2025 & 2026 donut hole families

[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.

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

Exactly. Don't have kids you can't pay for. I only feel for those who have unexpected twins. Everyone else should keep their pants on. Not my job to subsidize your libido.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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. It’s 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.

Well, imagine it. You can keep on paying the $50K, but $95K would be a stretch. Would it have been better to save that $50K every year to be able to pay the $95K? Who can say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

Exactly. Don't have kids you can't pay for. I only feel for those who have unexpected twins. Everyone else should keep their pants on. Not my job to subsidize your libido.

Couldn’t this he said about a lot
of things, though? Not my job to subsidize a SAHM, to subsidize someone who doesn’t work to their full earning capacity, to subsidize someone who chooses a higher COL area, to subsidize someone who has a car loan, to subsidize someone who chose a non-lucrative major in college so can’t afford for their kids to be full pay now, etc…..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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

Exactly. Don't have kids you can't pay for. I only feel for those who have unexpected twins. Everyone else should keep their pants on. Not my job to subsidize your libido.

Couldn’t this he said about a lot
of things, though? Not my job to subsidize a SAHM, to subsidize someone who doesn’t work to their full earning capacity, to subsidize someone who chooses a higher COL area, to subsidize someone who has a car loan, to subsidize someone who chose a non-lucrative major in college so can’t afford for their kids to be full pay now, etc…..

Also, full pay doesn’t subsidize the aid students. The finances of these universities is more complicated than that and undergrads across the board are generally subsidized by other revenue sources. And aid is generally handled through a reduction in tuition revenue that is matched by lower expenditures (i.e., the operating expenditures are set at the level of lower projected revenues).

[Anonymous]

I think there's a case for no FA at all.

These schools are a lifestyle product themselves. You can take a loan out to buy your fancy car .. I mean college. Or not. The rest involves some level of moral hazard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a case for no FA at all.

These schools are a lifestyle product themselves. You can take a loan out to buy your fancy car .. I mean college. Or not. The rest involves some level of moral hazard.

I am supportive of some level of aid but I think schools have gone too far in tripping over themselves to be a social change agent (note that I despise Trump). NYT had an article about a year ago where they particularly highlighted Duke for not having enough low income students (even though Duke's stats were not materially different from most of its peers). There are definitely merits to diversity and it should be a goal and colleges should not revert to the days of being finishing schools for the wealthy, but it has gotten to a level of virtue signaling.

Again, everything is good in moderation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a case for no FA at all.

These schools are a lifestyle product themselves. You can take a loan out to buy your fancy car .. I mean college. Or not. The rest involves some level of moral hazard.

Nobody on this board truly believes college is an “optional lifestyle choice”, get outta here with that bs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a case for no FA at all.

These schools are a lifestyle product themselves. You can take a loan out to buy your fancy car .. I mean college. Or not. The rest involves some level of moral hazard.

Nobody on this board truly believes college is an “optional lifestyle choice”, get outta here with that bs.

Elite private universities are. They are a privilege, not a right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not donut hole, I guess.

Harvard, No FA

HHI under 200. Assets 2mm in brokerage, 1mm in retirement, 1mm house (paid off, we bought 25 years ago for 300k), 100k in 529.

We are small business owners and are limited by earned income as to how much we can shift to retirement.

2 younger kids

I think if we had 2mm in retirement and 1mm in brokerage we would have gotten aid.

I dont really understand why colleges care where the money is. Our brokerage includes our retirement money, it's just not tax advantaged.

Is PP correct? Is retirement not considered at all when reviewing assets for financial aid?

Frankly I think someone with $3m in assets as well as a $1m paid off house should get no FA even if it’s ALL in a retirement account and none of it in brokerage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not donut hole, I guess.

Harvard, No FA

HHI under 200. Assets 2mm in brokerage, 1mm in retirement, 1mm house (paid off, we bought 25 years ago for 300k), 100k in 529.

We are small business owners and are limited by earned income as to how much we can shift to retirement.

2 younger kids

I think if we had 2mm in retirement and 1mm in brokerage we would have gotten aid.

I dont really understand why colleges care where the money is. Our brokerage includes our retirement money, it's just not tax advantaged.

$1M in broker Means full pay everywhere. Same for $1M in home equity at many schools.

1mm in brokerage = about 55k in expected contribution. If you’re making under 200k at very top schools, that may be all you pay. It’s a lot less than 95k

True if those are the only assets. With $1M in home equity on top you are full pay most places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not donut hole, I guess.

Harvard, No FA

HHI under 200. Assets 2mm in brokerage, 1mm in retirement, 1mm house (paid off, we bought 25 years ago for 300k), 100k in 529.

We are small business owners and are limited by earned income as to how much we can shift to retirement.

2 younger kids

I think if we had 2mm in retirement and 1mm in brokerage we would have gotten aid.

I dont really understand why colleges care where the money is. Our brokerage includes our retirement money, it's just not tax advantaged.

$1M in broker Means full pay everywhere. Same for $1M in home equity at many schools.

1mm in brokerage = about 55k in expected contribution. If you’re making under 200k at very top schools, that may be all you pay. It’s a lot less than 95k

True if those are the only assets. With $1M in home equity on top you are full pay most places.

Is the assumption that you should take a mortgage/home equity loan on your house to pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not donut hole, I guess.

Harvard, No FA

HHI under 200. Assets 2mm in brokerage, 1mm in retirement, 1mm house (paid off, we bought 25 years ago for 300k), 100k in 529.

We are small business owners and are limited by earned income as to how much we can shift to retirement.

2 younger kids

I think if we had 2mm in retirement and 1mm in brokerage we would have gotten aid.

I dont really understand why colleges care where the money is. Our brokerage includes our retirement money, it's just not tax advantaged.

$1M in broker Means full pay everywhere. Same for $1M in home equity at many schools.

1mm in brokerage = about 55k in expected contribution. If you’re making under 200k at very top schools, that may be all you pay. It’s a lot less than 95k

This is interesting. I would think they would expect you to liquidate the $1M brokerage account to some extent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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. It’s 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.

Well, imagine it. You can keep on paying the $50K, but $95K would be a stretch. Would it have been better to save that $50K every year to be able to pay the $95K? Who can say?

Its better to make sure you can pay for college and grad school prior to choosing a private baring SN. Or, don't complain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not donut hole, I guess.

Harvard, No FA

HHI under 200. Assets 2mm in brokerage, 1mm in retirement, 1mm house (paid off, we bought 25 years ago for 300k), 100k in 529.

We are small business owners and are limited by earned income as to how much we can shift to retirement.

2 younger kids

I think if we had 2mm in retirement and 1mm in brokerage we would have gotten aid.

I dont really understand why colleges care where the money is. Our brokerage includes our retirement money, it's just not tax advantaged.

$1M in broker Means full pay everywhere. Same for $1M in home equity at many schools.

1mm in brokerage = about 55k in expected contribution. If you’re making under 200k at very top schools, that may be all you pay. It’s a lot less than 95k

True if those are the only assets. With $1M in home equity on top you are full pay most places.

Is the assumption that you should take a mortgage/home equity loan on your house to pay?

If you have a million in home equity, yes you should.

[Anonymous]

My kid applied to a number of state flagships and got in with merit almost everywhere. Is going to one in the Midwest with an excellent program in their major. We will be paying $5K out of pocket. Various merit scholarships are covering the rest (we did not even bother with the FAFSA). We are in NOVA. Did not apply to UVA as did not have their major. VTech gave no financial aid.