Benefits Spotlight: Building a Family with the Support of Schwab’s Benefits. 

By: Beau H., Sr Content Manager 

At Schwab, supporting employees means showing up for what matters most—both in and outside of work. For many Schwabbies, that includes growing their families. From generous parental leave and family-building benefits to flexible backup childcare and tutoring support, our benefits are designed to meet employees where they are in their lives and help them thrive at every stage.

We sat down with Joe S., a Sr Digital Marketing Specialist on our Employer Branding team, to hear how Schwab’s family-focused benefits helped him and his wife—who’s also a Schwabbie—navigate their journey to parenthood and balance the joys and challenges of raising young children while working full time. 

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Family-Building Benefits (Parental Leave & IVF Support)

Q: You and your wife both work at Schwab and were able to take advantage of Schwab’s parental leave. How did that time off help you both adjust to parenthood?

Joe: Schwab is a very family-oriented company. There are a ton of parents that work here and they understand what an enormous effort it is to have children. Personally, I feel very fortunate that my team was so supportive. I was strongly encouraged to do what was best for my family. Since we are both full-time working parents and most of our relatives live out of state, our only option is to rely on childcare services. Parents know that one of the hardest things to do after having your child is to drop them off at daycare for the first time. Therefore, it was really important to us to extend our newborn bonding time for as long as possible. For the birth of our two kids, we were able to stagger our Schwab maternity and paternity time in addition to utilizing Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI). All that combined in total meant we were able to delay the start of childcare services until they were about 6 months of age. It was then we felt comfortable starting childcare and moreover, we were ready to jump back into the workforce. 

Q: Schwab also provides financial support for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, a process which can be both costly and stressful. Can you share how this benefit made a difference for your family?

Joe: As if having children wasn’t hard enough already, we also had to leverage IVF for both of our kids. It’s a very long and difficult process, when finding out we had support resources available through Schwab – we were overjoyed. Not only is IVF hard to undergo, it’s also very expensive as well. By using our family building benefits, the cost of our infertility RX prescriptions and also cryopreservation was subsidized. This was a huge advantage for us as we saw the cost of IVF go from unfathomable to being more realistic and attainable. 

Q: What would you say to someone considering IVF but feeling overwhelmed by the financial or emotional burden?

Joe: Take it one step at a time. The process is daunting when you first learn about all the steps and associated costs. It takes a lot of time, pain, and mental fortitude. I would advise those interested to do a lot of research on what fertility clinics are available and then to reach out once you’ve found the one you’re interested in. Have your personal support network at the ready because the journey is an emotional rollercoaster. But as they say, anything worth doing is never easy. 

Bright Horizons & Backup Childcare

Q: As working parents, finding reliable childcare can be challenging. How has Schwab’s Bright Horizons benefit helped you and your family navigate those challenges?

Joe: We have used their network of childcare services a ton! It’s been a really great benefit that their childcare services are so flexible. If our daycare is closed for the day, we have the option of either finding a caretaker that can come to our house, or we can utilize their network of on-site childcare centers where we can drop the kids off. This has come in handy on more than a couple occasions. One, it helps when our daycare is closed for spring break and winter break. Two, there was a time when we were in-between daycares as one of our former daycare centers unenrolled our child because they were understaffed. We found ourselves in a panic because we were full-time employees with suddenly no childcare available. Fortunately, we found another daycare we liked but it wasn’t available for another couple of months. We were able to string together enough childcare through Bright Horizons and also our personal network to bridge the gap until our new daycare became available.

Q: For parents who might not be aware of this benefit, what’s something you wish more people knew about how Bright Horizons works?

Joe: To those unfamiliar, Bright Horizons is a family concierge service that partners with Schwab. My favorite thing about them is the diversity of their services. Their main service is providing a support network for childcare, eldercare, and pet care. But they also can support your children as they grow by offering tutoring, academic support, college guidance, and even discounts on summer camps. It’s comforting to know that when something when something unexpected happens, you have resources available to you when you’re in need.

Benefits That Grow With You

Family looks different for everyone—but at Schwab, supporting employees through every stage of their journey is part of our culture. Whether you’re planning for parenthood, navigating childcare, or raising school-age kids, our benefits are designed to give you the flexibility and support to succeed both at home and at work.

As Joe’s story shows, when companies invest in people, they’re not just supporting careers—they’re empowering families. 

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