How do people afford private schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of law partners, surgeons or other specialists, consulting firm partners. Basically lots of people making $500k+ in our school. Those who aren’t have rich grandparents.

I think this sums it up well. If you do not fall into these categories it can be a stretch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WWJC what would Jesus charge for tuition. Happy Easter. Rich people suck and should be shamed.

Jesus would charge a premium.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When grandparents pay, do the parents book it as income? Do the grandparents file IRS Form 709? If neither, it’s tax evasion.

You only have to disclose or pay a gift tax (paid by the giver, not the recipient) if it’s over the exclusion amount, which is $18,000 for 2024, I believe ($17k in 2023). That’s per individual, both giving and receiving. So in theory, my mother could give me $18k and my husband $18k, and my father could do the same, for a total of $74,000, with no gift tax required. I haven’t looked into it, but if minors could be gifted in the same way, there’s another $36k per kid that wouldn’t be taxed. Alternatively, some grandparents may just pay the school directly if they are paying the whole thing, and then there’s no issue at all.

I don’t know about others, but my parents give us $15k per year and we pay the rest—basically, they are our source of financial aid so that we didn’t have to ask the school for FA.

[Anonymous]

^That should have been a $72,000 total, not 74, but the point is the same.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]When grandparents pay, do the parents book it as income? Do the grandparents file IRS Form 709? If neither, it’s tax evasion. [/quote]

Grandparents pay the school directly (in our case). [/quote]

This. Paying someone else’s tuition is exempt from gift tax. No need to file. Payment directly to the institution so not income to parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WWJC what would Jesus charge for tuition. Happy Easter. Rich people suck and should be shamed.

You do realize the Catholic Church is the richest institution AND the Vatican is the richest nation state in the entire world right. By your logic Christians should shame themselves. Oh, should probably also mention all the abuse of children Christian organizations hide and cover up. SHAME, SHAME SHAME! Happy Easter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When grandparents pay, do the parents book it as income? Do the grandparents file IRS Form 709? If neither, it’s tax evasion.

No they pay directly. It's easier to pass the money that way, no tax implications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When grandparents pay, do the parents book it as income? Do the grandparents file IRS Form 709? If neither, it’s tax evasion.

I know people whose grandparents pay but they don’t tell school and they qualify for financial aid. So the grandparents pay them. That seems not truthful. And borderline illegal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When grandparents pay, do the parents book it as income? Do the grandparents file IRS Form 709? If neither, it’s tax evasion.

I know people whose grandparents pay but they don’t tell school and they qualify for financial aid. So the grandparents pay them. That seems not truthful. And borderline illegal.

People do this with college, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:*Stopped at one kid
*one car
*small townhouse
* live frugally
* no debt/both DH + I went to state schools/ law school
* never buy fast food/ coffee out
* make food from scratch

this is how we do it too, our combined HHI around $400k, DS's tuition is around $45k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WWJC what would Jesus charge for tuition. Happy Easter. Rich people suck and should be shamed.

You do realize the Catholic Church is the richest institution AND the Vatican is the richest nation state in the entire world right. By your logic Christians should shame themselves. Oh, should probably also mention all the abuse of children Christian organizations hide and cover up. SHAME, SHAME SHAME! Happy Easter.

Can we be friends?!!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are HENRY's and will forever be HENRY's because we spend it all without saving a dime in hopes our investment (child) will pay off.

Wow! You're nuts!

[Anonymous]

You don’t have to have the luxury purses, shoes, jewelry. You don’t have to go on expensive trips. You don’t have to go to a concert or professional sporting event every weekend. You don’t have to eat out every dinner. It basically comes down to priorities.

Btw, no shade to those who have luxury stuff and keep their kids in public- it often works out well for those people.

[Anonymous]

Jesus 400k. Why is there such a division on wealth in America thatseems to destabilize all of our systems and create extreme crime and poverty for the majority of citizens. American greed is bad for is and the rest of the planet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kids' grandparents pay for their private school. We make about $330k and maybe we could stretch and figure it out but I suspect we would instead move to a farther-flung suburb with good public schools.

Same for us--roughly the same HHI and grandparents pay. DH would prefer the kids (or at least one of them, the more laidback one) goes to public school, but doesn't want to be house-poor for the money it would cost to buy in a top public district.