you're at it.

   Compare family plan costs

2. Step 2 Get your baby's Social Security number

   Ask for one when you apply for the birth certificate at the hospital (SSA). Your child needs it for the Child Tax Credit and for a Trump account.

3. Step 3 Count the Child Tax Credit

   Up to $2,200 per child under 17 for 2026, with up to $1,700 of it refundable; it phases out above $200,000 of income ($400,000 joint). The child and at least one parent need a Social Security number valid for work (IRS). The refundable part needs at least $2,500 of earned income, and the SSNs must be issued by your return's due date. A baby born on December 31 counts for the whole year.

   Estimate your Child Tax Credit

4. Step 4 Update your W-4 so the credit shows up in your paychecks

   Add the child in Step 3 and your take-home rises now instead of waiting for a refund.

   Update your W-4

5. Step 5 Claim the $1,000 Trump account deposit

   For U.S.-citizen children with a Social Security number born from 2025 through 2028, the government puts $1,000 into a new Trump account. A parent or other authorized adult elects it on IRS Form 4547, with your tax return or in your IRS online account; family and employers can add up to $5,000 a year in total from July 4, 2026 (IRS).

6. Step 6 Plan child care: dependent care FSA or the credit

   A dependent care FSA lets a household set aside up to $7,500 a year before tax for care while you work (§ 129). Check your employer's plan: some still cap it at $5,000. A birth also lets you start or raise your election mid-year. The child and dependent care credit is the alternative; which saves more depends on your income, so compare.

   Compare the FSA with the credit

7. Step 7 Work out leave pay

   Federal FMLA leave is up to 12 weeks unpaid for eligible employees (Department of Labor). A growing list of states pays family leave benefits, including Delaware, Minnesota and Maine since 2026 (HCAMag); check yours and your employer's policy, then plan the weeks of lower pay.

8. Step 8 Rebuild the budget with baby costs

   Child care is often the biggest new cost, followed by diapers, formula and insurance premiums. Put it in the budget before leave pay drops.

   Build a budget

9. Step 9 Grow the emergency fund

   Higher monthly costs mean a bigger three-to-six-month target.

   Plan your emergency fund

10. Step 10 Move your HSA up to the family limit

    Once your high-deductible plan covers the baby, your HSA limit rises from the self-only to the family amount for each month you have family coverage (IRS Publication 969). A health FSA limit is per employee and doesn't change.

    See your HSA tax savings

11. Step 11 Life insurance, a will and a guardian

    Term life insurance that would replace your income until your child is grown, a will naming a guardian, and updated beneficiaries on your 401(k), IRA and life insurance.

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