It has very little to do with income level. There are many wealthy families who choose public, there are tons of students at expensive privates who get financial aid. It is all about what school is the best fit.

Anonymous wrote:I would try to make a call for each kid at each stage. Private isn’t automatically a better option for all kids. Especially if they have special needs or are very affluent.

Agree, but it is nice to have the funds to actually be able to make a choice.

Anonymous wrote:I would live like you make $500k and build a huge savings nest. Apply to private for 3rd or 4th grade entry years.

We did that, but waited until 9th grade because we had great publics k-8.

It's never really a "no-brainer." Private school isn't a great fit for everyone and it does not guarantee better outcomes. Plenty of high-income families go to public school in this area, and oftentimes they have far better college outcomes.

We make 500k. No family money and grandparents think we are nuts to pay for private.

3 kids
All in public until 6th grade and we are moving to private at that point.
We don’t travel much on trips as school is a choice and we cut back in other areas for the tuition. But

Anonymous wrote:At that income level you look at your local options, be they public or private, and choose the best fit for your kids and your family.

+1

It's not about private ever being a no-brainer. Rather, you're in the fortunate position of being able to pick the best options for your kids without having to consider cost as part of the equation.

1.5mm HHI is like 800k after taxes? So you are going to pay 3x50 = 150k or about a fifth of your take-home pay for private school tuition. For me, this would be worth it for smaller class sizes, though I do not think the education at the elementary level is better than a good public. If you wait until 4th for private you will save 4x150k, what would you rather do with 550k in cash that can also benefit your child?

If you can stay at that income level for a while without it killing you and you aren’t going to be trading up your house or spending wildly on other things and can fund 529s, investments, and retirement while the going is good then yes.

Unless you have a lot saved or family money private for 3 kids is golden handcuffs.

We have three and will probably do private from PK for all of them but at this point hard to say because eldest is finishing PK this year and youngest is still a baby. We pay for a FT nanny and half day preschool for our middle child and that is the equivalent of two additional private school tuitions so we know that we can make it work and pay our 5.5K PITI and max 401Ks and save about $50K extra for investments while paying for modest vacations and activities but we could live very differently if we weren’t going to send our kids to private. HHI is $700K but on track to close in on $1M over the next five years and that will make the handcuffs a lot more comfortable.

At that income level you look at your local options, be they public or private, and choose the best fit for your kids and your family.

why not start in public? If it works well for a few years, you have saved enough for a down payment on their house someday.

Anonymous wrote:We make a little less than you (1.2m last year.) I will not say that it is a no brainer as we still have to make financial choices, but I we happily choose private for 2 kids.

At this income level, prospective parents are not weighing household necessities and retirement savings -vs- private, they're weighing a new kitchen, luxury car leases, boat, vacations, food and beverage, shopping -vs- private school.

We make a little less than you (1.2m last year.) I will not say that it is a no brainer as we still have to make financial choices, but I we happily choose private for 2 kids.

I always wonder when I read these many posts about “can we afford private school” how these people make other decisions that involve spending a lot of money.

What sort of special wisdom do they think they will find on this anonymous message board?

At literally any income level. There's financial aid, so you really have no idea what you'll owe until you try. And if you can only do one or the other, I think private preK-8th is much more impactful than just doing private for high school. Honestly, teens are sort of baked in the cake by age 14.

It’s never a no brainer.