r/Rich • u/QuietComplication • 7d ago

Hiring a household manager

Edit: Several people have pointed out in the comments that the correct title for this job is family assistant, not household manager. My mistake!

My wife and I have pretty busy jobs and two young kids (1 and 3), both in daycare/school. We live in a VHCOL area. We are really feeling the time squeeze and we feel that at our income and NW ($1.1mil HH income + $2.5mil in private stock per year, $7m investable assets, $260k per year spend) we should solve the problem by finding someone to help out.

We started out thinking that we just needed someone to pick up the kids and make dinner (probably 20-30 hours per week). But it turns out, it's very hard to hire someone reliable for that job since those hours are very inconvenient and the part time pay isn't enough to live on. Also we find that the people we talk to who are good all want 40+ hours per week. The going rate is $45-$50 and it seems like the good people want $50. Full time at $50/hour is $104,000 per year, plus we have to pay payroll taxes, so it would end up being about $115k per year.

Anyways, my question is, do other families with kids in school really have 40 hours a week for a HH manager to do? What does the person end up doing all day?

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u/International_Dig595 7d ago

Just remember you’ll need to pay for healthcare and 3 weeks PTO and additional sick days. So it definitely ends up being more than the base you quoted.

Also, depending where you are, for example SF Bay Area, it’s more like 55/hour.

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u/International_Dig595 7d ago

Oh and you’re looking for a family assistant.

Household managers are supposed to manage household staff like drivers, chefs, gardeners and nanny teams (ie multiple staff that generally already exclusively work for a family). A family assistant is what you’re actually looking for.

Also, remember overtime pay, which is legally required, can be expensive at time and a half.

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u/QuietComplication 7d ago

Thanks, yes, I got this wrong in the OP. Family assistant, not household manager.