Reply to household income of 250K to send kids to private school

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

[quote] 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.

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[quote=Anonymous]

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.  [/quote]

I'm the PP with the 190 hhi and 2 kids.

Three points:

1. Yes, it's a huge expenditure. We might regret the decision later, given what the same money could buy for us. And we may eventually switch to public. We will be revisiting the question every few years. So I will ignore the overly aggressive word choice, and concede to the core point that it is a significant decision on our part to pay tuition.

2. While the financial impact of the decision to go private is more obvious at our income point, I'm not sure the argument that private isn't worth the money applies particularly or uniquely to our situation. If it is just plain not worth the money, as one of the PPs at least has implied, then it is not worth the money to anybody - including those with twice the income. The rub, of course, is that most people who post to the private/independent school forum do think there is some kind of added value, at least for particular students. When that is true, or parents think it is true, this question becomes live: what one is willing to trade? Is the price too high? Once a family's needs for shelter, health insurance, food, transportation, and modest savings are met, this becomes a deeply personal question.

3. Putting aside our specific example, families with significant disposable income (income over what they need to cover essential needs) routinely make decisions that amount to "lifestyle" or "personal" choices. In our case, it would be legit, and probably very smart, to be investing the second one. But a lot of families in our position would elect to have a stay at home parent. I personally elect to keep my career and it pleases me to fund my children's tuition.

My point is not to offer our model as the correct model. My point is just that it makes sense to break down one's individual finances and be in touch with what one wants.

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