Reply to Families who can afford private but go public, why?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It’s just not worth it.  We are wealthy enough to be able to afford it without any significant sacrifice, but not so rich that spending $1M+ on education would be meaningless to us financially.

In my view, any marginal benefit to private just isn’t worth the tremendous cost.  In my view, there are pros and cons to public and private and, although we strongly value education, I don’t believe that means we should entirely disregard the value proposition when deciding whether to do private.[/quote]

Is it “tremendous”? What kind of money are we talking here, since people will drop 1.3 to live in a “good” zone but could spend half that to live in an “average” one. Is private school tuition really half a mil?[/quote]

Those numbers are off.  More importantly, you ignore that you get a house to live in and have an asset you can then sell.  You don’t get that with private school.  $1M+ v free (zero marginal cost given taxes) is a tremendous expense.[/quote]

I’m saying, if the choice was a 600k house in a crappy public zone and private school, or a 1m house in a good public zone, how is the latter such a good deal? We’re talking about 4 years, maybe a few more with additional kids. I think you’re just reluctant to admit you paid at least as much for your public via real estate as you would’ve living in a cheaper, equivalent house and going private.

[/quote]

How is pp’s post not clear? Houses can be resold.  [/quote]

It’s weird to me that someone who thinks nothing of the large down payment, taxes, and holding costs of an expensive home in a good school district balks at what is essentially the cost of a college education for a high school aged kid. But okay, you know your finances better than me.[/quote]

So many things to say in response:

1) If we are going to go further into the details of finances, you would also need to factor in that houses in a better school district will generally appreciate more.

2) You act like "only" the cost of a college education isn't a big deal -- for most people it is a huge deal to do once and they aren't looking to do it twice.

3)  You assume that people are only going to do private for 4 year (presumably HS) so it is "only" paying an extra college once.  But, if you believe that private is that important, wouldn't you want to go K-12?  Many people do that and costs then become way more than college and the added cost of a school in a better school district.

4)  If you are going to do private only for HS, you presumably would have wanted to be in a good school district for the rest of the time.  That means that your savings (in terms of down payment, taxes, carrying costs) are only available for 4 years, or maybe a little more if there are multiple kids.  That greatly cuts into the economic benefits of a crappy school district.  Plus, you need to factor in the economic and non-economic costs of moving.  Moving (and transaction costs to buy and sell real estate) is very expensive and a royal pain in the rear.  You also disrupt your routine and make it hard to stay in touch with friends you have made over the years.  For that reason, most people who switch to HS stay in the house they have always had, rather than moving for the savings of a crappy school district.  So, many of your underlying assumptions simply fall apart for families that are only planning on 4 years of private school.  (If someone is K-12 or close it, they may choose the crappier school district from the outset, I'll acknowledge.)

5)  Finally, you are assuming a 40% discount -- $1M to $600k -- for a crappy school district.  (You assumed even more in an earlier post saying $1.3M for the good school district.)  That is way overstated.  If there really is a 40% difference in house price, there are many other factors in play in addition to quality of schools, which obviously does have a non-nominal impact.  A 40% cheaper house likely has a worse commute, fewer neighborhood amenities, worse crime situation, and/or other factors that differentiate the two houses.  Someone may still choose to move to the cheaper house to make it easier to afford private, but you need to factor in all of those other things as well.  It is not simply that you can save 40% by exchanging good schools for bad.[/quote]

Most of what you list comes down to personal preferences and put a subjective dollar figure on them, not directly comparing the actual sticker price comparison. That’s fine, but the point stands. You either pay for a good public, or you pay for a private. You pay either way.[/quote]

I’m totally baffled as to how anyone could think this argument holds any water. If you pay for private, you still have to live somewhere. Can’t believe that needs to be explained.[/quote]

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