The FI Way To Do A Gender Reveal

It’s pretty often these days to hear about a gender reveal gone wrong. It’s time we got back to simpler times. Here’s the FI way to do a gender reveal.

Find Out At Birth

This is the way it’s been done for most of human history. It’s simple, it’s cheap and it won’t just save you money. It might just pay off more in the long run.

When you go in for the “big ultrasound,” just let ultrasound tech know you won’t be finding out the gender. They’ll have you turn away when it comes time and will leave it out of your file.

There are a myriad of reasons why this is the best way to go for the FI community. Let’s cover the benefits.

Financial Benefits

If you know you’re going to have a baby boy or girl, it’s almost unavoidable that there will be impulse buys of onesies with cute sayings in pink or blue, etc.

At the baby shower, you’ll get lots more onesies with witty words on it.

Here’s the thing. When baby comes you will have an outfit for every day in newborn size. By the time they’re ready to go up a size, you’ll have to get a whole new set of clothes.

If you don’t find out the gender, you’ll get diapers, a few generic onesies, a bunch of giftcards. In general, more practical stuff, like a diaper genie, pacifiers, etc.

Once the baby is born, sure, go pick a few cute newborn clothes out, but this way you won’t be overloaded at first and have nothing later. You’ll have gift cards to smooth out the ride longer.

Interest and Engagement

This is kind of a dumb and vain reason, but I’ve seen it many times where people will forget if someone is having a boy or girl. On the other hand, they won’t forget that you don’t know and are finding out at birth.

There will be more anticipation, excitement and attention on you because everyone will want to know what it is when it’s born. People will be impressed that you are going the old fashioned route, saying “I could never do that.” It’s not easy, and it will make you feel good to take the road less traveled, the road more “difficult.” In reality, I think it’s easier.

Delayed Gratification

What better way to practice delayed gratification in other areas of your life other than finance? You hold off on other fun purchases to max out a Roth IRA or HSA, so keep practicing this skill by holding off on finding out the gender.

Motivation

What better motivation to push through the discomfort of childbirth than knowing you are mere moments away from finding out if the baby is a boy or a girl?

Conclusion

We’re expecting baby #3 next year, so that’s why this is on my mind right now. We didn’t find out on the first baby, we did the second, but we’ve righted the ship and aren’t finding out for this one. It helps that we have one of each gender already, but regardless, it’s a fun challenge.

What do you think? Have I convinced you not to find out on your next kid? Or do you wish you did/didn’t on a previous one?

Note that I have nothing against a fun reveal with cakes, but lets ditch the elaborate explosions, fireworks, etc.