I can’t afford this, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore most of these posts, OP.

You have got a very bitter contingency of people who can't afford private school here desperately feeling the need to label it as "stupid." It isn't, there are many reasons to send kids to private if you can afford it. Which you can.

This is such a typical response. And it’s simply not true. I was a Biglaw partner making just shy of 7 figures two decades ago when we decided not to put our kids in private. Thanks in large part to that decision, I was able to retire in my early 50s with plenty of money while still in a position to help our kids out in much more practical ways — large down payments for houses, etc. Kids all went to public schools all the way through college (except for one who got a large merit award) and all are now doing just fine in the DMV, doing the same jobs and making the same money and living the same lives in the same neighborhoods as their private school friends and classmates. Of course, none of them is in Biglaw like I was, but that’s a blessing!

Okay, but when you were in biglaw and using public schools, what neighborhood did you live in? Let’s not get carried away with the value of Janney when you need a fortune to go there in the first place. Private school is just another flavor of the same game.

Except OP ended up with a house instead of enriching the private school!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a similar income in DC proper and sent our 3 kids to private for high school only. The expectations were a giant step up from DCPS. 2 of the 3 are now at Ivies and doing incredibly well. Third is still in high school. It was (and is for one more year for the youngest) a lot of money but we don't regret paying it. We're not people who want a lot of fancy things and we have no desire to retire early so we I don't look back and think "wow, I wish I could have spent that money in a different way." I'm at peace at having spent it on education.

Very similar to us. It might be cultural but people boasting how they retired early because they were refused to spend much on education jars with me. I get it if you really hate your job or are in a very unstable industry. But not if you sacrifice education for the sake of quitting work and doing not much.

Ummm sending your kid to any one of the very very good public schools around her is not “sacrificing education.”

[Anonymous]

We moved our kids to private for high school and have no regrets. They are at a Catholic school so much less than $60k, but we only make $300k. Worth it for us. Everyone needs to make their own decisions based on their own priorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[img]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore most of these posts, OP.

You have got a very bitter contingency of people who can't afford private school here desperately feeling the need to label it as "stupid." It isn't, there are many reasons to send kids to private if you can afford it. Which you can.

This is such a typical response. And it’s simply not true. I was a Biglaw partner making just shy of 7 figures two decades ago when we decided not to put our kids in private. Thanks in large part to that decision, I was able to retire in my early 50s with plenty of money while still in a position to help our kids out in much more practical ways — large down payments for houses, etc. Kids all went to public schools all the way through college (except for one who got a large merit award) and all are now doing just fine in the DMV, doing the same jobs and making the same money and living the same lives in the same neighborhoods as their private school friends and classmates. Of course, none of them is in Biglaw like I was, but that’s a blessing!

Okay, but when you were in biglaw and using public schools, what neighborhood did you live in? Let’s not get carried away with the value of Janney when you need a fortune to go there in the first place. Private school is just another flavor of the same game.

OP lives in MoCo. That’s the whole point. The schools there are fine. Even the “bad” ones. Duh.

[Anonymous]

$60k for private school. High school will cost you $240k.
Think about that
I work with a person who went to private school. He ended up in University of Maryland. He could have gotten there with a public school education!
I think your kid will thank you if you were to put that money into a college savings account instead

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a similar income in DC proper and sent our 3 kids to private for high school only. The expectations were a giant step up from DCPS. 2 of the 3 are now at Ivies and doing incredibly well. Third is still in high school. It was (and is for one more year for the youngest) a lot of money but we don't regret paying it. We're not people who want a lot of fancy things and we have no desire to retire early so we I don't look back and think "wow, I wish I could have spent that money in a different way." I'm at peace at having spent it on education.

Very similar to us. It might be cultural but people boasting how they retired early because they were refused to spend much on education jars with me. I get it if you really hate your job or are in a very unstable industry. But not if you sacrifice education for the sake of quitting work and doing not much.

Ummm sending your kid to any one of the very very good public schools around her is not “sacrificing education.”

Yes, and the “refused to spend much on education” part is silly too. Those of us who opted for excellent public schools paid a premium for our homes, and a significant percentage of us then sent our kids to extremely expensive top private colleges and universities. We just didn’t see any need to spend huge amounts of money pre-college to get to the same end point for our children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's no way in h@ll I would put one of 3 kids in private - it's all or nothing (unless there is a SN situation), or you are building resentment among siblings.

We had one in a $60k school at $340HHI and it was a stretch

You're assuming all three kids *want* to go to private school. We had neighbors who sent one to private, one to public (both went to private universities)