Private school -- what portion of income are people spending?

[Anonymous]

We have two kids--one at home still and one in preschool, and are on the fence about whether to go the private route for both for elementary. I know we can technically afford it and whether it's "worth it" is subjective, but I'm wondering what portion of their income most private school families are paying for tuition. We take home about $25k per month after maxing out 401ks, not including year end bonuses, which are typically $100k after taxes. We have about $250k in retirement (in our mid 30s), $100k in liquid investments, $100k in illiquid investments (exit in ~3 years hopefully for 2x returns), and $600k in home equity. Our biggest monthly expenses are mortgage ($7.5k including property taxes), and a nanny ($4.2k), but I anticipate the nanny expense will go away or be significantly lower once both kids are in school in a few years. Other big expenses are our student loans ($1.2k), car payments ($1.1k), utilities ($1.5k)--other than that, we typically spend about $7k/month on groceries, home maintenance, home supplies, gas, kids lessons, medical visits, clothes, entertainment, etc. This is not spending wildly, but also not trying hard to budget. Our income will most likely continue to go up given our industries, but of course there are no guarantees. We're looking at schools that would be in the $40k range, and I realize tuition will increase every year. There are a lot of factors to the private/public decision outside of the financial piece that I won't get into.

So my question is: is our financial situation typical for families with 2 kids in private? I know we make good money, but $80k for two kids is still almost 20% of our take home after taxes. Again, I realize people have different comfort levels, but I'm curious where we fall in the range.

[Anonymous]

We do it on roughly the same income, but we have a significantly higher net worth.

[Anonymous]

At the Big3 schools and similar your income will be on the low side of things. It's crazy but it is what it is. My kids are at two different Big3 and outside of the financial aid kids, I'd estimate the average income to be well north of $750K for families with 2 kids. The wealth is significant. We make $450K and have grandparents paying one tuition and there are not many families in our income (i.e. lifestyle) bracket. My kids are high schoolers and we're just paying for 4 years each. There's no way we could have sustained this for 13-14 years each. The public schools around DC are full of families like ours: very healthy professional incomes but not enough to pay $110k after tax (because most schools are now north of $50K plus more with fees and extra stuff you end up paying for) for two kids.

[Anonymous]

We are the exception to the rule, but our $50,000 tuition a year makes no impact on our financial situation as we are high net worth. But I grew up LC so I do wonder about people that sacrifice retirement and travel for private school. I’m not sure it’s worth it. In particular, I would do public elementary till 4th, at least. If you are in APS or Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are the exception to the rule, but our $50,000 tuition a year makes no impact on our financial situation as we are high net worth. But I grew up LC so I do wonder about people that sacrifice retirement and travel for private school. I’m not sure it’s worth it. In particular, I would do public elementary till 4th, at least. If you are in APS or Fairfax.

NO, it is not worth it. No, no, no. Unless your kids have special needs, etc.
It's just not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Our annual HHi is around $2 million. 4 kids in private school, so about $200k a year. We own our house and cars so no mortgage or other debt. In our late 40s. Honestly, we are probably at the lower end economically of DCs friends.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. Our gross annual is ~$850k including bonuses, and I forgot ~$70k in cash, though doubt that moves the needle on most peoples' opinions. Thanks for the input so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Our gross annual is ~$850k including bonuses, and I forgot ~$70k in cash, though doubt that moves the needle on most peoples' opinions. Thanks for the input so far.

You can afford it. As you note, you'll be able to convert the nanny expense to tuition expense as you the kids get older. We let go of our nanny after the youngest was in K, for example.

[Anonymous]

Our HHI in $200k and we have one kid we pay $30k in tuition for. He’s in high school now, we’ve been doing this since prek when our HHI was $130 and tuition was $20k. Our mortgage is $1500/mo because we live in a little house in a neighborhood most of DCUM would never consider (though it’s quiet and safe).

We are able to meet all our needs and most of our wants, and our kid is really happy and doing well. He is sometimes a little incredulous and admiring of other people’s wealth at his school but there are people in our income bracket, too, and it’s never been an issue.

It really depends on what you want to spend your money on. We want to spend it on school, so we do, and we don’t feel deprived or poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Our gross annual is ~$850k including bonuses, and I forgot ~$70k in cash, though doubt that moves the needle on most peoples' opinions. Thanks for the input so far.

You can afford it. As you note, you'll be able to convert the nanny expense to tuition expense as you the kids get older. We let go of our nanny after the youngest was in K, for example.

I disagree. Their NW is really low, and their spending is really high for that HHI. A couple of years ago in our mid-30s we had an HHI of $2m (not including $600k primary home equity) on a $400k HHI. Our HHI has since tripled and our spending has largely not increased so we put some of the extra $ towards private.

OP should only go private if they can severely curtail spending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Our gross annual is ~$850k including bonuses, and I forgot ~$70k in cash, though doubt that moves the needle on most peoples' opinions. Thanks for the input so far.

You can afford it. As you note, you'll be able to convert the nanny expense to tuition expense as you the kids get older. We let go of our nanny after the youngest was in K, for example.

I disagree. Their NW is really low, and their spending is really high for that HHI. A couple of years ago in our mid-30s we had an HHI of $2m (not including $600k primary home equity) on a $400k HHI. Our HHI has since tripled and our spending has largely not increased so we put some of the extra $ towards private.

OP should only go private if they can severely curtail spending.

That should say NW of $2m

[Anonymous]

Also, letting go of your nanny at K is easier said than done. If you have demanding jobs and you like your house to be neat and your life to be organized and relaxing, you’re going to want to keep the nanny on if the nanny is willing. That’s what we did.

[Anonymous]

We have an HHI of $420K with one kid. The private school DD will be starting in the fall costs $35K for K and goes up from there. We can afford it, but if we had more than one kid, it would be a big stretch and we’d definitely have to significantly cut back on other expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have an HHI of $420K with one kid. The private school DD will be starting in the fall costs $35K for K and goes up from there. We can afford it, but if we had more than one kid, it would be a big stretch and we’d definitely have to significantly cut back on other expenses.

Is this net or gross?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Our gross annual is ~$850k including bonuses, and I forgot ~$70k in cash, though doubt that moves the needle on most peoples' opinions. Thanks for the input so far.

You can afford it. As you note, you'll be able to convert the nanny expense to tuition expense as you the kids get older. We let go of our nanny after the youngest was in K, for example.

I disagree. Their NW is really low, and their spending is really high for that HHI. A couple of years ago in our mid-30s we had an HHI of $2m (not including $600k primary home equity) on a $400k HHI. Our HHI has since tripled and our spending has largely not increased so we put some of the extra $ towards private.

OP should only go private if they can severely curtail spending.

They are only in their 30s. They have income investment and are maxing out on retirement investment? How high should their NW be to afford private schoo? Shouldn't they also expect that their income will only go up in the coming years, given their age? If a family with a gross income that is in the top 1 percent of all household incomes can't afford private school, then who can?