household income of 250K to send kids to private school

[Anonymous]

I pay for a 20K private on about 100K. You will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of a family with a household income of 250K to send their two kids to private school? Other than the tuition, do you think socially the kids can fit in? What's the medium income for the families in private schools? Where to find such statistics?

It depends. If you send two kids to Potomac school HS, it will cost you about 86k/year after tax. Not possible for 250k income.

Possible with some financial aid.

[Anonymous]

So some people are claiming that it can be done on much less and another broke down a budget for a family making more (400k) to show how it would be hard. It seems like you need to break it down for yourself since it depends on information we don't have/you haven't provided like the tuition amount and your other expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of a family with a household income of 250K to send their two kids to private school? Other than the tuition, do you think socially the kids can fit in? What's the medium income for the families in private schools? Where to find such statistics?

Many have significant wealth plus higher than average income (which is taxed like crazy, as shown previously). Or the grandparents pay it, which if they are wealthy, is a tax-efficient smart way to spend your inheritance.

I'd much rather call my investment account and sell some bonds and stocks to pay two DC area private school tuitions than run a cash flow/income model every year. If you are an income-only family (which half of us are), there is a lot you can do with $80-100k after tax dollars, including compounding it for college donations, college tuition savings, retirement savings, a nicer life. AND not be stressed out about your family budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of a family with a household income of 250K to send their two kids to private school? Other than the tuition, do you think socially the kids can fit in? What's the medium income for the families in private schools? Where to find such statistics?

It depends. If you send two kids to Potomac school HS, it will cost you about 86k/year after tax. Not possible for 250k income.

Possible with some financial aid.

Which you probably won’t get at your household income level unless they really, really want you because you bring something unique or at least really special to the school body. Even then financial aid seems unlikely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of a family with a household income of 250K to send their two kids to private school? Other than the tuition, do you think socially the kids can fit in? What's the medium income for the families in private schools? Where to find such statistics?

It depends. If you send two kids to Potomac school HS, it will cost you about 86k/year after tax. Not possible for 250k income.

Possible with some financial aid.

Which you probably won’t get at your household income level unless they really, really want you because you bring something unique or at least really special to the school body. Even then financial aid seems unlikely.

I know one family that makes around that much and gets aid--however, they have three kids, are "hooked," and kids attend a school that is not in high demand here and is pretty inexpensive relative to Sidwell, GDS, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you think of a family with a household income of 250K to send their two kids to private school? Other than the tuition, do you think socially the kids can fit in? What's the medium income for the families in private schools? Where to find such statistics?

It depends. If you send two kids to Potomac school HS, it will cost you about 86k/year after tax. Not possible for 250k income.

Possible with some financial aid.

Which you probably won’t get at your household income level unless they really, really want you because you bring something unique or at least really special to the school body. Even then financial aid seems unlikely.

I know one family that makes around that much and gets aid--however, they have three kids, are "hooked," and kids attend a school that is not in high demand here and is pretty inexpensive relative to Sidwell, GDS, etc.

How are you "hooked" if you are also flat broke?

[Anonymous]

We are $800k and can barely afford 2 in private

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are $800k and can barely afford 2 in private

Ha ha

[Anonymous]

As a PP said, it really depends on your budget. Break it down.

We are paying about 40k in tuition on an income of 190k, planning to be closer to 50k in a few years when a younger child moves to a school with higher tuition. They way it breaks down for us, we are living on one income for housing, basic operating expenses, and retirement plans. The second income is going to student loan payments and the kids' tuition/childcare. This works for us, as we acclimated to housing and lifestyle choices while we still lived on a smaller income. Once education became a question, we've decided to invest in school rather than upgrade in other areas.

This works *for us,* but your situation may well be different, based on what you want, where you live, and what will place you in a feeling of sacrifice that will get under your skin. It is so individual.

Break it down, and evaluate closely if there are debts or expenses you can eliminate that you are currently ignoring. Don't promise to cut things that are deeply important to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a PP said, it really depends on your budget. Break it down.

We are paying about 40k in tuition on an income of 190k, planning to be closer to 50k in a few years when a younger child moves to a school with higher tuition. They way it breaks down for us, we are living on one income for housing, basic operating expenses, and retirement plans. The second income is going to student loan payments and the kids' tuition/childcare. This works for us, as we acclimated to housing and lifestyle choices while we still lived on a smaller income. Once education became a question, we've decided to invest in school rather than upgrade in other areas.

This works *for us,* but your situation may well be different, based on what you want, where you live, and what will place you in a feeling of sacrifice that will get under your skin. It is so individual.

Break it down, and evaluate closely if there are debts or expenses you can eliminate that you are currently ignoring. Don't promise to cut things that are deeply important to you.

I will add that I suspect we are outliers at our school; I doubt most families are spending such a large portion of their post-tax income. However, so far we've also found other families to be welcoming. I wouldn't freak out too much, as you might be tempted to do when reading DCUM, that you will be a social pariah for not making a certain income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a PP said, it really depends on your budget. Break it down.

We are paying about 40k in tuition on an income of 190k, planning to be closer to 50k in a few years when a younger child moves to a school with higher tuition. They way it breaks down for us, we are living on one income for housing, basic operating expenses, and retirement plans. The second income is going to student loan payments and the kids' tuition/childcare. This works for us, as we acclimated to housing and lifestyle choices while we still lived on a smaller income. Once education became a question, we've decided to invest in school rather than upgrade in other areas.

This works *for us,* but your situation may well be different, based on what you want, where you live, and what will place you in a feeling of sacrifice that will get under your skin. It is so individual.

Break it down, and evaluate closely if there are debts or expenses you can eliminate that you are currently ignoring. Don't promise to cut things that are deeply important to you.

Wow. I can't believe that after indebting yourself with massive student loans that you'd make the same mistake again in spending too much money on education. Requiring an entire salary to pay for education is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a PP said, it really depends on your budget. Break it down.

We are paying about 40k in tuition on an income of 190k, planning to be closer to 50k in a few years when a younger child moves to a school with higher tuition. They way it breaks down for us, we are living on one income for housing, basic operating expenses, and retirement plans. The second income is going to student loan payments and the kids' tuition/childcare. This works for us, as we acclimated to housing and lifestyle choices while we still lived on a smaller income. Once education became a question, we've decided to invest in school rather than upgrade in other areas.

This works *for us,* but your situation may well be different, based on what you want, where you live, and what will place you in a feeling of sacrifice that will get under your skin. It is so individual.

Break it down, and evaluate closely if there are debts or expenses you can eliminate that you are currently ignoring. Don't promise to cut things that are deeply important to you.

You're a complete moron. You should instead spend the money on living in a good school district as you'll get your money back one day when you sell your home. Wasting thousands a month on tuition is criminal unless you can also contribute significantly to private brokerage accounts and other forms of savings. You can't afford private school if it requires such a financial sacrifice.

My in-laws did something similar and are still working in old age. Whereas I attended public school and my parents saved heavily. My parents are living the good life in retirement and I've arguably done better than my spouse professionally even though the inlaws spend close to $1 million in private education and mine spent $0.

[Anonymous]

We are two feds, approx 225k annually, with one in a $25k private and the other about to go from a $6k annual parochial school to a $25k private HS. Right now it's doable but no foreign or ski vacations (except day trips locally) and we put retirement savings down to zero and get a small ampunt of fonancial aid. Old cars bought two years new with cash, very few debts except an old student loan that is going away soon. Right now all is doable though we'll see how close to the bone we get once the monthly tuition payments nearly double. Yes, it's a lifestyle choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a PP said, it really depends on your budget. Break it down.

We are paying about 40k in tuition on an income of 190k, planning to be closer to 50k in a few years when a younger child moves to a school with higher tuition. They way it breaks down for us, we are living on one income for housing, basic operating expenses, and retirement plans. The second income is going to student loan payments and the kids' tuition/childcare. This works for us, as we acclimated to housing and lifestyle choices while we still lived on a smaller income. Once education became a question, we've decided to invest in school rather than upgrade in other areas.

This works *for us,* but your situation may well be different, based on what you want, where you live, and what will place you in a feeling of sacrifice that will get under your skin. It is so individual.

Break it down, and evaluate closely if there are debts or expenses you can eliminate that you are currently ignoring. Don't promise to cut things that are deeply important to you.

Wow. You got some pretty rude follow up comments. Everyone prioritized differently. On the flip side of one of the nasty comments, some people would rather prioritize small class size and fewer classroom disruptions over a “good” public school with 800 kids in a middle school and over 2,000 in a high school. And some people don’t care about living in a fancy home. Different strokes for different folks...it doesn’t make anyone a moron.

We don’t spend half our HHI on private school, but we definitely spend 35-40 percent of one person’s after tax income. We drive paid off cars, live in a modest (but still nice) home in one of the “undesirable” Fairfax County pyramids and don’t take expensive vacations. We still save for college and retirement though. To each his own....