Newly donut-hole family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) You just can't afford all colleges in the US. So look at those you can afford. That should not be so shattering.

2) The evidence does not support what is taken for gospel on this site: that going to an Ivy school changes the trajectory of your child's entire future. A dramatic return has been shown for low income kids, but not kids who start out at at higher social strata.

It will be okay. Let it go.

This attitude is why there are many resentful middle class families that are starting to move away from the democrats. The focus is entirely on "poor" families with no regard to how middle income families are being impacted. The republicans might focus more on the wealthy, but at least they aren't hypocrites. I know people who are voting for Trump because they think his policies might benefit them while they know the Dems will do absolutely nothing to benefit them. When Trump got elected, I was sick to my stomach. Now, with all the socialist talk in the field of democrats, I see no one worth voting for.

Which of Trump's policies help the middle class???? I can't help it if your friends are so susceptible to class war prodding that they can't see straight, but all of the Dems proposals squarely help the middle class to varying degrees and few of Trumps do (and who do you think is going to pay for the ballooning deficit from that tax cut?)

When people keep getting told that their concerns are insignificant so suck it up, they tend not to see straight. You can't dismiss people's real concerns about being shut out of areas of the American dream that were attainable before without having significant backlash.

Yeah, I don't think the American dream is that private institutions can't raise prices. But maybe take your piddly savings and join one of Trumps clubs. I'm sure if you bend an ear the oligarchs will see it your way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you would vote for the likes of Trump; his ethics, his totalitarian tendencies, because you believe you stand to gain financially. How is that not selling your vote?

The more likely outcome is people will stay home because Dems are hyper focused on helping the poor to the detriment of the middle class. There's no balance anymore. Also, if voting for Trump would financially benefit me in a way that gives my kids significantly more options for college, yes I'd do it. That's not selling my vote, that's voting my interests. Are poor people selling their votes when they vote for Dems when they get promised free stuff? The Dems lost the last time because they isolated poor whites by only focusing on minorities. Now they are going to lose middle income families because they are again tunnel visioned focused on only low income families. I'm all for helping low income families, but not if there is no balance or consideration for middle income families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) You just can't afford all colleges in the US. So look at those you can afford. That should not be so shattering.

2) The evidence does not support what is taken for gospel on this site: that going to an Ivy school changes the trajectory of your child's entire future. A dramatic return has been shown for low income kids, but not kids who start out at at higher social strata.

It will be okay. Let it go.

This attitude is why there are many resentful middle class families that are starting to move away from the democrats. The focus is entirely on "poor" families with no regard to how middle income families are being impacted. The republicans might focus more on the wealthy, but at least they aren't hypocrites. I know people who are voting for Trump because they think his policies might benefit them while they know the Dems will do absolutely nothing to benefit them. When Trump got elected, I was sick to my stomach. Now, with all the socialist talk in the field of democrats, I see no one worth voting for.

Which of Trump's policies help the middle class???? I can't help it if your friends are so susceptible to class war prodding that they can't see straight, but all of the Dems proposals squarely help the middle class to varying degrees and few of Trumps do (and who do you think is going to pay for the ballooning deficit from that tax cut?)

When people keep getting told that their concerns are insignificant so suck it up, they tend not to see straight. You can't dismiss people's real concerns about being shut out of areas of the American dream that were attainable before without having significant backlash.

Yeah, I don't think the American dream is that private institutions can't raise prices. But maybe take your piddly savings and join one of Trumps clubs. I'm sure if you bend an ear the oligarchs will see it your way.

These "private" institutions benefit from huge tax breaks because they are tax exempt. If they want to raise their prices and amass huge endowments, maybe the taxpayers shouldn't be footing the bill via loss of tax revenue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you would vote for the likes of Trump; his ethics, his totalitarian tendencies, because you believe you stand to gain financially. How is that not selling your vote?

The more likely outcome is people will stay home because Dems are hyper focused on helping the poor to the detriment of the middle class. There's no balance anymore. Also, if voting for Trump would financially benefit me in a way that gives my kids significantly more options for college, yes I'd do it. That's not selling my vote, that's voting my interests. Are poor people selling their votes when they vote for Dems when they get promised free stuff? The Dems lost the last time because they isolated poor whites by only focusing on minorities. Now they are going to lose middle income families because they are again tunnel visioned focused on only low income families. I'm all for helping low income families, but not if there is no balance or consideration for middle income families.

Show me the policies that suggest that. It's just not true. Dem policies FAVOR the middle class by a far long shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) You just can't afford all colleges in the US. So look at those you can afford. That should not be so shattering.

2) The evidence does not support what is taken for gospel on this site: that going to an Ivy school changes the trajectory of your child's entire future. A dramatic return has been shown for low income kids, but not kids who start out at at higher social strata.

It will be okay. Let it go.

This attitude is why there are many resentful middle class families that are starting to move away from the democrats. The focus is entirely on "poor" families with no regard to how middle income families are being impacted. The republicans might focus more on the wealthy, but at least they aren't hypocrites. I know people who are voting for Trump because they think his policies might benefit them while they know the Dems will do absolutely nothing to benefit them. When Trump got elected, I was sick to my stomach. Now, with all the socialist talk in the field of democrats, I see no one worth voting for.

College costs have been rising for many years. It has nothing to do with politics but more to do with supply and demand. Its much easier to get loans and other things to help pay, so more are going to college driving the costs up. Years ago, it was very difficult for one to get a loan and if you didn't know how as there was no internet or a lot of help, you simply didn't go to college. Now there is a push for everyone to go. Its also much easier to apply online which is why so many apply to many more colleges. Its going to continue to go up until people stop going due to cost. Ivy's when my sibling went were still $40-50K and that was 20 years ago. That was a lot of money back then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really, a $3500 mortgage?? Isn’t that called being “house poor?”

Where do you live?? This is a DC message board. Mortgages that high and higher are common because this is a high cola area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why in the world would you expect to get financial aid when you make $260,000 a year???

Most people don't have an extra $6,000/mo that they don't already have going towards something else. Being expected to come up with that kind of money is daunting.

Most people don’t need to pay $70,000 a year for a kid to go to college either. There are plenty of less expensive options.

Most people don't pay $70,000 a year even at colleges with $70,000 price tags. Most people receive some level of financial aid.

But people with HHIs like OP's family's income do have to pay $70K/year - or look elsewhere.

That's why people call the general $150k-$300k range the donut hole. Obviously there are other colleges, but that's not the point. The point is that a certain category of college is accessible to the poor, LMC, and the rich, but not to UMC.

My parents' income dropped from $75k to $35k to temporary disability while I was in college so, in the grand scheme of things, I'll take having to stretch to pay for my DCs' college and limit them from the more expensive private colleges but it seems disingenuous to pretend the donut hole isn't a thing.

And that is OK. No one is entitled to Harvard, or an Ivy, or whatever other elite school he/she fancies. I promise you, your child will be just fine at any one of the 98% of schools that don't cost $70k.

Reasonable people can and do disagree about whether it is "ok."

Regardless of your view on that, the fact is that a generation ago, if you could get into a given school, you could make financing it work. That is no longer true.

Yep not F--King okay. Why should people both richer than my family and poorer than my family be able to afford it but not us in the doughnut hole. It is BS. I have twins at a local top private. One has a good shot at Ivy and the other a well known top 25. That is 150K a year by time they go. One more kid two years behind them. So for two years, I am expected to pay $225,000 a year? WTF? And we get discriminated anyway because we are Asian. Net worth is close to $2,000,000 (1.85 million). Income is $300,000. Of that net worth 1.1 Million is in retirement accounts. So I don't have the money to pay $900,000 for three private schools.

We have about $90,000 each for the older two and around $50,000 for the younger one. Another about $160,000 from selling two rental properties (doubly screwed because a lot goes to taxes--this is what the net is). We can get to around $400,000 total and can easily pay for in state in Virginia. But, why should my kids not have the right to go to the top schools? Because I am upper middle class? Those richer than us can do it and those poorer than us can do it. The whole system is out of order as Al Pacino said in Justice for All.

You could have had fewer kids.

You could have saved more over the years.

Your kids could take out loans.

You could send them to cheaper colleges.

You actually have more options than other families, not less.

The system is being fair to you. You just don't like the choices (you want to hold onto your wealth and send your kids to chi chi colleges at the same time. ). That is not how America does higher education, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

^^This thread is a year and a half old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^This thread is a year and a half old.

Evergreen topic.