HHI to send 2 kids to private w/o FA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make about 225k and have a 5k per month mortgage. We can only pull it off with grandparents paying for one tuition and financial aid covering 1/3 of the other (leaves us 2500 per month in tuition payments). We also have almost free healthcare with no insurance premiums. For us to be good to go without help (knowing we have a high mortgage), I'd say we would need to pull in 300k per year. To do it AND save well, 350k per year.

First, I get heart palpitations that you pay 5k in mortgage on that HHI. We're a bit lower but with less than half that mortgage and I couldn't imagine going that high. I mean, this isn't a criticism; just me saying that I'm nervous on your behalf!

But if 1/3 of your other tuition is $2500, then the the tuition is $7500? Per month?

I'm the poster you are quoting. Yes, the mortgage is quite high on our income. But our jobs are insanely stable and include many benefits that allow us to have virtually zero healthcare costs, college is covered up to 150k and a strong pension. That said, our savings is dismal and we do need to get cracking on that at some point. We bought into a pricey area for good public schools eventually (kids are still young and not at public school age yet). Our real goal is to switch to public for kindergarten, hence the higher mortgage. The financial aid on one tuition is 1/3 and we pay the other 2/3, which is 2k. We then cover aftercare for my other kid at 500 per month.

I think the posters who want to save WELL for both retirement and college and have two in private probably do need 400k plus per year. If you are sacrificing some of that, then really you could do it on less. Personally, I do hope public works out because that is an insane amount of money added up over the years. I think I'd rather be able to save that. Now if we have special needs (one does) that can't be met in public, then it is what it is and we will scramble.

One more point about a high mortgage... To rent a 3 bedroom house in a safe area with reasonable commutes you are still talking a good 3-4K per month, and without a tax benefit to boot. Our house is in a very "hot" area so if we truly felt like it was too much we could sell in a heartbeat. But for now, we are ok.

[Anonymous]

Tuition has increased by 22% since K. Our income has increased by 15%. And we had another child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make about 225k and have a 5k per month mortgage. We can only pull it off with grandparents paying for one tuition and financial aid covering 1/3 of the other (leaves us 2500 per month in tuition payments). We also have almost free healthcare with no insurance premiums. For us to be good to go without help (knowing we have a high mortgage), I'd say we would need to pull in 300k per year. To do it AND save well, 350k per year.

First, I get heart palpitations that you pay 5k in mortgage on that HHI. We're a bit lower but with less than half that mortgage and I couldn't imagine going that high. I mean, this isn't a criticism; just me saying that I'm nervous on your behalf!

But if 1/3 of your other tuition is $2500, then the the tuition is $7500? Per month?

How can you question this...I mean PP was approvred for this much of a mortgage payment, so she believes it is her right to take it.

[Anonymous]

Whats the typical HHI cutoff for that a private school (SFS specifically) uses to grant any FA? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make about 225k and have a 5k per month mortgage. We can only pull it off with grandparents paying for one tuition and financial aid covering 1/3 of the other (leaves us 2500 per month in tuition payments). We also have almost free healthcare with no insurance premiums. For us to be good to go without help (knowing we have a high mortgage), I'd say we would need to pull in 300k per year. To do it AND save well, 350k per year.

First, I get heart palpitations that you pay 5k in mortgage on that HHI. We're a bit lower but with less than half that mortgage and I couldn't imagine going that high. I mean, this isn't a criticism; just me saying that I'm nervous on your behalf!

But if 1/3 of your other tuition is $2500, then the the tuition is $7500? Per month?

How can you question this...I mean PP was approvred for this much of a mortgage payment, so she believes it is her right to take it.

I already responded to this above but I'm not clueless and didn't believe it's my "right" to take it. I'm not a moron. We don't live extravagantly, wanted to get close in (in part for good public schools which is the ultimate plan), and can't afford renovations so needed something mostly move-in ready from the get go. Everyone makes choices that work for them. Again, we could sell our house in a heartbeat and get every penny back and then some. But tuition and other costs are gone forever. So here's to hoping public works when ready ; )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whats the typical HHI cutoff for that a private school (SFS specifically) uses to grant any FA? Thanks.

Probably depends on the school and other circumstances (medical issues, other fixed costs that are not by choice, etc...). For the majority of tuition I imagine it must be quite low (two working parents and still low). For partial, anywhere up to 250k potentially depending on other circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We could do it on $325 and comfortably because

1) We consider a 1800sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in a nice neighborhood with a mortgage well-under $4k (bought in the last few years) to be very comfortable. Americans generally have a very inflated sense of how large a house needs to be. And, we do our own yardwork and housecleaning.

2) We both work FT, but have enough flexibility between the two of us that we don't need a nanny, although we do use after care on occasion.

3) We bought our car (Honda minivan--not a luxury SUV) in cash and this is our only car.

4) We shop almost exclusively at WF, but we like to cook at home. We eat dinner out once a week at family-type restaurant.

5) We take vacations to see family. When the kids get older, I suspect that vacations will be more expensive because we would like to take DC to new places.

We can still afford all the extra-curriculars the children want to participate in, eat well, dress nicely (though not in designer clothing), and save for retirement and college. This is what I think most people would consider comfortable. I don't think we've "sacrificed," and frankly, the "you need $500K" people seem to have lost touch with reality.

What kind of full time job allows for 3pm pickup??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We could do it on $325 and comfortably because

1) We consider a 1800sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in a nice neighborhood with a mortgage well-under $4k (bought in the last few years) to be very comfortable. Americans generally have a very inflated sense of how large a house needs to be. And, we do our own yardwork and housecleaning.

2) We both work FT, but have enough flexibility between the two of us that we don't need a nanny, although we do use after care on occasion.

3) We bought our car (Honda minivan--not a luxury SUV) in cash and this is our only car.

4) We shop almost exclusively at WF, but we like to cook at home. We eat dinner out once a week at family-type restaurant.

5) We take vacations to see family. When the kids get older, I suspect that vacations will be more expensive because we would like to take DC to new places.

We can still afford all the extra-curriculars the children want to participate in, eat well, dress nicely (though not in designer clothing), and save for retirement and college. This is what I think most people would consider comfortable. I don't think we've "sacrificed," and frankly, the "you need $500K" people seem to have lost touch with reality.

Lots of federal jobs allow for an early start time to accommodate an early leave time. Very common, actually.


What kind of full time job allows for 3pm pickup??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We could do it on $325 and comfortably because

1) We consider a 1800sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house in a nice neighborhood with a mortgage well-under $4k (bought in the last few years) to be very comfortable. Americans generally have a very inflated sense of how large a house needs to be. And, we do our own yardwork and housecleaning.

2) We both work FT, but have enough flexibility between the two of us that we don't need a nanny, although we do use after care on occasion.

3) We bought our car (Honda minivan--not a luxury SUV) in cash and this is our only car.

4) We shop almost exclusively at WF, but we like to cook at home. We eat dinner out once a week at family-type restaurant.

5) We take vacations to see family. When the kids get older, I suspect that vacations will be more expensive because we would like to take DC to new places.

We can still afford all the extra-curriculars the children want to participate in, eat well, dress nicely (though not in designer clothing), and save for retirement and college. This is what I think most people would consider comfortable. I don't think we've "sacrificed," and frankly, the "you need $500K" people seem to have lost touch with reality.

What kind of full time job allows for 3pm pickup??

Lots of federal job allow for an early start time to accommodate an early end time. Very common, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would put that as the minimum, depending on what other expenses you have. Many private schools are now $27,000 a year, and that's not going to go down.

don't you mean tuition is 37K a year ?

What NW DC Private is 27K ? Not since 2005.

Its crested 40 K at some and will go up this year as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are sending three kids with a HHI of $325K. There are lots of sacrifices, but certainly our choice. We cover the majors like mortgage (unfortunately bought at the peak), car and maximum on the 401K. Grandparents are saving for college, thankfully.

I'm reading this old thread because we are contemplating having 2 kids in private starting in 2016-2017 for middle school. (We have a much younger third child who will start kindergarten in our MCPS elementary, which we really like, for grades K to 5).

Our HHI is $340,000 (with both of us working full time, albeit in family-friendly jobs). The grandparents have funded college for the 3 kids. We max out our 401(k)s now, and hope to continue because we each get a match between 7 and 8 percent of our salaries, and stock options in good years (perhaps $10,000 per year in a good year). Our mortgage is pretty low ($2500/month) because we still live in the same small house that we purchased in 2003 in Bethesda, and we are OK with just staying in that house even though the small size has many drawbacks (e.g. difficult to host holidays, no storage at all, no garage, tiny kitchen, etc). We are OK with modest vacations and vehicles.

Anyone else able to pay tuition for 2 kids on an HHI of $340K, if the 3rd child is in public while the 2 kids are in private?

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are sending three kids with a HHI of $325K. There are lots of sacrifices, but certainly our choice. We cover the majors like mortgage (unfortunately bought at the peak), car and maximum on the 401K. Grandparents are saving for college, thankfully.

I'm reading this old thread because we are contemplating having 2 kids in private starting in 2016-2017 for middle school. (We have a much younger third child who will start kindergarten in our MCPS elementary, which we really like, for grades K to 5).

Our HHI is $340,000 (with both of us working full time, albeit in family-friendly jobs). The grandparents have funded college for the 3 kids. We max out our 401(k)s now, and hope to continue because we each get a match between 7 and 8 percent of our salaries, and stock options in good years (perhaps $10,000 per year in a good year). Our mortgage is pretty low ($2500/month) because we still live in the same small house that we purchased in 2003 in Bethesda, and we are OK with just staying in that house even though the small size has many drawbacks (e.g. difficult to host holidays, no storage at all, no garage, tiny kitchen, etc). We are OK with modest vacations and vehicles.

Anyone else able to pay tuition for 2 kids on an HHI of $340K, if the 3rd child is in public while the 2 kids are in private?

Thank you.

Bump.

[Anonymous]

What does your sss report say? Fill it out and you know. No need for us to do the calculations.

[Anonymous]

At least 350K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does your sss report say? Fill it out and you know. No need for us to do the calculations.

Thats not really helpful. She's asking what it feels like on $340K.