You cant afford a beach house at $300k. If you have one you're living beyond your means. Rent it instead.

Anonymous wrote:OP didn't ask if it could be done for less. She asked where it would be comfortable. I think below $500K you have to cut costs significantly somewhere, although if you don't both work that changes the calculus considerably because you need less outside help and have time to shop for better and cheaper alternatives to what is quickest to buy/order. It depends on the particular circumstances of the family in question.

What costs would you have to cut if you only had $300,000? Yes, you might have to sell the beach house, but not if you never bought one to start with.

We have HHI of $150k, one kid in private, and we are comfortable. Add $20k, the cost of another kid, and that is $170k.

Weird that you need a $5k per month mortgage to be comfortable. If you are paying for private school you can live where ever, so you can go be comfortable somewhere less expensive.

OP didn't ask if it could be done for less. She asked where it would be comfortable. I think below $500K you have to cut costs significantly somewhere, although if you don't both work that changes the calculus considerably because you need less outside help and have time to shop for better and cheaper alternatives to what is quickest to buy/order. It depends on the particular circumstances of the family in question.

I think $500k is on the high side. Our income was in that range with 2 kids in private school but we also live in an expensive house and have a 2nd home and travel quite a bit. Our mortgages on both houses were pretty low though either because of large down payments or timing. We also fully funded college, which you don't necessarily have to do. I would say we were in the top half, maybe top third, of earners in our school (which was not a Big 3, so didn't have as many super rich people). So it can definitely be done for less.

Anonymous wrote:I agree with the $500K number for 2 kids in private school.
The 23:27 poster is grossly underestimating monthly living expenses to be $2,000. $3-4K is much more realistic. Plus, you need to be saving for retirement, savings and college.

wow, I have 2 kids in private MS and my income is 160k, but then again the school fees are cheap by DCUM standards at 16k combined. However for HS next year, one of the kids is wanting to go to one of the 30k schools.. I'll never be able to afford it, to rich to get FA and to poor to afford it....

I agree with the $500K number for 2 kids in private school.
The 23:27 poster is grossly underestimating monthly living expenses to be $2,000. $3-4K is much more realistic. Plus, you need to be saving for retirement, savings and college.

don't forget to save up for the $55K annual (private) college tuition...that's where all this is leading up to, right?

Anonymous wrote:What do you think is a comfortable--neither extravagant nor penny pinching lifestyles--HHI for a family to send two children to private school in NW DC, assuming that one does not need to rely upon financial aid?

I'm guessing $300K.

mortgage: $5,000
monthly Tuition for two kids: $6,000
monthly living expenses: food, utilities, car payment, health insurance, etc: $2,000

round up to 15K a month take home. Not sure what taxes would be, but maybe you could do it on $225K to 250 K.

Comfortable? Not penny pinching? $500K. At this level you can still save some, carry a decent sized mortgage, buy the kids whatever clothes you deem reasonable, comfortably pay for any and all extracurriculars they want, keep an appropriate level of "outsourcing" if you both work, and buy yourselves decent clothes and decent cars (and take decent vacations). That's not to say you won't notice the missing $60K a year that goes for tuition. You will.

It completely depends on the family and circumstances, of course.

We do it for two kids (in Baltimore) on 190K - tuition is lower, about 42K total for both kids. We have one car, a low mortgage, and don't save much of anything. So we are squeaking by at that salary, I would say if other costs are low, we would be more comfortable at $250K.

This is posted about once a week. It totally depends on your baseline housing expenses, loans, etc., along with what you consider comfortable in terms of number of cars, number of vacations, etc. Do a budget and see what you think you need. And the $27k estimate seems dated. I think most are more like $32-34k these days.

Depends when you got your mortgage. We live on $200k a year and did it for one with a really low mortgage. Also depends on your expenses.

I would put that as the minimum, depending on what other expenses you have. Many private schools are now $27,000 a year, and that's not going to go down.

What do you think is a comfortable--neither extravagant nor penny pinching lifestyles--HHI for a family to send two children to private school in NW DC, assuming that one does not need to rely upon financial aid?

I'm guessing $300K.