How much do families make in order to afford private school for two children?

[Anonymous]

There was a similar thread in the nanny forum, but I am very curious with respect to private school. I feel like we could afford to send one child to a private school with 25-27K/year tuition but not two children. I am just curious and I hope that I am not offending anyone by asking. This is one of those questions I would be too embarrassed to ask ANYONE in person.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot depends on your mortgage. We are kicking ourselves for getting into a much bigger mortgage which will mean a lot of pinching to send 2 to private school (not yet there yet, just preschool). We went from a 750K mort with 20% down to 2.5m mortgage. . .what were we thinking?? I don't think salary per se is going to tell you anything, as everyone's expenses are so different. I think schools do use a formula for aid, but not sure what goes into it. There are great public schools in the area (we live in Mont. Co) we may decide to go that route after all.

[Anonymous]

My husband and I disagree on this issue - I think if we are going to get into a big mortgage - then we (hopefullY) will be in an area that has great public schools. He wants it all - the big house, the private schools and country club, to boot! We are just starting out - so we will see how things go. I think to be able to swing it - these people have to have investments that pay them great interest, trust funds AND good jobs with great bonuses!
To live in the district - you have to pay a lot for a house - and private schools seem to be the way to go - so unfortunately you are paying on both ends........
I am curious how they all do it! (As well as drive those expensive SUV's I see in the parking lots!)

[Anonymous]

We send 3 kids to private elementary school, which costs about $75K each year. Addt'l gifts to the school annually are another $5K.

Our household income varies, but is in the $500K range. PP is right I think in that your mortgage matters a great deal WRT school affordability -- our mortgage is "only" for a $600K home (30 year, historically low rates from a few years back), and we have HELOC totaling another $100K (for remodels).

This is very doable for now, bc our car and school loans are all paid off (we're in our mid-40s).

[Anonymous]

We (hopefully) have a child starting next year- Income in the $225,000 range...

We live in a smallish house in Arlington, drive one car and while we aren't frugal we don't blow money away either.

[Anonymous]

We have one child starting in private school next year, and another who will start 2 years later. We earn $800K per year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have one child starting in private school next year, and another who will start 2 years later. We earn $800K per year.

Same scenario with us.....what is your mortgage situation?

[Anonymous]

21:10 here - our mortgage is for an $850K home. We were earning significantly less when we purchased home 5 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is $150. We send one kid to private school and another to private preschool. We get a tiny bit of aid from the school and 50% tuition help from my parents. Our mortgage is 300K. We figure when we get up to 250K in HHI, we can afford to pay one and one half tuitions. Not everyone at private schools is making close to 1M!!!

[Anonymous]

Wow! What kind of work do you do to earn so much money? Lawyers? Just curious. Our income is around 160 K so I just cannot envision what line of work pays so much.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we are both lawyers (but only DH is working at the moment).

[Anonymous]

Lawyer PPs, how many years did it take post-partner to get to the $800k level, and what's the net after the much more significant tax hit you get as a partner? This sort of information is so hard to come by, but as a new mom thinking about whether to push for partner vs stay at the counsel level, it is important data to have. If it would mean doubling my net in a matter of a couple of years, well that could mean any private education we want, early retirement, exposing our child to great travel, etc. Or instead, if I think about a part-time schedule in a couple years at that level of compensation -- well the idea that I could cut my hours by 30-40% without hurting net income is delicious. But anything less dramatic than that seems not worth it (to me, personally -- not judging ANYONE's choices) in terms of the time committment and stress required to make a partner run with a small child.

[Anonymous]

10:11 poster here. DH is a partner at his law firm. He began earning around $400K when he started as a partner 5 yrs ago. AFter 2 yrs, he was at $600, after 4 yrs $700, and now he's at $800. I really don't know if this is typical or not. That's just our experience, FWIW. As you say, the tax hit is very significant. I believe that post taxes, our net is close to $500 (but I could be off significantly...DH handles our finances, so I'm not completely sure). Hope that is helpful. I think it really depends on the area of law you practice in, by the way. I am a lawyer too (non partner), but I work in a "softer" area of law, one where there is very little money. DH works in the corporate field, by contrast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyer PPs, how many years did it take post-partner to get to the $800k level, and what's the net after the much more significant tax hit you get as a partner? This sort of information is so hard to come by, but as a new mom thinking about whether to push for partner vs stay at the counsel level, it is important data to have. If it would mean doubling my net in a matter of a couple of years, well that could mean any private education we want, early retirement, exposing our child to great travel, etc. Or instead, if I think about a part-time schedule in a couple years at that level of compensation -- well the idea that I could cut my hours by 30-40% without hurting net income is delicious. But anything less dramatic than that seems not worth it (to me, personally -- not judging ANYONE's choices) in terms of the time committment and stress required to make a partner run with a small child.

"vs stay at the counsel level" ... if you were really counsel then you would already have access to the relevant information at your firm. That is, if you really are a lawyer and not just being nosy. You should know profits per partner are different by firm and even within a firm.

[Anonymous]

Hmm, that's a relatively quick trajectory. Did he work tremendously harder during the early partner years than as a senior associate/counsel, or about the same? I do suspect your net may be lower than $500 though, since we have trouble netting more than 60% on our current combined salaries of $400.