Congratulations!
My womanly intuition tells me that you will rise to the occasion just fine!
Having said that, some suggestions:
- Don't freak out about college. I understand and respect both sides of the "parents pay" vs. "kids pay" debate (personally I think a mix is ideal), but I do know for sure that it will NOT kill your kids if they have to pay for some/most/all of their own college expenses. If your dream was to pay 100% but you have to adjust that figure downward, that's okay ... There are worse things in the world.
- Review your life insurance and make sure it's sufficient for a non-working spouse and additional children.
- You mentioned benefits ... If there are some you will be losing when your wife quits work, I guess this would be a good time to think about how you can replace them?
- Regarding the home improvements, assuming they're just cosmetic, it would seem those could wait.
- Regarding the vacation, not sure what you had planned, but what about going ahead with the vacation but having a scaled-down version (staying closer to home, less days, staying at a less-expensive hotel, etc)?
Congrats again!
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