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How Much Is Your Mother Worth This Mother's Day? Try $773,700!

For Immediate Release
May 01, 2007

Media Contact: Mark Bagley
mbagley@ricedelman.com
(703) 227-0541

FAIRFAX, VA (May 1, 2007) Your mother may be priceless to you, but in today's job market she's worth nearly $775,000 per year (up $12,050 from last year), according to Edelman Financial Services? Annual Mother's Day Index'. This lighthearted study includes the salaries of the many occupations that a typical mother might hold during the course of a given year.

The ninth annual EFS study examined salary data obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Edelman's goal was to establish criteria and determine what the combined median yearly salary would be for a multi-tasking mother being asked to:

• Raise Children
• Keep family on schedule
• Dispense medication and nursing care
• Cook meals
• Attend meetings and function
• Assist with homework
• Provide transportation
• Listen to and resolve family problems
• Maintain family orders and harmony
• Manage family finances
• Keep house
• Care for pets

Based on 17 key occupations, Edelman Financial Services LLC estimates that this year a mother's financial worth is nearly $775,000 per year, or about $64,500 per month. The occupations and corresponding median annual salaries are:

Edelman Financial Services is attempting to quantify and track the true market value of a mother's annual worth in today's economy, said Ric Edelman, whose financial planning company manages $3.5 billion in client assets. Of course, no one can place a value on the love and affection that mothers give to their families, he said. But since a mother wears many hats and is on duty 24/7, we decided that a typical mother deserves a full-time yearly salary for all 17 key occupational positions. Edelman noted that these figures should be higher, because they do not include the retirement, health and insurance benefits that workers in these positions typically receive.

So if you haven't given much thought to the benefits of having a mom, try finding the money you'd need to pay someone to do everything that she does, Edelman said. So don't forget to put the check in the Mother's Day card the one for $773,700.

As for those who may argue that this hypothetical study ridiculously inflates a mother's true market value, Edelman asks: Do you want to be the one to tell Mom she's not worth that much?