Someday
MONEY MEETS TAX · EPISODE 09
Anaheim · Late 2024
Money & Tax in this episode
Thinking about children · Time and career trade-offs · Tax rules after a child arrives
The question came between dessert and coffee.
They were having dinner with two couples they had known for years.
One had a two-year-old.
The other was expecting.
By dessert, the conversation had covered daycare waitlists, sleep schedules, and a preschool tour that apparently required an application.
Then one of their friends looked at Daisy.
“So what about you guys?”
Daisy smiled.
“What about us?”
“Kids.”
Evan reached for his coffee.
They had answered this question before.
Usually Daisy answered first.
Not really.
Probably not.
We like our life.
Sometimes Evan made a joke about getting enough sleep.
This time Daisy took a second.
“I don’t know.”
The table got quieter than the answer deserved.
Daisy noticed.
“Not an announcement.”
Everyone laughed.
“I just mean…”
She looked at Evan, then back at the table.
“Maybe someday.”
The conversation moved on.
Evan did not.
On the drive home, Daisy was looking out the window when he said it.
“Someday?”
She turned toward him.
“You remembered that part.”
“I’m just asking.”
“I know.”
Evan changed lanes.
They drove for another minute.
“You usually say no.”
“I usually say probably not.”
“Pretty similar.”
Daisy smiled.
“There’s a little room between them.”
“That sounds like Arthur.”
“Let’s leave Arthur out of this one.”
Evan smiled.
“Fair.”
Daisy looked back out the window.
Evan waited.
After a while, she said, “I don’t know.”
“That’s allowed.”
“I know.”
Another minute passed.
“I still like our life.”
Evan glanced at her.
“I do too.”
“That’s part of the problem.”
He understood what she meant.
They traveled.
They went out.
Both had work they cared about.
For years, not having children had barely felt like a decision.
It was simply how their life worked.
Daisy rested her head against the seat.
“Everyone acts like there’s supposed to be some moment where you just know.”
“Maybe some people do.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
She turned toward him.
“That was fast.”
“You asked.”
Daisy smiled.
“Fair.”
Evan thought about it.
“I never really pictured it.”
“Having kids?”
“Either way.”
Daisy nodded.
A week later, they were sitting outside after dinner.
The orange tree had produced more fruit than either of them knew what to do with.
Daisy had put six oranges in a bowl inside.
There were still at least twenty on the tree.
Evan was looking at flights on his phone.
“Vancouver?”
Daisy shook her head.
“Too cold.”
“In December?”
“Yes.”
“Mexico City?”
“We just went.”
“Two years ago.”
“That still feels recent.”
Evan kept scrolling.
“New York?”
Daisy didn’t answer.
He looked up.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You made a face.”
Daisy smiled.
“Maybe a small one.”
She pulled her legs up onto the chair.
“I was just thinking.”
Evan put the phone down.
“About?”
She looked toward the yard.
“Do you ever feel like we’ve gotten really good at entertaining ourselves?”
Evan waited.
“That sounds worse than I think you mean it.”
“It probably does.”
“You don’t like traveling anymore?”
“I love traveling.”
“Going out?”
“Yes.”
“Us?”
Daisy looked at him.
“Especially us.”
Evan smiled.
“Good.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“I know. Keep going.”
Daisy leaned back.
“We do something. We have fun. We plan the next thing.”
“Okay.”
“And then we do that.”
Evan nodded.
“I see what you mean.”
“I’m not saying I’m bored.”
“I know.”
“I just wonder what we want our life to look like in ten years.”
Evan looked toward the house.
“That’s a big jump from Vancouver.”
Daisy smiled.
“It is.”
“Ten years?”
“Or fifteen.”
Next year was easy enough for Evan to picture.
Compensation.
Savings.
The house.
The business.
Ten years was less cooperative.
Daisy said, “Sometimes I picture us doing exactly this.”
“Eating oranges?”
She smiled.
“This part.”
“I like this.”
“So do I.”
She looked at him.
“That’s what makes it confusing.”
Evan picked up his phone but didn’t unlock it.
“What do you picture instead?”
Daisy took a while to answer.
“I don’t know yet.”
Neither of them said anything for a bit.
A car passed outside.
Somewhere nearby, a dog started barking.
Then Daisy said, “I like kids.”
“I know.”
“I’ve always liked kids.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t mean I automatically want one.”
“I know.”
She looked down at her hands.
“And I don’t want to disappear.”
Evan looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Into being somebody’s mom.”
“I don’t think you would.”
Daisy looked at him.
“I hope not. But I think about it.”
Evan nodded.
Daisy looked back down at her hands.
“I like my work. I like being good at something. I like having things that are mine.”
“I know.”
“And I know people do both.”
“Of course.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s easy.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I think that part scares me more than the money.”
Evan had gone straight to childcare and work schedules.
Daisy caught his expression.
“You’re doing numbers.”
“I’m sitting here.”
She smiled.
“You have the face.”
“I don’t have a numbers face.”
“You do.”
Evan smiled.
“I was thinking about childcare.”
“I figured.”
“That seems relevant.”
“It is.”
“And your work.”
“Yes.”
“And mine.”
“Yes.”
He paused.
“I don’t know what any of that looks like either.”
Daisy nodded.
For a while, neither of them tried to solve it.
Evan picked up his phone again.
“So. New York?”
Daisy looked at him.
“December?”
“Yeah.”
She held out her hand.
“Let me see the hotel.”
Evan handed her the phone.
The Tax Behind the Story
Thinking about having a child does not itself change Evan and Daisy’s tax return.
If they later have a qualifying child, rules such as the Child Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Credit may become relevant. Childcare expenses, for example, generally must meet specific requirements—including being incurred so the parents can work or look for work—to qualify for the dependent-care credit.
Those rules can affect the financial side of having a child.
They cannot answer whether Evan and Daisy want one.
Want the tax rules behind the story?
Having a Child: What Changes on Your Tax Return?
A deeper look at dependents, the Child Tax Credit, childcare expenses, the Child and Dependent Care Credit, employer dependent-care benefits, and the tax records new parents should know about.
Next Episode
Her Turn
Daisy gets the kind of project she has been waiting for at work.
Her calendar is about to get harder to move, too.