Before Baby Time

Free checklist · For new Dads (or those running it back)

Nobody teaches dads this part. So here is the list.

5 things to set up before the due date, in order, with the 2 to do first if you run out of time. Free.

  • Be the dad who set it up early, not the one still meaning to
  • Start the compounding now. 2 years of waiting costs $15,690
  • Beat the December 31, 2028 deadline on the $1,000 deposit

“Hindsight is 20/20. Fatherhood just makes you wait 2 years for it.”

Free The 5 Things to Set Up Before Your Baby Arrives checklist

What’s in it

5 steps between now and the due date.

The checklist names all 5 and puts them in order. Work down the line, and by the time you hit the bottom, the money side of fatherhood is running without you.

Start here

If something happens to you

Your income is the engine behind everything else on this list, and 1 evening of paperwork keeps your family covered for 18 years of it. The checklist shows the gap most dads miss.

Same week

Who steps in for your kid

The question nobody wants to answer out loud, so most couples never do. Skip it and a court answers it for you. 1 decision, made once, and it stops hanging over the nursery.

Before the third trimester

The expensive first year

A cash buffer sized to the leave-and-newborn income gap, kept separate from your emergency fund on purpose. A surprise bill in month 3 should be an inconvenience, not a card balance.

Any evening after that

Their long-term money

The step every other list tells you to do first. We rank it lower on purpose, because it is the one that freezes dads into a month of research and 0 open accounts. The checklist says what to open, and when perfect stops mattering.

Before you forget you exist

Your own future, on purpose

The counterintuitive one, and the one guilt gets backwards. The best financial gift your kid gets at 25 is a dad who never needs their help. The checklist sets the minimum bar so funding theirs never quietly defunds yours.

Day 1

Baby arrives. Everything above is already running.

Plus the bonus: kids born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028 qualify for a 1-time $1,000 federal deposit. The checklist names the account and the deadline.

In 2 years this is either...
✅ Done... or ❌ Still on your list.

The dads who feel ahead at kindergarten did 1 evening of paperwork in the newborn fog and never touched it again. The ones who feel behind kept meaning to.

Kid turns 2 · Done

  • Accounts opened before the hospital bag was packed
  • 2 years of compounding already banked
  • The $1,000 federal deposit claimed

Kid turns 2 · Still on the list

  • The same 5 tabs, reopened again
  • The $1,000 window closing December 31, 2028
  • Start date still drifting

Future you will thank you (but still be tired)

Get the checklist.
Be done before the due date.

1 evening of setup now, 18 years of compounding on autopilot. By kindergarten you will barely remember doing it, but the accounts will show it.

The 5 Things to Set Up Before Your Baby Arrives checklist

Get the checklist

  • Be the dad who set it up early, not the one still meaning to
  • Start the compounding now. 2 years of waiting costs $15,690
  • Beat the December 31, 2028 deadline on the $1,000 deposit