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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The donut hole is a myth that poor savers tell themselves.   Decisions have consequences. Buying a larger house or nicer car - spending more for vacations and fancy summer camps are all decisions.

College costs are not unexpected.  You have nearly two decades to save.

Plus, you don’t have to save for the most expensive college.  All of you who consider yourselves middle class- that means kids stay at home and go to college or they go to an instate college. That is what middle class parents have done for generations. Paying the full amount for high end tuitions for private schools are for rich families not yours.

[/quote]

I actually agree with you. So background, we have $250k HHI, $3M investment portfolio, house paid off.

Yeah, we can afford any college. Probably. For three kids though??

And is private or out of state worth it? No, I don't think so.

If we made $600k, that would be a different story. If we had $6M in stocks instead of $3M, that would also be different.

So I think we've made decent choices along the way about cars and houses and whatnot. But I consider us donut hole because we're too wealthy for financial aid, but not wealthy enough for a $350k undergraduate degree to be a drop in the bucket. [/quote]

Once again, it's about choices.  You choose to have 3 kids.  We looked at the full cost of raising kids when we decided to stop at 2, with college costs being a huge reason.  Our kids are 4 years apart, so only 1 would likely be in college at the same time.

If you truly want your kid to attend a T20, you have the money and could redirect it that way. I agree---I would not spend that much in your financial situation.  I'd have the kid go instate or search out private schools that offer merit (you can find this in the 30-100 rankings, if you search). You have decided that ~$40-50K/instate costs is what you are willing to spend, and that is OKAY (and a smart choice).  You choose to have 3 kids, so you are looking at $600K all in for in-state---if you only had 2 kids, you might choose to spend the same $600K and send them to $80K schools.  
But in grand scheme, you and your kids are extremely privileged.  You are in the top 1-2%. [/quote]

All of this but also who are these storied families for whom $350k is a “drop in the bucket”? No one ever said the expectation is that you should only have to be full pay if you wouldn’t even notice the expense. The expectation is actually that it takes sacrifice to send your kids to school. Low income families are struggling to come up with the plane ticket price. Full pay families are certainly pinched by COA. [/quote]

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