What is the lifestyle difference of 400-500k/yr and 800-1M/yr

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how so many threads about private school on DCUM have everyone saying that it's not worth it and good publics are better, then if you ask people what they do with extra money half of them immediately say private school.

First, when some of these $600K HHI purchased their homes, they might have only been at $250/300K. So they may have bought in a good area, but not spectacular schools. Now that they have the $$ for better schools they like their neighborhood and it may not make financial sense to sell, ditch a 3% mortgage for a 7% mortgage. So the solution is to do private schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dunno I would not pay for private school and would not have replied to this thread if you hadn't mentioned it. IMO my lifestyle would not change much at all going from 500k to 1m. I would by a MODERN house, which they barely build around the DC area, and that's about it. I already outsource my cooking, cleaning, and lawn care. Drive the car I want to drive, go on the vacations I want to go on. Private school? Kill me

Do you have kids? You would value a nicer house over your children’s’ education?

Early Retired Biglaw partner here, with fully grown and long ago launched kids.

Ten years from now, your private school kids will be attending the same colleges as the public school kids. Ten years after that, your kids and those kids will be doing the same jobs, making the same money, and having the same lives and lifestyles - while also working alongside other kids who not only went to public schools, but also to public colleges and other colleges that no one’s ever heard of. The great big world is the great big equalizer when it comes to this stuff.

Unless, of course, you aspire for your kids to be in Biglaw. In that case, yea, the schooling matters. But if you want that for your kids I feel sorry for you - and them.

Ten years from now all of the people who were doing their own cooking, cleaning, and lawn care will also be 10 years older, just like those of you who outsource those things. You will have had a different experience in the interim, and for you it's worth it to pay for others to do those tasks rather than experience them yourself. I don't think my kids will be in a better college and I pray they don't go into the law, but the years they are spending in private school are wonderful and I can't imagine a luxury I would value more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love how so many threads about private school on DCUM have everyone saying that it's not worth it and good publics are better, then if you ask people what they do with extra money half of them immediately say private school.

First, when some of these $600K HHI purchased their homes, they might have only been at $250/300K. So they may have bought in a good area, but not spectacular schools. Now that they have the $$ for better schools they like their neighborhood and it may not make financial sense to sell, ditch a 3% mortgage for a 7% mortgage. So the solution is to do private schools.

I don't know, more than half of my neighbors in the Whitman district send their kids to private schools. It's not that the publics here aren't the best in the state.

[Anonymous]

We’ve gone in the other direction—HHI down from $1M to about $500K. Our day to day lifestyle isn’t all that different because we never spent up to our income. But we save much less (we have what we need for retirement), splurge less, and give less to philanthropy. We’ve got two kids in college and support an elderly parent—when those expenses diminish we’ll ramp up the charitable giving again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love how so many threads about private school on DCUM have everyone saying that it's not worth it and good publics are better, then if you ask people what they do with extra money half of them immediately say private school.

First, when some of these $600K HHI purchased their homes, they might have only been at $250/300K. So they may have bought in a good area, but not spectacular schools. Now that they have the $$ for better schools they like their neighborhood and it may not make financial sense to sell, ditch a 3% mortgage for a 7% mortgage. So the solution is to do private schools.

I don't know, more than half of my neighbors in the Whitman district send their kids to private schools. It's not that the publics here aren't the best in the state.

I agree. My kids are on major financial aid at a private. Their full pay classmates aren’t living in my MC neighborhood.

They are overwhelmingly inbounds for W schools, BCC, JR, McLean, etc . . .

[Anonymous]

It's ok but taxes are very high when you make more so it's not one for one

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dunno I would not pay for private school and would not have replied to this thread if you hadn't mentioned it. IMO my lifestyle would not change much at all going from 500k to 1m. I would by a MODERN house, which they barely build around the DC area, and that's about it. I already outsource my cooking, cleaning, and lawn care. Drive the car I want to drive, go on the vacations I want to go on. Private school? Kill me

Do you have kids? You would value a nicer house over your children’s’ education?

Early Retired Biglaw partner here, with fully grown and long ago launched kids.

Ten years from now, your private school kids will be attending the same colleges as the public school kids. Ten years after that, your kids and those kids will be doing the same jobs, making the same money, and having the same lives and lifestyles - while also working alongside other kids who not only went to public schools, but also to public colleges and other colleges that no one’s ever heard of. The great big world is the great big equalizer when it comes to this stuff.

Unless, of course, you aspire for your kids to be in Biglaw. In that case, yea, the schooling matters. But if you want that for your kids I feel sorry for you - and them.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dunno I would not pay for private school and would not have replied to this thread if you hadn't mentioned it. IMO my lifestyle would not change much at all going from 500k to 1m. I would by a MODERN house, which they barely build around the DC area, and that's about it. I already outsource my cooking, cleaning, and lawn care. Drive the car I want to drive, go on the vacations I want to go on. Private school? Kill me

Do you have kids? You would value a nicer house over your children’s’ education?

Early Retired Biglaw partner here, with fully grown and long ago launched kids.

Ten years from now, your private school kids will be attending the same colleges as the public school kids. Ten years after that, your kids and those kids will be doing the same jobs, making the same money, and having the same lives and lifestyles - while also working alongside other kids who not only went to public schools, but also to public colleges and other colleges that no one’s ever heard of. The great big world is the great big equalizer when it comes to this stuff.

Unless, of course, you aspire for your kids to be in Biglaw. In that case, yea, the schooling matters. But if you want that for your kids I feel sorry for you - and them.

Ten years from now all of the people who were doing their own cooking, cleaning, and lawn care will also be 10 years older, just like those of you who outsource those things. You will have had a different experience in the interim, and for you it's worth it to pay for others to do those tasks rather than experience them yourself. I don't think my kids will be in a better college and I pray they don't go into the law, but the years they are spending in private school are wonderful and I can't imagine a luxury I would value more.

Retired Biglaw partner here. Not sure if you’re referring to me, but we did our own cooking and mowed our own lawn ha ha. But I’ll come clean: we did eventually hire a cleaning lady, but only once a month! 😆

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dunno I would not pay for private school and would not have replied to this thread if you hadn't mentioned it. IMO my lifestyle would not change much at all going from 500k to 1m. I would by a MODERN house, which they barely build around the DC area, and that's about it. I already outsource my cooking, cleaning, and lawn care. Drive the car I want to drive, go on the vacations I want to go on. Private school? Kill me

Do you have kids? You would value a nicer house over your children’s’ education?

Early Retired Biglaw partner here, with fully grown and long ago launched kids.

Ten years from now, your private school kids will be attending the same colleges as the public school kids. Ten years after that, your kids and those kids will be doing the same jobs, making the same money, and having the same lives and lifestyles - while also working alongside other kids who not only went to public schools, but also to public colleges and other colleges that no one’s ever heard of. The great big world is the great big equalizer when it comes to this stuff.

Unless, of course, you aspire for your kids to be in Biglaw. In that case, yea, the schooling matters. But if you want that for your kids I feel sorry for you - and them.

Ten years from now all of the people who were doing their own cooking, cleaning, and lawn care will also be 10 years older, just like those of you who outsource those things. You will have had a different experience in the interim, and for you it's worth it to pay for others to do those tasks rather than experience them yourself. I don't think my kids will be in a better college and I pray they don't go into the law, but the years they are spending in private school are wonderful and I can't imagine a luxury I would value more.

Retired Biglaw partner here. Not sure if you’re referring to me, but we did our own cooking and mowed our own lawn ha ha. But I’ll come clean: we did eventually hire a cleaning lady, but only once a month! 😆

I’m sorry, I am conflating two posters. My point is more that anyone in this income bracket can choose luxuries and we value them differently. I drive an old dependable car and have never had any desire for an expensive new one, but we love our private school and that daily experience is worth the fortune it costs us. You may have different priorities for your discretionary income. I don’t think my kids will necessarily end up at a better college or with a better career but I value what they’re experiencing on a daily basis to pay for their school now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dunno I would not pay for private school and would not have replied to this thread if you hadn't mentioned it. IMO my lifestyle would not change much at all going from 500k to 1m. I would by a MODERN house, which they barely build around the DC area, and that's about it. I already outsource my cooking, cleaning, and lawn care. Drive the car I want to drive, go on the vacations I want to go on. Private school? Kill me

Do you have kids? You would value a nicer house over your children’s’ education?

Early Retired Biglaw partner here, with fully grown and long ago launched kids.

Ten years from now, your private school kids will be attending the same colleges as the public school kids. Ten years after that, your kids and those kids will be doing the same jobs, making the same money, and having the same lives and lifestyles - while also working alongside other kids who not only went to public schools, but also to public colleges and other colleges that no one’s ever heard of. The great big world is the great big equalizer when it comes to this stuff.

Unless, of course, you aspire for your kids to be in Biglaw. In that case, yea, the schooling matters. But if you want that for your kids I feel sorry for you - and them.

Ten years from now all of the people who were doing their own cooking, cleaning, and lawn care will also be 10 years older, just like those of you who outsource those things. You will have had a different experience in the interim, and for you it's worth it to pay for others to do those tasks rather than experience them yourself. I don't think my kids will be in a better college and I pray they don't go into the law, but the years they are spending in private school are wonderful and I can't imagine a luxury I would value more.

Retired Biglaw partner here. Not sure if you’re referring to me, but we did our own cooking and mowed our own lawn ha ha. But I’ll come clean: we did eventually hire a cleaning lady, but only once a month! 😆

I’m sorry, I am conflating two posters. My point is more that anyone in this income bracket can choose luxuries and we value them differently. I drive an old dependable car and have never had any desire for an expensive new one, but we love our private school and that daily experience is worth the fortune it costs us. You may have different priorities for your discretionary income. I don’t think my kids will necessarily end up at a better college or with a better career but I value what they’re experiencing on a daily basis to pay for their school now.

I hear you, and I guess you didn’t read my post or just have a fundamental disagreement with me because the point that I made was that I did absolutely nothing with the additional “discretionary income” once it started coming my way. That’s why I was able to retire as early as I did without having to change my lifestyle and while remaining financially capable of assisting my kids as needed (which hasn’t been often).

Implicit in your point about private schools is that they are inherently better and that your or other kids can’t have excellent or comparable experiences in public schools. In the case of my kids, at least, they absolutely loved their public school experiences, decades later still count their friends from those years among their closest, and by all objective measures got good educations. They send our grandkids to publics as well.

Finally, for what it’s worth, I never attended a public school myself. My entire education was private. So I do have a pretty good idea of the differences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We reached annual income of 700K last year and we save a lot. We also went on two international vacations and two domestic ones. 1 of 2 kids in private and we save a LOT of money. To quote a previous poster:
Same old house, same old Honda (but ours is not a honda; just old)

We are at similar income level, so just curious how much is saving a lot of money mean for you?

You are quoting me and remember this is new stuff. Only hit this income level two years ago.
My DH - we save 100% of his take home.
We max unrestricted gifts to minors b/c we have kids with learning disabilities and I'm not sure they will go to college.
We max out both 401Ks, he does a back door Roth for him or both of us and I have an exec plan...453 maybe? We easily save 170K/yr. And my entire bonus (80k) It dropped into my bank account and was invested within 24 hours.

oh, before I got this job, we paid off our 650K house before i switched jobs so we have no mortgage.

That said, I still need a new car which will be about 50K of that. My old not-honda is giving me very clear signs she wants to retire.

[Anonymous]

^^^ and I thank God every day.

[Anonymous]

We were at 900HHI for a two years and through some career blowup with spouse, we're right now at 500. At 900, I didn't flinch to take United's upgrade offers. We ate out readily. We didn't flinch at the kid's private school tuition. We saved a lot of $ for a renovation. We were about to buy a second car to replace an older model. We were about to pay a lot of $ for business class to NZealand. Dropping to 500HHI means we stretch the travel dollars, I cook and don't order takeout just because I'm busy, the margin for cushion on the renovation is much tighter (we accumulated the funds but of course we'll go over the budget/savings), etc. etc. I flinch a lot more when I pay things. But 500HHI ain't poor, I'm under no illusions. But it's a lot less than 900 in ways that I feel everyday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dunno I would not pay for private school and would not have replied to this thread if you hadn't mentioned it. IMO my lifestyle would not change much at all going from 500k to 1m. I would by a MODERN house, which they barely build around the DC area, and that's about it. I already outsource my cooking, cleaning, and lawn care. Drive the car I want to drive, go on the vacations I want to go on. Private school? Kill me

Do you have kids? You would value a nicer house over your children’s’ education?

Early Retired Biglaw partner here, with fully grown and long ago launched kids.

Ten years from now, your private school kids will be attending the same colleges as the public school kids. Ten years after that, your kids and those kids will be doing the same jobs, making the same money, and having the same lives and lifestyles - while also working alongside other kids who not only went to public schools, but also to public colleges and other colleges that no one’s ever heard of. The great big world is the great big equalizer when it comes to this stuff.

Unless, of course, you aspire for your kids to be in Biglaw. In that case, yea, the schooling matters. But if you want that for your kids I feel sorry for you - and them.

+1

I don’t agree with you. Sure there are one offs but my classmates that went to STA with me are far more successful financially than my wife’s friends from her public school.

Top privates around here have less than a 20% acceptance rate. Clearly the talent pool is far superior than a school anyone can go to.

That doesn’t mean someone from a public school can’t be wildly more successful but as a whole, top privates will create much more successful grads. It’s not rocket science.

Avg privates are a total waste of money unless you want the religious side of things.

[Anonymous]

Here are ours: we saved 300k last year and have much more seriously to charity

Annual vacay budget used to be 10k and now it’s 30k

If I can “buy away” an everyday problem (metro v Uber, laundry care) I almost always do.

Middle school private in two years for our son js now on the table