Do you make $400,000 a year but feel broke?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are $400k HHI and I can relate to the difficulties described in this video, though we don't pay any club dues and only take one vacation a year. This a good illustration of why private schools/colleges should offer some need-based aid to people in this range, as it's really only the equity partners in BIGLAW and people on those types of ~$800k-1M annual incomes that have ample money to spend.

You are funny!

I've never heard so much ridiculousness - really. You should be ashamed about your post, and more ashamed of your sense of entitlement and budget. You're a moron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hilarious trolljob by the poster advocating for govt assistance for people who earn 400k and can "only" save around 100k per year.

The sad part is, I don't think it is a troll. I think someone genuinely thinks this. SMH.

Yes, they are firmly convinced that $400k is peanuts, and they need help sending their kids to expensive private school. Very bizarre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they choose to send four children to expensive private schools and thus can't save any money, that's up to them

Agreed, but that applies as well to someone at a lower income level. If someone makes $50k and has four kids, should they be denied financial aid because they chose to have four kids instead of one? If they chose not to study hard and that's why they make $50k now (or they want a 40 hour a week job instead of one that requires 60 hours), should they be denied financial aid?

No school takes the position that families on financial aid should be asked to spend every available dollar of disposable income on tuition to the extent of not saving a penny for retirement, so I'm not sure why that would change just because a family has a higher HHI.

Either financial aid should aim to give every family a chance to rationally afford it, or it shouldn't. If it should, then there's clearly some very outlying and rare circumstances where a $400k HHI would need some level of aid.

In any event, I have to go back to generating my $400k now...

The phrase "rationally afford" is doing a whole lot of work here...

Seriously. The "rational" budget in the scenario in this thread includes a lot of stuff that the $50k family could never dream of paying for. (And that's ignoring the implicit assertions that only people who "didn't study hard" make $50k, or that only people who make more than $50k work more than 40 hours a week.) Before you even start figuring whether it's "rational" to send four kids to private school if it means you aren't saving any money at the end of the year, maybe you've already made irrational spending decisions on some of the $33,000 a month you're grossing? (OK, fine, the $15,000 a month you're netting after taxes?)

There's always going to be a limited pool of money available for financial aid, so either you can decide that every family gets a small portion of it (in which case, why not just cut the tuition by the per family amount across the board?) or you can have an income past which you don't qualify. That some people here think that line should be drawn above $400,000 a year is... instructive? Hilarious? Both?

[Anonymous]

Good luck getting FA unless you are also planning a big donation. If you connect this thread with the thread about high income neighborhoods, though, you can see how you could easily not have enough money. Starting out in a $1.2M home is = about $5000 a month?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If they choose to send four children to expensive private schools and thus can't save any money, that's up to them

Agreed, but that applies as well to someone at a lower income level. If someone makes $50k and has four kids, should they be denied financial aid because they chose to have four kids instead of one? If they chose not to study hard and that's why they make $50k now (or they want a 40 hour a week job instead of one that requires 60 hours), should they be denied financial aid?

No school takes the position that families on financial aid should be asked to spend every available dollar of disposable income on tuition to the extent of not saving a penny for retirement, so I'm not sure why that would change just because a family has a higher HHI.

Either financial aid should aim to give every family a chance to rationally afford it, or it shouldn't. If it should, then there's clearly some very outlying and rare circumstances where a $400k HHI would need some level of aid.

In any event, I have to go back to generating my $400k now...

The phrase "rationally afford" is doing a whole lot of work here...

Seriously. The "rational" budget in the scenario in this thread includes a lot of stuff that the $50k family could never dream of paying for. (And that's ignoring the implicit assertions that only people who "didn't study hard" make $50k, or that only people who make more than $50k work more than 40 hours a week.) Before you even start figuring whether it's "rational" to send four kids to private school if it means you aren't saving any money at the end of the year, maybe you've already made irrational spending decisions on some of the $33,000 a month you're grossing? (OK, fine, the $15,000 a month you're netting after taxes?)

There's always going to be a limited pool of money available for financial aid, so either you can decide that every family gets a small portion of it (in which case, why not just cut the tuition by the per family amount across the board?) or you can have an income past which you don't qualify. That some people here think that line should be drawn above $400,000 a year is... instructive? Hilarious? Both?

I read this whole thread--because it is hilarious--but definitely got the sense that the pro-FA-for-$400K-income-families poster was just one person, carrying on an argument for 12 pages, against some amazing consistent DCUM pushback. I'll have to flag this thread for the DCUMmys award show next spring.

[Anonymous]

I am still laughing about this clown and the "rational" things she/he keeps trying to prove. Oh my are some people terrible.

[Anonymous]

No. We are on track to gross $447,000 this year. We are projecting to save $136,000 of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. We are on track to gross $447,000 this year. We are projecting to save $136,000 of that.

By that calculation if you made $311K you would be broke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. We are on track to gross $447,000 this year. We are projecting to save $136,000 of that.

By that calculation if you made $311K you would be broke.

Wrong on several accounts. The $136k is post tax, you would have to subtract the incremental tax paid on that $136k. People tend to make financial decisions based on their income. Presumably, the PP would also reduce her expenses if her income were reduced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. We are on track to gross $447,000 this year. We are projecting to save $136,000 of that.

you will save more than our HHI. sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. We are on track to gross $447,000 this year. We are projecting to save $136,000 of that.

By that calculation if you made $311K you would be broke.

Huh? We gross $447K, we will pay about $187K in federal, state and local income taxes, netting $260K. We save just slightly over 50% of our net.

[Anonymous]

"rationally afford" sounds like some neckbeard libertarian talk. did you major in philosophy/literature, discover ayn rand while in college, read a couple of milton friedman books and intern at the cato institute?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. We are on track to gross $447,000 this year. We are projecting to save $136,000 of that.

By that calculation if you made $311K you would be broke.

What a dumb comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. We are on track to gross $447,000 this year. We are projecting to save $136,000 of that.

By that calculation if you made $311K you would be broke.

What a dumb comment.

Well, they couldn't rationally afford to save anything. They live a very modest life already. Hence needing the financial aid to rationally afford private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I've never heard so much ridiculousness - really. You should be ashamed about your post, and more ashamed of your sense of entitlement and budget. You're a moron.

+1