Can two fed govt job family afford to send two kids to elite private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good gravy, there are scads of pricey private schools in the Washington area. If so many people think $300k is not sufficient HHI to have the kids go to these schools, how much is needed? $500k HHI? $1 million?

We make over $400K and would have to seriously change our standard of living to spend an additional $5K a month on private school. We save a bit more than that each month, but who wants to live that close to the line?

Cry me a river. I am so grateful I had parents who made my schooling their priority.

Fallacious thinking. I made my childrens' schooling our number one priority when choosing a place to live. You really don't think my children will get a quality education at Chesterbrook, Longfellow and McLean?

[Anonymous]

Clearly there are folks making more than $300k who are choosing to send their kids to public school. Depending on the school and the child, this may be the better choice, in fact. (private not always superior to public and is not a measure of parental responsibility)

$300k is a multiple the average income in any state in the union but it's not $3 million a year. $60k per year is a good piece of the family budget and would require some choices.

After reading the posts I think the OP "Can" afford the elite private school but isn't a terrible parent for choosing not to.
(and I'll just chuckle at comments about "living close to the line" if sending kids to private school on $400k per year as well as "parents who made my schooling their priority" which can only be met by sending to private it seems.)

[Anonymous]

Hi OP,
We have an analogous situation (less HHI but 1 kid in private not two). We are doing it but only for middle school and possibly HS. We live pretty frugally (old cars and such), watch our standing expenses and buy second-hand, etc. We could do more but DH is a bit more of a spender than me and I don't want to argue over every penny.

Why don't you NOW pretend you have one or two kids in private school, and pay yourself what tuition would be into a separate account. See what's it's like to live like that. You might be able to do it. Plus you could get financial aid with the second child enrolling, possibly. If you can't bear the expense you'll know and you'll have a nice nest egg for the move. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP,
We have an analogous situation (less HHI but 1 kid in private not two). We are doing it but only for middle school and possibly HS. We live pretty frugally (old cars and such), watch our standing expenses and buy second-hand, etc. We could do more but DH is a bit more of a spender than me and I don't want to argue over every penny.

Why don't you NOW pretend you have one or two kids in private school, and pay yourself what tuition would be into a separate account. See what's it's like to live like that. You might be able to do it. Plus you could get financial aid with the second child enrolling, possibly. If you can't bear the expense you'll know and you'll have a nice nest egg for the move. Good luck!

This is a great idea.

[Anonymous]

Of course you can. This is an oversimplification, but it just means your HHI would be $240k. Are people really thinking that's not still a perfectly reasonable amount to live comfortably on? Let's not forget: they have a 15 year mortgage. House will be paid off when kids are in college. Also sounds like they will have 2 pensions. And, at $240k, they can still find a way to max out their retirement savings.

Of course, $60k a year for 2 kids for all those years is a ton of money. You sure you can't put that towards a house in a better school district? Seems like you could get something pretty nice for less money, and it's an investment so you get something back when you sell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course you can. This is an oversimplification, but it just means your HHI would be $240k. Are people really thinking that's not still a perfectly reasonable amount to live comfortably on? Let's not forget: they have a 15 year mortgage. House will be paid off when kids are in college. Also sounds like they will have 2 pensions. And, at $240k, they can still find a way to max out their retirement savings.

Of course, $60k a year for 2 kids for all those years is a ton of money. You sure you can't put that towards a house in a better school district? Seems like you could get something pretty nice for less money, and it's an investment so you get something back when you sell.

It does not mean that their HHI would be 240k because the 60k comes out of post tax money...,

[Anonymous]

I do not agree that being the poor kid in private school would be constructive. I went to a top tier private school on a full scholarship and it was very difficult for me socially. I couldnt even do basic things like go out with my friends to the mall because that usually involved spending boatloads of money that I didnt have. I also got left out of travel activities...summers in nantucket and maine, etc. I was able to connect with a few people but for the most part felt like I was on the outside looking in.

I sort of agree. I went to a private on full scholarship. I didn't feel left out in the sense that my friends invited me to visit their country homes etc. People were very nice, for the most part. But I didn't usually have the spending money to do things that my friends were doing, couldn't afford to go on the class ski trip, and didn't have a country house/nice apartment to invite friends back to. Again, the other students were generally a kind and decent group, but it was hard to fit in, given my different circumstances. The education was top notch, though, and I'm still really glad I went for that reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course you can. This is an oversimplification, but it just means your HHI would be $240k. Are people really thinking that's not still a perfectly reasonable amount to live comfortably on? Let's not forget: they have a 15 year mortgage. House will be paid off when kids are in college. Also sounds like they will have 2 pensions. And, at $240k, they can still find a way to max out their retirement savings.

Of course, $60k a year for 2 kids for all those years is a ton of money. You sure you can't put that towards a house in a better school district? Seems like you could get something pretty nice for less money, and it's an investment so you get something back when you sell.

It does not mean that their HHI would be 240k because the 60k comes out of post tax money...,

I know: oversimplification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course you can. This is an oversimplification, but it just means your HHI would be $240k. Are people really thinking that's not still a perfectly reasonable amount to live comfortably on? Let's not forget: they have a 15 year mortgage. House will be paid off when kids are in college. Also sounds like they will have 2 pensions. And, at $240k, they can still find a way to max out their retirement savings.

Of course, $60k a year for 2 kids for all those years is a ton of money. You sure you can't put that towards a house in a better school district? Seems like you could get something pretty nice for less money, and it's an investment so you get something back when you sell.

I agree and there are plenty of families swinging it just fine. You live on 200K a year really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP,
We have an analogous situation (less HHI but 1 kid in private not two). We are doing it but only for middle school and possibly HS. We live pretty frugally (old cars and such), watch our standing expenses and buy second-hand, etc. We could do more but DH is a bit more of a spender than me and I don't want to argue over every penny.

Why don't you NOW pretend you have one or two kids in private school, and pay yourself what tuition would be into a separate account. See what's it's like to live like that. You might be able to do it. Plus you could get financial aid with the second child enrolling, possibly. If you can't bear the expense you'll know and you'll have a nice nest egg for the move. Good luck!

Seriously???? They give financial aid to people who make 300k a year? This rich bubble you all live in is crazy.

[Anonymous]

Possibly. Not a full-ride but depending on other expenses and family circumstances, you might not have to pay full freight for two.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to address "you'll be the poor kid" if you do private and you make $300k/yr. Um, no. Really and truly, no. Our HHI is half that, kid in a great private because the local public school is crap, and we feel normal. Yes, many people have more money than we do, but some have less and lots have about the same. It isn't an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to address "you'll be the poor kid" if you do private and you make $300k/yr. Um, no. Really and truly, no. Our HHI is half that, kid in a great private because the local public school is crap, and we feel normal. Yes, many people have more money than we do, but some have less and lots have about the same. It isn't an issue.

Thanks for pointing this out. I thought the OP's family would be somewhere in the middle myself.

[Anonymous]

I think people erroneously focus on the outliers in terms of HHI for area privates. A good portion of families still draw from the professional cadre of DC.

Don't have stats, but would venture a guess that 300k is in fact the median at many of the privates.

We are $280k HHI with one kid in kindergarten and feel fairly average at our elite private (we are early 30s in early mid career with a fair amount of expected income growth in our fields)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people erroneously focus on the outliers in terms of HHI for area privates. A good portion of families still draw from the professional cadre of DC.

Don't have stats, but would venture a guess that 300k is in fact the median at many of the privates.

We are $280k HHI with one kid in kindergarten and feel fairly average at our elite private (we are early 30s in early mid career with a fair amount of expected income growth in our fields)

Are you one of younger families? We will be early 30s when my kid is in K too.