Anyone making a 6-figure salary (combined or not) receiving financial aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not either of the PPs you're referencing here, but our HHI is also close to 200K. Contrary to your assumptions, in fact we do drive a 90s era car ('97 Outback, great car!) and haven't taken a vacation in over ten years; our only travel is staying with family.

The only items in our budget that others might call luxury are that we do live in a nice neighborhood, and we do contribute to retirement and college accounts. Personally, I don't consider savings to be a luxury (in fact, we'd liove a lot better if we stopped making contributions to those funds!) but I can see where some might think of that as a luxury. (And BTW, we don't even have cable!)

No car payment, no vacations. What are you spending $200k a year on? Seriously? Are your retirement and college contributions HUGE or mortgage payment $5k a month?

You do sound very responsible (possibly unlike the debt-ridden OP). I just can't imagine the math in the scenario you mention above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: OP never said what schools were applied to...How do you know it wasn't any of the lesser expensive schools?

Given OP's sense of entitlement to FA and living check to check on 200K, one can guess that she likes the best/finer things in life. I doubt OP would consider anything but the big 3, big 4 or whatever the going term is.

[Anonymous]

There are private schools for rich people, and private schools for the others. If you cannot afford the former, go to the latter or public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not either of the PPs you're referencing here, but our HHI is also close to 200K. Contrary to your assumptions, in fact we do drive a 90s era car ('97 Outback, great car!) and haven't taken a vacation in over ten years; our only travel is staying with family.

The only items in our budget that others might call luxury are that we do live in a nice neighborhood, and we do contribute to retirement and college accounts. Personally, I don't consider savings to be a luxury (in fact, we'd liove a lot better if we stopped making contributions to those funds!) but I can see where some might think of that as a luxury. (And BTW, we don't even have cable!)

No car payment, no vacations. What are you spending $200k a year on? Seriously? Are your retirement and college contributions HUGE or mortgage payment $5k a month?

You do sound very responsible (possibly unlike the debt-ridden OP). I just can't imagine the math in the scenario you mention above.

I'm this PP. I do consider us responsible, LOL. Here is some idea of where the money goes:

income/payroll taxes: roughly 66K/year (average rate of about 33%)

mortgage: $3000/month = 36K/year

property taxes (we don't escrow; we pay them directly): 11K/year

retirement savings: 12-14K/year

college savings: 8K/year

private school tuition for one child (no aid): 30K/year (counting annual fund/auction contributions in that); have no idea what we will do when DC2 is old enough for school--probably move or curtail savings entirely

travel: 4000k/year, which is NOT vacation; it is the cost of four plane tickets to the west coast twice a year, where we stay with family (my parents are elderly and cannot travel); that is the only travel we ever do

insurance: 3000/year

health care costs: 10-15K/year (DC2 has a medical condition)

Transportation/commuting: 1000K/year

food: 14K/year (approx. 1200/month for a family of four)

That doesn't leave much left over for everything else (hence the old car, no cable, etc.)

The above is a back-of-the-envelope calculation, so it may not come out exactly right, but it gives some idea.

I am sure some disgruntled people will attack us for various choices (I can hear it now: How dare you have a child in private school! How horrible and selfish you are to want to visit your elderly parents! You should make better choices!) but I consider us pretty responsible...

[Anonymous]

But PP, you're not receiving (or asking for) FA. You're not living outside of your means, and asking others to subsidize it. That's the difference between you and OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But PP, you're not receiving (or asking for) FA. You're not living outside of your means, and asking others to subsidize it. That's the difference between you and OP.

You're right, but I could envision us applying for aid later on once DC2 gets to school age. (I'm the PP who posted the budget above.) They'd probably say no because we could eliminate all savings, but I would seriously consider applying, and wouldn't want to be shouted down from at least applying. (I'm in the "no harm in asking; if they say no, they say no" camp, can you tell? )

[Anonymous]

The difference and unfair to some is that the people who don't own a home and thus do not have a high mortgage do not qualify for aid because their debts are too low. That is aleast my situation. My rent is $ 2,200 a month and we make $ 160,000. We also can't itemize our deductions so our taxes are generally higher. So if we can't get aid I would think it totally unfair for you to get it because atleast you could tap into your home equity.

[Anonymous]

Why is PP paying 11k in property taxes? Your house must be worth a lot! Do you have a lot of equity? I'm impressed...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is PP paying 11k in property taxes? Your house must be worth a lot! Do you have a lot of equity? I'm impressed...

Budget-posting PP back again! Yes, our house is worth (I'm guessing) over a million dollars, knock wood, and we have a substantial amount of equity, knock wood again (bought six years ago). (Way back in my original post I did mention that the only two line items in our budget that are "luxury"--besides private school itself, of course--are retirement/college savings and living in a nice neighborhood.) We do live in a nice area and we like our house. (BTW, it is not a McMansion at all, just happens to be in an expensive area in Bethesda.)

The funny thing is, way back some months ago, I posted to the board asking if it was reasonable to tap home equity to pay for private school tuition, given that we do have equity and our incomes won't support two kids in private school. People definitely shouted me down and said they thought that would be the worst decision ever...go figure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But PP, you're not receiving (or asking for) FA. You're not living outside of your means, and asking others to subsidize it. That's the difference between you and OP.

You're right, but I could envision us applying for aid later on once DC2 gets to school age. (I'm the PP who posted the budget above.) They'd probably say no because we could eliminate all savings, but I would seriously consider applying, and wouldn't want to be shouted down from at least applying. (I'm in the "no harm in asking; if they say no, they say no" camp, can you tell? )

I don't think anyone would argue that someone with a $60K tuition bill (for two children) should apply for (and, if eligible, receive) some financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But PP, you're not receiving (or asking for) FA. You're not living outside of your means, and asking others to subsidize it. That's the difference between you and OP.

You're right, but I could envision us applying for aid later on once DC2 gets to school age. (I'm the PP who posted the budget above.) They'd probably say no because we could eliminate all savings, but I would seriously consider applying, and wouldn't want to be shouted down from at least applying. (I'm in the "no harm in asking; if they say no, they say no" camp, can you tell? )

I don't think anyone would argue that someone with a $60K tuition bill (for two children) should apply for (and, if eligible, receive) some financial aid.

that is, SHOULDN'T apply for

[Anonymous]

Budget Posting PP (BPPP?):

What will you do if you are turned down for aid because of the equity? I think there are two independent decisions you have to make, quite honestly.

Should I apply for aid? Answer: Why the heck not since plenty of others apparently are.

If I don't get aid, what should I do? I think you should not tap your equity no matter what. So you could cut other things, look at other (cheaper) schools, cut savings, etc. Query whether you want to cut savings very much. If anything, I think you should cut college savings first before retirement.

[Anonymous]

Along the lines of the prior post, yes apply for aid, and yes consider carefully how to react if no aid is provided.

For example, would aid in the amount of $7,000 a year really make the difference for your family? Reduce monthly food cost from $1,200 to $600 and you are there.

Would something more like $15,000 in aid be more realistic? Then do the above plus quit saving for college.

College savings, in particular, could really go because (1) you already have a good start on that and even if you quit contributing, your balance will continue to grow on its own, (2) your home equity could be tapped later for college if you really needed it, and (3) college could likely be paid from current income since you already have $30k in the budget for schooling right now.

Don't get me wrong ... college savings is a great priority over other things. But if you really want that private school, then it seems like a flexible point in your budget. And as I have said in an earlier post, continuing to save for college while receiving aid is asking other parents to help you do so, albeit indirectly.

[Anonymous]

For the budget-posting PP: you've been very sensible and decent and more forthcoming than most of us would be throughout this occasionally touchy thread... so I hope that what I have to say doesn't offend you. But honestly if you live in a $1m house in Bethesda, and maintain very respectable retirement and college savings, I don't see the purpose in a private school helping fund your childrens' tuition with financial aid. You must have great public school options, and obviously have considerable financial resources, and I guess I don't financial aid as a tool to enable families to stockpile assets (houses, savings). I don't mean to suggest that you shouldn't apply of course; just that other parents would chose to make other sacrifices if they really want the private school experience for their children.

I think this discussion is so heated at times because ultimately these choices and sacrifices do transmit your values to your children in some way. My parents took out a second mortgage to pay for 3 kids' tuition at private colleges; I had friends whose parents explicitly told them that they would not sell off property or investments to help pay for school. I'll forever value what my parents did for me, and I would do the same for my kids. I think I've worked harder because I appreciate the choices that they made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Private school is indeed a luxury. It's certainly not a need in the basic sense of the word. OP has stated that she can afford the tuition. OP has stated that any unforseen circumstance can increase her debt beyond the ability to pay. Why would OP want to make her debt everyone else's problem? Why would OP want to add to her debt (or at least add to her inability to pay off her current debts) by incurring an expense like private school tuition? Financially this just doesn't make sense. Decisions like this are probably what got OP in the debt situation to begin with. And now she wants the schools (rather, parents who contribute to annual giving) to lighten her load? Yes, every child deserves a good education. But OP has placed her child's education in jeopardy by the decisions she has made (living check to check, purchasing a home or renting a home in a neighborhood with undesirable schools, incurring debt beyond the ability to pay). No, I don't know all the details of OP's situation but OP needs to take responsibility (versus asking for a bailout...even a small one) for the decisions she's made. 200K is a substantial amount of money, no matter how you slice it. There are many even in this expensive DC area who have done quite a lot with that type of income and less. OP should live within her means. [b]If private is what she wants, try Harbor School/Primary Day/Concord Hill/Aidan Montessori/Grace Episcopal versus GDS/Maret/Sidwell. Tuition is nearly $10K less.[/b] And if OP is only looking for a small amount in FA to cover after school care or a small bit of tuition, $10K should do.

OP never said what schools were applied to...How do you know it wasn't any of the lesser expensive schools?

I'm pretty sure OP made it clear, in one of her posts, that she's only interested in the more expensive schools.