2025 & 2026 donut hole families

[Anonymous]

I’m a single mom making $190 and consider myself donut hole. Only have been at that income level for a few years which was also the time I spent caring for my mom (financially and physically) through cancer.

I can’t afford full pay but can cover $20k a year without loans. Kid is thankfully deciding between schools offering full rides and COA of $25-30k. If he chooses the $30k option I’ll make it work.

I could never full pay a school like USC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is definition of donut hole income for DMV? Just curious - I am guessing HHI $200k-$500k?

I have $700k HHI and 3 kids in private; i do. Ot consider myself donut hole - it sucks to have to pay $90k/yr for college but i feel lucky to be able to afford it. It is confusing when i hear peers talk about donut hole, because we are so so lucky to have what we have and i can’t complain.

Exactly

If you have been at $700K for even 5-7 years, you had plenty of opportunities to save enough for all 3 kids. And assuming you didn't jump from $100K to $700K overnight, as you increased, you had opportunities to choose to save rather than "increasing lifestyle".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is definition of donut hole income for DMV? Just curious - I am guessing HHI $200k-$500k?

I have $700k HHI and 3 kids in private; i do. Ot consider myself donut hole - it sucks to have to pay $90k/yr for college but i feel lucky to be able to afford it. It is confusing when i hear peers talk about donut hole, because we are so so lucky to have what we have and i can’t complain.

150-225 is donut hole. maybe 250. not 700 lol

+1 at someone with $500k+ whining about paying for college. Especially when they are already comfortably paying for private school. That's probably costing you something like $50-$60k, right? So paying $90k/yr for college is the same hit to your pre-college budget as the public school family paying for their in state public college. And I should hope at the income level you have a lot more slack in your budget to pay for it. If not, you must be really bad with money.

I cannot imagine paying $40K+ for private K-12 (or even HS alone) and not having enough saved for college for the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

I've done that and I'm not separating from this money when we can do college without separating from it. it would be utterly stupid when you have more than one child and are not wealthy. Save, save, don't gift it to a greedy overpriced college.

We are full pay (and can easily afford it) but I agree.
If you could not easily save/cashflow a $75K+ school, then you should NOT spend that much. There are literally 98% of universities that your kid can attend for under $40-50K. Outside the T30-40, most give excellent merit, especially if your kid had the resume for a T30 school. You can find great affordable (to you) schools and avoid debt and avoid trashing/delaying your own retirement.

That's how I went to college. I went to the school that offered me the most money. Now I was LMC/just above poor, so I got FA and took federal loans. But I had no choice but to attend somewhere that was affordable. My parents were not going to sign any loans (and it would have been stupid for them to do that).
We knew our kids would get no FA and are grateful that we earn that much. So we chose to start saving early so it was not a burden when college came.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP poster - I agree - I am saying I am NOT a donut hole family - and that peers who are whining about colllege at that level are ridiculous.

Who is whining about college at 700K? Haven't seen it.

Donut hole depends on number of kids. 300K for 1 kid is a lot different than 300K for 3 or 4.

Don't care how many kids you chose to have. If you are making $300K+ (and certainly 700K), you can afford college. if you make that much, you are smart enough to know how much it costs to raise kids and what college will cost for them. So plan accordingly, or don't have so many kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a single mom making $190 and consider myself donut hole. Only have been at that income level for a few years which was also the time I spent caring for my mom (financially and physically) through cancer.

I can’t afford full pay but can cover $20k a year without loans. Kid is thankfully deciding between schools offering full rides and COA of $25-30k. If he chooses the $30k option I’ll make it work.

I could never full pay a school like USC.

And your kid can easily take the ~$5.5K of federal loans each year and work summers/breaks to earn the rest. Then you can choose to help with those federal loans if you are able once they graduate or they can easily pay those off---it's only $27K

There is no need to go into debt for college. At your income, you should not be paying $90K, unless you managed to save it prior to college (and not scrimp on your retirement plans either IMO)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP poster - I agree - I am saying I am NOT a donut hole family - and that peers who are whining about colllege at that level are ridiculous.

Who is whining about college at 700K? Haven't seen it.

Donut hole depends on number of kids. 300K for 1 kid is a lot different than 300K for 3 or 4.

Don't care how many kids you chose to have. If you are making $300K+ (and certainly 700K), you can afford college. if you make that much, you are smart enough to know how much it costs to raise kids and what college will cost for them. So plan accordingly, or don't have so many kids

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a single mom making $190 and consider myself donut hole. Only have been at that income level for a few years which was also the time I spent caring for my mom (financially and physically) through cancer.

I can’t afford full pay but can cover $20k a year without loans. Kid is thankfully deciding between schools offering full rides and COA of $25-30k. If he chooses the $30k option I’ll make it work.

I could never full pay a school like USC.

Your one income is higher than many with two incomes. I don't get why people say I'm a single mom... and you could be getting child support or help. Yes, you COULD pay more. You have a huge income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is definition of donut hole income for DMV? Just curious - I am guessing HHI $200k-$500k?

I have $700k HHI and 3 kids in private; i do. Ot consider myself donut hole - it sucks to have to pay $90k/yr for college but i feel lucky to be able to afford it. It is confusing when i hear peers talk about donut hole, because we are so so lucky to have what we have and i can’t complain.

150-225 is donut hole. maybe 250. not 700 lol

+1 at someone with $500k+ whining about paying for college. Especially when they are already comfortably paying for private school. That's probably costing you something like $50-$60k, right? So paying $90k/yr for college is the same hit to your pre-college budget as the public school family paying for their in state public college. And I should hope at the income level you have a lot more slack in your budget to pay for it. If not, you must be really bad with money.

I cannot imagine paying $40K+ for private K-12 (or even HS alone) and not having enough saved for college for the kids.

Exactly. Its about lifestyle choices. There are good reasons to send a kid to private with SN or learning disabilities but for most kids, tutors are just fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am the PP poster - I agree - I am saying I am NOT a donut hole family - and that peers who are whining about colllege at that level are ridiculous.

Who is whining about college at 700K? Haven't seen it.

Donut hole depends on number of kids. 300K for 1 kid is a lot different than 300K for 3 or 4.

3-4 kids vs. 1 is a lifestyle choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

Many of us have lower incomes and in high cost of living areas. It’s lifestyle choices. It’s insane someone in a million dollar house making what many do feel entitled to aid when the rest of us live poorly to save.

“Living poorly” to be able to be full pay when you would otherwise receive aid is a lifestyle choice. And not a particularly good one.

There is no guarantee for aid. We will be retirement age when ours go to college. One parent has health issues. Its very much a good choice as I'm not doing loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

No, it doesn’t. A kid starting school at good private colleges next year is looking at a total COA of close to $400k over the next four years. Five years of saving $25-30k does not get you there at all. You would need at least 10 years at that amount and with a real return of 7%. And that would just cover one kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

Many of us have lower incomes and in high cost of living areas. It’s lifestyle choices. It’s insane someone in a million dollar house making what many do feel entitled to aid when the rest of us live poorly to save.

“Living poorly” to be able to be full pay when you would otherwise receive aid is a lifestyle choice. And not a particularly good one.

There is no guarantee for aid. We will be retirement age when ours go to college. One parent has health issues. It’s very much a good choice as I'm not doing loans.

Then you’re pretty much a donut hole family. Yet you’re on here railing against the concept for some reason.