Family Money Podcast Episode 3 recap

Embarrassing story: I first met Neha Ruch at a breakfast gathering just weeks after leaving my job at Fortune. To say I was adrift is a bit of an understatement. I had no idea how to introduce myself to the room full of impressive women, so I fumbled to explain who I was and what I did now that I didn’t have a fancy corporate title attached to my name. I wrapped up my ramblings by declaring definitively: “I just don’t want anyone to think I’m a stay-at-home mom.” I imagine I probably made a little “yuck” face, too.

I had no idea that Neha was a stay-at-home mom—if we’re using the traditional definition—but she’s also an entrepreneur. In between her kids’ nap times, she has built a really impressive community of likeminded women who are choosing to lean back from their careers and lean into family life but trying not to lose hold of their ambition along the way. (I highly recommend you check out The Power Pause community if you’re not familiar!)

Thankfully, Neha is an incredibly gracious person, and she didn’t immediately write me off even though I had been a total snob. In the years since that first meeting, we’ve become friends and had many opportunities to collaborate. I was so thrilled she joined me for The Family Money podcast to discuss her work and the challenges women face when they do decide to leave their careers to care for their babies.

The choice to stay home with your kids is a complicated one. As we discussed on last week’s episode, child care in the U.S. is grossly expensive. And many times, families decide one parent needs to stay home during their children’s early years because they feel they can’t afford the cost of outside care. Caregiving responsibilities are the number-one reason women cite for leaving the workforce, according to a 2025 study from Catalyst, a nonprofit organization focused on women in the workplace.

But before someone decides to downshift their career, they should be asking a lot of questions. How do you avoid feeling like a financial dependent? Can your family comfortably make ends meet on one salary? How do you maintain your identity and ambition during a career pause and not feel overburdened by all the child care and household responsibilities.

Neha and I discuss all of this and so much more on our episode. Please listen and share your thoughts! And next week, we’re joined by my good friend Heather Boneparth and her husband, Douglas, to dive into how couples can have these hard money conversations!

And because I love to always tie these back to past editions of Home Economics, let me recommend the one we ran last year featuring a stay-at-home mom in Utah. I love how the writer is so involved with her husband’s career and how they are in lock-step as they plan for their future.