Jan 27, 2025
When experts talk about financial planning for retirement, many of them assume that people are following a standard life script—go to college, get married, buy a house, have kids and a career until traditional retirement. But a growing number of adults do not have children, and in fact, are choosing to be child-free. According to one recent survey, 47% of U.S. adults younger than 50 say they are unlikely to ever have kids. In today’s episode, I talk with Bri Conn, the Chief Experience Officer of Childfree Wealth, a firm that specializes in financial planning for adults who are childfree by choice. Bri will talk about what it means to be childfree and the ways in which childfree financial planning may look vastly different from traditional planning. She’ll explain the concept of FILE, which stands for “Financial Independence, Live Early.” It’s an innovative approach, Bri says, that helps people plan their lives with the goal of ensuring their money needs are met, but instead of stopping work entirely in retirement, they might consider the pursuit of an evolving career or passion that is flexible, enjoyable, and on their own terms. There are still common concerns, like “Who will take care of me when I’m older?” but through such planning, childfree people can choose and design a life around their own wants and needs.
About the Guest:
Bri Conn is the Chief Experience Officer of Childfree Wealth, a life and financial planning firm dedicated to helping childfree and permanently childless people. She is also a Childfree Wealth Specialist® and the co-host of the Childfree Wealth podcast. Childfree Wealth has been featured on Fortune, Forbes, MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business Insider, CNBC, and many other publications. In her free time, Bri loves hiking, running, or enjoying the beauty of nature. Her core values are community, education, social participation, and sustainability, and she is committed to integrating these into everything I do.