I am the squeezed middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My family made MUCH less money than you do - like about a third of what you make - and we didn't qualify for any need-based aid either. So I had to apply to schools where I could get merit-based scholarships, and I had to choose among the schools who accepted me, to pick the best package. I would have loved to have gone to Georgetown or UVA but neither school gave much financial aid, even though my SAT scores were 99th %ile and I had gotten straight A's since 6th grade. I applied to 5 schools that offered me aid and one "reach" Ivy school. I didn't get to go to my first-choice school, but I did get a good education and only had to pay for my living expenses.

You don't necessarily know that your brother-in-law is getting a better deal than you are. It's possibly his kid(s) are taking on student loans or that they got scholarships. Honestly, a lot of need-based aid does not amount to much - a few thousand here and there. You are still probably in a better position to pay for your kids' college than he is. If you sent your kids to private school or had other big unnecessary expenses (BMW vs. Toyota, $1M house vs. $400K house), those are choices you made and you could have saved that money for college, but you didn't. So be it.

My DH was a single dad at 18, largely put himself through school, mostly through student loans. With a dependent and not a high income working in the food service industry he didn't get that much need based aid- mostly in the form of reduced interest rate loans, not grants. And over half of his loans were not subsidized.

He did two years of community college and then transferred. I've never heard him complain about it.

Love how you are whining at 250k. Grow up.

[Anonymous]

op--is your HHI 255K or is your single salary 255K?

i make 55K as a single mom and work about 65 hrs a week, packing in the extra hours at night when dd is sleeping. and i have a PhD. trust me, like sucks worse for others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am considered to be middle class since my income is $255K. I work 70-85 hour weeks ( hard hours, no breaks, quick runs to the bathroom).
I am taxed heavily, my kids do not qualify for any financial aid, so college tuition is my problem. For two kids, a private school would be about 90 K per year. The schools really expect us to come up with that money.

I hear my brother in law who works for Dept of Agriculture complaining about how the rich (that would be me), need to pay more in taxes to fund social programs for the poor. He puts in his 40 hours (no more, many times less), and calls in when he is sick. Little education, no motivation. His oldest (smart kid) will probably get a nice fat financial aid packet, since his income is about 75K. They enjoy EVERY single weekend off, and all major holidays. I lost track of the holidays years ago since they don't apply to me. My vacations are almost always low key since there is a big risk of cancellation, due to work related issues.

Something seems off to me. How much more can the middle class give?
Do you have to be rich or poor to afford the private colleges?

Sorry, with that household income you are not middle class. You are rich.

Our HHI is $160K and according to the statistics, that is upper middle class (yes, even in this high cost of living area).

Private school at any level is a luxury and a choice. Most children do not have that, and do fine using public education. Yours will too if that is necessary.

Have you saved anything for college?

Get a clue.

[Anonymous]

OP, you have chosen to worship Mammon.

Don't come bitching when he turns out to be a false idol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why didn't OP save some money so she could affrord to send her kids to college on her meager $255K? Those of us that know we will not be able to pay for college out of pocket when the time comes are saving for that event.

Our household income is not 225k, nor are we close to that amount. However, I do feel for OP. Why should she make all the sacrifices to educate herself, work extremely hard and those who make choices not to work hard or put in the extra mile, benefit from OP. I understand paying your share of taxes, but when is enough enough. Actually, there may not be too much of an incentive to earn more. Why, if you earn 120K a year and pay 25k in taxes (local, feds, state) compared to 200k a year and you pay $55k in taxes. The incentive is a net 40K. To many people that is not enough of an incentive. Especially, when you give up so much, such as family, vacation, time, etc. Yes, she has the extra 40K to have a bigger house and better schools, but at what cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private college times 2 IS 90K, at least. I think Wash U is 55K per year after all is said and done.

The take home on 255K is about 125K, that is after taxes and medicare are paid. Then there is retirement savings. [b]It would mean that the income to live on would be less than 30K if tuition is paid. It is doable, that would have to cover all the bills and so on. Unless you have been making this much for a long time, you can't save a lot. [b]But it is only for 4 years. More taxes are coming.

The equivalent income on 40 hours would be about 120-130 K. Few jobs at that income level allow for the 40 hour work week. Once you get above 100K expectations are that you work until the job is done.

This is nonsense. We make half of what OP cites as her/his annual household income and yet we have been saving $1,000/month for college tuitions since our oldest was born 11 years ago. If OP has not been doing this, while knowing she cannot pay out-of-pocket for college when the time comes, then she is just stupid (or purposely clueless).

[Anonymous]

The first 75K of your income is taxed at the same rate as his.

And if you wanted his job I am sure you could have it.

You make 3 x as much as he does, but you only work twice as hard. Consider yourself lucky because he would need to work 120 hours a week to be even with you.

Lastly, when all is said and done, you will still come out financially ahead of him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why didn't OP save some money so she could affrord to send her kids to college on her meager $255K? Those of us that know we will not be able to pay for college out of pocket when the time comes are saving for that event.

Our household income is not 225k, nor are we close to that amount. However, I do feel for OP. Why should she make all the sacrifices to educate herself, work extremely hard and those who make choices not to work hard or put in the extra mile, benefit from OP. I understand paying your share of taxes, but when is enough enough. Actually, there may not be too much of an incentive to earn more. Why, if you earn 120K a year and pay 25k in taxes (local, feds, state) compared to 200k a year and you pay $55k in taxes. The incentive is a net 40K. To many people that is not enough of an incentive. Especially, when you give up so much, such as family, vacation, time, etc. Yes, she has the extra 40K to have a bigger house and better schools, but at what cost.

Again, it was her choice of career/job. No one forced her to do it.

On top of that, I love the attitude that tax money goes entirely to programs for the lazy and stupid. Someone's been watching too much Fox News.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why didn't OP save some money so she could affrord to send her kids to college on her meager $255K? Those of us that know we will not be able to pay for college out of pocket when the time comes are saving for that event.

Our household income is not 225k, nor are we close to that amount. However, I do feel for OP. Why should she make all the sacrifices to educate herself, work extremely hard and those who make choices not to work hard or put in the extra mile, benefit from OP. I understand paying your share of taxes, but when is enough enough. Actually, there may not be too much of an incentive to earn more. Why, if you earn 120K a year and pay 25k in taxes (local, feds, state) compared to 200k a year and you pay $55k in taxes. The incentive is a net 40K. To many people that is not enough of an incentive. Especially, when you give up so much, such as family, vacation, time, etc. Yes, she has the extra 40K to have a bigger house and better schools, but at what cost.

It's 50K, and that is 50% more than what the first person takes home. That's a pretty large incentive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why didn't OP save some money so she could affrord to send her kids to college on her meager $255K? Those of us that know we will not be able to pay for college out of pocket when the time comes are saving for that event.

Our household income is not 225k, nor are we close to that amount. However, I do feel for OP. Why should she make all the sacrifices to educate herself, work extremely hard and those who make choices not to work hard or put in the extra mile, benefit from OP. I understand paying your share of taxes, but when is enough enough. Actually, there may not be too much of an incentive to earn more. Why, if you earn 120K a year and pay 25k in taxes (local, feds, state) compared to 200k a year and you pay $55k in taxes. The incentive is a net 40K. To many people that is not enough of an incentive. Especially, when you give up so much, such as family, vacation, time, etc. Yes, she has the extra 40K to have a bigger house and better schools, but at what cost.

That is a ridiculous argument. Income is taxed at a progressively higher rate as your earn more and more, and if an individual thinks there's no "incentive" to have a salary that goes from $120,000 to $200,000 because they're "only" getting $40,000 more in their pocket, than that's an individual choice.

What's more there are plenty of regressive taxes out there, such as the payroll tax. I'm lucky enough to make about what the OP does, and about mid-way through the year I get a nice big bump in my salary -- because I'm done paying the payroll tax for the year!

As someone who grew up solidly middle class and is now lucky enough to earn a lot of money, it's a bunch of **** to say that a higher tax rate on your second $100,000 of income than your first $100,000 of income is a disincentive to earn it.

And, PP, yes, people who earn a lot of money often do have to give up personal time and family, vacation, etc, as you mentioned. But that's a choice. Earn less and have more of a personal life. Send your kids to -- gasp! -- public college. Or have them do what I did, which is take out student loans and pay them back when they graduate. Have a smaller house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The first 75K of your income is taxed at the same rate as his.

And if you wanted his job I am sure you could have it.

You make 3 x as much as he does, but you only work twice as hard. Consider yourself lucky because he would need to work 120 hours a week to be even with you.

Lastly, when all is said and done, you will still come out financially ahead of him.

I'm with you on the sentiment but sorry the calculations do not make sense. A lot of high paying jobs often come out to be less per hour than some lower paying jobs because of the 24/7 on call and billed, not billable, nature of the job and typical 80 hour weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry OP, but you should know by now that everyone hates rich people.

I don't hate rich people (I say that as someone who really is middle class). I just hate when people whine about it.

And hey, let's face it, some people have jobs where they make a decent salary but don't (appear) to work hard. So her BIL chose a 40 hour week, where he has weekends and holidays off? Good for him, he will likely never be rich (unless he saves and invests wisely), but it doesn't sound like that is his priority. And if his kid is able to get loans/grants/scholarships/financial aid? Well, that's what it's there for.

Agreed. I don't hate the rich, I just don't feel very bad for them.

[Anonymous]

You ladies love to take the bait...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You ladies love to take the bait...

Thanks for the convo starter OP.

[Anonymous]

I have said it before and I will say it again, DCUM is SO predictable. I hope the OP knew what he/she was getting into with this post.