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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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).

There are private schools that cater to kids with ASD and LD, though -- would you consider one of those schools if you had the choice? I ask as a parent of kid with an IEP who understands the advantages of public in this regard. But I do sometimes wish I could just pay for a school that was truly right for my kid, instead of just fighting for services to make this school functionally okay.

no, they do not have the academics my children also need. There is no school out there, we have looked. My kids strengths are in math and sciences, our local public schools are much better in those subjects.

[Anonymous]

Don't send them anywhere just because you have money. Find better reasons. And which private? Which child? Both? Both happen to be unhappy at school?
I wouldn't send my happy kid anywhere be it public or private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, all public schools are trash even w and McLean they are poorly managed and have low emphasis on academics and are all about equity dei

my kids went to McLean and have found themselves extremely well prepared for college - especially in math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, all public schools are trash even w and McLean they are poorly managed and have low emphasis on academics and are all about equity dei

my kids went to McLean and have found themselves extremely well prepared for college - especially in math.

Usually that is code for starting Algebra in 6th or 7th which isn't that common in private school.

[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.

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.

It’s honestly hilarious how often you post about how you made sure you and only you got the benefits of you working in biglaw. All public K-12 all in-state schools, none of the face time with a middle class dad. Cool!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is doing fine in a quality public school, private school is a lifestyle decision. Private offers a more homogeneous student body, especially economically, smaller classes, and a tighter social scene. If you want more of a cliquey, country-club vibe, go private.

“Quality” public schools are all the bolded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You make a million a year with housing paid off. You can comfortably pay out of pocket for private, college and graduate school without missing the money. How is this a question.

Because posters like this love to put it out there and go through the exercise of having everyone tell them how well off they are. It’s like mental m-wording. They can’t help themselves. They know they can afford it. It feels so good and gives them such endorphins to have a very wealthy reader vase tell them the same.

Sorry, I just can’t today.

[Anonymous]

We make far, far less, and send our kids to private, because MoCo schools are bad and getting worse. Thanks Monifa!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, all public schools are trash even w and McLean they are poorly managed and have low emphasis on academics and are all about equity dei

my kids went to McLean and have found themselves extremely well prepared for college - especially in math.

Usually that is code for starting Algebra in 6th or 7th which isn't that common in private school.

One started Algebra in 7th, but the one currently getting an Engineering degree took it in 8th. It was just that, though. It was also the science classes too.

[Anonymous]

No. And we make multiples of that. But public school is an important value to us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. And we make multiples of that. But public school is an important value to us.

Similar here. Our HHI will be > 5mm this year, and we send our kids to MoCo public schools. While we aren't leading the PTO, we are regular volunteers at the school (one spouse with part time work far more than the other). It's the right community for our family, and we wouldn't change it.

While we make a lot now, one of us grew up poor/lower middle class, the other middle-middle class. MoCo public schools suit us well. Yes, not everything is absolutely "perfect." In our view, that is sort of the point--we think our kids learn a bit more resilience when not everything is always perfect.

I will admit though that one high-earning spouse's income provides an advantage that helps make public schools work for us: The spouse who works part-time is *super* involved with kids' homework, enrichment, etc. We joke that our kids have 100% of MoCo public plus 50% home school on top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. And we make multiples of that. But public school is an important value to us.

Similar here. Our HHI will be > 5mm this year, and we send our kids to MoCo public schools. While we aren't leading the PTO, we are regular volunteers at the school (one spouse with part time work far more than the other). It's the right community for our family, and we wouldn't change it.

While we make a lot now, one of us grew up poor/lower middle class, the other middle-middle class. MoCo public schools suit us well. Yes, not everything is absolutely "perfect." In our view, that is sort of the point--we think our kids learn a bit more resilience when not everything is always perfect.

I will admit though that one high-earning spouse's income provides an advantage that helps make public schools work for us: The spouse who works part-time is *super* involved with kids' homework, enrichment, etc. We joke that our kids have 100% of MoCo public plus 50% home school on top.

I assume your children are in elementary school right? The home school / parent enrichment doesn’t work as well for middle and high school students. That’s when we sent ours to private!

[Anonymous]

If you have that much money, you have the luxury of not thinking of your kids’ educations as primarily a financial investment. You don’t have to maximize return. So you should consider the school environment that will be best for each kid on the whole, including both their future earning potential and their health, happiness and character.

This seems so obvious that I think the OP is probably a troll.

[Anonymous]

We don't make that, so if that is the criteria for wanting the answer, then ignore what I'm saying. The reason I'm answering anyway is because we are very wealthy and retired young. We do not send our kids to private but could if we wanted to. I'm a former teacher and have a lot of friends who teach in both private and public as well as friends whose kids are in both private and public. We chose public based on all the information I know and have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. And we make multiples of that. But public school is an important value to us.

Excuse me while my eyes roll out of my head. I bet you send your kids to public schools that have the exact same demographics as private.