If you made $1MM annually, would you send your kids to private?

[Anonymous]

I would not. We’re already zoned for a HS that skews wealthier and whiter than I prefer - we were rezoned after buying our home. I think there is value in having neighborhood friends the kids can walk to. I think there is value in going to school with “normal” people. Even $1M a year is not so insanely wealthy that my kids won’t go to college and get normal jobs. I want my kids to be prepared for college AND prepared to succeed in their workplace and community with a wide range of people from different backgrounds and different abilities. Sure there are poor and non-white kids in private school, but they are there because they are talented and their parents value education. That’s not the real world. That’s Lake Woebegone.

If I made $1M, I would keep my kids in our decent but not amazing public school and spend whatever I needed to to augment it. Tutors, private college advisor, lessons and coaches for their sports / hobbies, trips. Kid takes French, we’d vacation in France. Kid is rowing crew, we’d buy the school some nice boats.

[Anonymous]

Do the kids want to go to private school? Would they get anything out of private school that they aren't getting from public? Is whatever they'd get out of the private school good or bad?

Frankly, in your financial situation, you can afford the private school tuition if private is right for your family. And your finances won't tell us if private school is right for your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was making just under $1 million a year when my kids were in school and never even considered private. What’s the point? It’s not like it gives you an edge with Harvard, and I’d prefer that my kids get exposed to other kids from all walks of life - which you don’t get at a 50k a year private.

My kids went from public schools to state colleges (UVA, William & Mary, and VCU) and I retired nearly 15 years early with plenty of money. There’s no way I’d give all of that up just for some private school bumper sticker to put on the back of a Volvo.

Not discounting any of what you wrote but lets be honest here, you would have still retired about 15 years early had you sent them to private making that kind of money.

[Anonymous]

My parenting priorities at that financial stage would be to have a parent stay home before funding private. So if that cut HHI to $500k, I'd keep public and have the SAHP focus on enrichment, quality time, keeping a finger on the pulse of the kids' friends and what's going on in their lives.

If it cut HHI to $950k, I'd probably do all that and private too.

[Anonymous]

Yes, but I would be careful not to overextend on my home. I'd either be mortgage-free or be looking to have a mortgage we could easily afford and still pay for private on one income.

I would also factor private school tuition into the money I keep set aside for liquid, emergency cash -- I would not want to have to pull my kid from their school due to a job loss or sudden health issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was making just under $1 million a year when my kids were in school and never even considered private. What’s the point? It’s not like it gives you an edge with Harvard, and I’d prefer that my kids get exposed to other kids from all walks of life - which you don’t get at a 50k a year private.

My kids went from public schools to state colleges (UVA, William & Mary, and VCU) and I retired nearly 15 years early with plenty of money. There’s no way I’d give all of that up just for some private school bumper sticker to put on the back of a Volvo.

Not discounting any of what you wrote but lets be honest here, you would have still retired about 15 years early had you sent them to private making that kind of money.

Not likely. We had four kids. That kind of tuition would have eaten up a couple hundred thousand a year, which also wouldn’t have been invested and provided compounded returns.

[Anonymous]

No. We do not think that private school gives us good academic value. Why kids went to mcps magnet (admission based on doing well on entrance exam, not lottery) and if that had not been an option, we would have moved to a w school pyramid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was making just under $1 million a year when my kids were in school and never even considered private. What’s the point? It’s not like it gives you an edge with Harvard, and I’d prefer that my kids get exposed to other kids from all walks of life - which you don’t get at a 50k a year private.

My kids went from public schools to state colleges (UVA, William & Mary, and VCU) and I retired nearly 15 years early with plenty of money. There’s no way I’d give all of that up just for some private school bumper sticker to put on the back of a Volvo.

Not discounting any of what you wrote but lets be honest here, you would have still retired about 15 years early had you sent them to private making that kind of money.

Not if they had 3+ kids in private from 6th grade onwards (or from K onward). just 6 to 12 is $300K per kid. 3 kids, that's 900K. Invest that along the way and in 7 years it would be almost $2M, and $4M in another 7 years, and let you retire even earlier. $50K/year for private school is a lot of money, unless you are making several million a year. Spending that vs saving has long term ramifications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was making just under $1 million a year when my kids were in school and never even considered private. What’s the point? It’s not like it gives you an edge with Harvard, and I’d prefer that my kids get exposed to other kids from all walks of life - which you don’t get at a 50k a year private.

My kids went from public schools to state colleges (UVA, William & Mary, and VCU) and I retired nearly 15 years early with plenty of money. There’s no way I’d give all of that up just for some private school bumper sticker to put on the back of a Volvo.

LOL our kid is not being exposed to all walks of life in Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parenting priorities at that financial stage would be to have a parent stay home before funding private. So if that cut HHI to $500k, I'd keep public and have the SAHP focus on enrichment, quality time, keeping a finger on the pulse of the kids' friends and what's going on in their lives.

If it cut HHI to $950k, I'd probably do all that and private too.

This is a good point. A dual-income couple making 1m is likely outsourcing a ton of stuff in order to make both jobs work, unless one of those jobs is a super flexible 100k gig. If we're talking two 500k jobs, I agree that there are really advantages to having one partner stay home, or go part-time, to maximize not only your kid's childhoods but also just home life in general. There are so many advantages to having one parent holding down the fort at home when the other parent has a very demanding job. The SAHP can make sure all the logistics are all happening when people are at work and school and then do the planning necessary to ensure that family time is well spent, especially if the other partner's family time is somewhat limited. Sure, you can outsource stuff like vacation planning and cooking and cleaning, but you can't outsource family movie night (I guess you could, but at that point you're talking about employing a full time home assistant on top of nanny, housekeeper, food delivery, etc.).

[Anonymous]

If the public schools are bad, I would spend the money and send the kids to private. That's a good investment.
However, if the public schools are great, I won't waste money in private schools. What would be the benefits?
The only exception is if I'm a celebrity and I would like to my kids to be in a school environment where there is more privacy.

[Anonymous]

Probably not, unless there was a specific reason the individual kid needed a different environment. It's more of a philosophical decision than a monetary one. I just don't think it's worth it in most situations.

[Anonymous]

Only if the great public magnet was not an option AND they needed smaller class sizes.

otherwise, based on college admissions for private schools, the ROI just isn't there. I'd use the money for tutors and amazing extra curriculars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Assume mortgage is paid off and you have three kids. Annual income is appx. $1MM, and outlook with current jobs looks good, but you never know for sure when one spouse could lose a job. Assume you live in a very good public school district and kids are middle school age. Would you switch to private for high school assuming it has the potential to accelerate your kids’ growth to a new level? Costs for each kid would be $50k/annually, but you also have to save aggressively for college, grad school, and you want to make a plan to pay for educations of future grandkids too.

What do financial advisers usually say about investing in private school? For any of you who have sent your kids to private, do you regret it as a financial decision? Felt it was a bad investment?

PS - I’m asking for primarily financial advice here, not trying to trigger the public v private debate that would be more appropriate in the education forum.

Nope. The privates would cherry pick and not choose my children (ASD and LDs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the public schools are bad, I would spend the money and send the kids to private. That's a good investment.
However, if the public schools are great, I won't waste money in private schools. What would be the benefits?
The only exception is if I'm a celebrity and I would like to my kids to be in a school environment where there is more privacy.

This is a fair argument, and you could also argue that your money would be better spent investing in real estate in a really good school district because then you get the good school AND an appreciating asset.

However, as someone with kids in public school who struggles with certain aspects of how public schools are run (I just don't think they do a good job of preparing kids for college or for life because they are stuck in an old fashioned education model, even at the best publics), I might just ditch public for private if I was at this income level. At least for elementary and maybe middle school, and then make sure my kid can go to the best possible public high school.