OP, Here's a fun little game: Get a life!

Anonymous wrote:Here's little fun game -- after the beatings my DD had a public we switched to private because the therapy bills were going to be so large.

^^ Now a straight A student and much happier. Scholarship to college so it all worked out.

Here's little fun game -- after the beatings my DD had a public we switched to private because the therapy bills were going to be so large.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this. Why not send your kids to a great public? I went to one, ended up at H/P/Y, and it was apparent that my classmates who attended the country's most elite private schools (Andover, the DC and NYC schools, etc) were no better prepared and in some cases behind. Meanwhile, my parents paid nothing and in fact could count the local high school's great performance as part of their property value.

"great public" , there's an oxymoron. Too big, drugs, cliques, counselors don't even know your kid's name --- I could go on and on.

People have lots of reasons for choosing private schools, just as they have lots of reasons for choosing a BMW over Range Rover. A lot of it is just personal taste. As a family of public school attendees with multiple Ivy degrees, we know that an expensive private school does not guarantee elite college admissions or anything else in life.

We pay for private school because we don't want to deal with large bureaucracies about the most important element of our child's life. And unlike most private school families, we chose progressive secular schools which tend to be far more expensive than parish/parochial schools. If we did not have the money, we wouldn't have the luxury of being so picky.

And, the financial trade-off are pretty small for us. We work, so we don't summer and don't need multiple houses. No one in our house will buy a Birkin bag and there is no great desire for a new luxury car every other year.

It's a truism that once you make enough money, it is far more meaningful to buy experiences than things. And, we have been mostly pretty happy about the experiences afforded our DC in private school and those that we've avoided by not going public.

I hate suburbs and wanted to walk to work in DC so we chose private.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Your parents paid a lot to live in the right school district. Real estate in the top performing DMV clusters is 800K plus.

Exactly. And there ain't no financial aid for housing…

Right, but you're also never getting that money back (unlike with real estate in the better school districts in this area).

Sort of. Half of the money you pay in your mortgage is interest you are never getting back. And the more expensive your house the higher the taxes, and you don't get those back either.

But all the appreciation in your house's value... gravy.

Also, all of the interest (and the rates are so low right now anyway) is tax deductible. So, not sure that's such a factor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Your parents paid a lot to live in the right school district. Real estate in the top performing DMV clusters is 800K plus.

Exactly. And there ain't no financial aid for housing…

Right, but you're also never getting that money back (unlike with real estate in the better school districts in this area).

Sort of. Half of the money you pay in your mortgage is interest you are never getting back. And the more expensive your house the higher the taxes, and you don't get those back either.

But all the appreciation in your house's value... gravy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Your parents paid a lot to live in the right school district. Real estate in the top performing DMV clusters is 800K plus.

Exactly. And there ain't no financial aid for housing…

Right, but you're also never getting that money back (unlike with real estate in the better school districts in this area).

Sort of. Half of the money you pay in your mortgage is interest you are never getting back. And the more expensive your house the higher the taxes, and you don't get those back either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm one of the small-house-in-PG posters. The assumption that you will get your money back in the end if you invest your half a million in a house doesn't seem iron clad anymore, anyway. At one point my house was way under water and I couldn't move. I have lost any feeling of financial security linked to real estate. I would rather pay for exactly what I want when I need it, if I can make it work financially. Right now what I need is education, so that is what we pay for. I realize my distrust of real estate may bite me in the butt financially one day, but if it does it will only be in the sense that, from a comfortable retirement I might look back and say "we might have been rich..." I can live with that.

That's because your house is in PG.

Gee, my last house in PG county I sold for 2.5 times what I bought it for. I would have sold it for over 3 times the amount, but we missed the peak of the market by a year. I really chose poorly.

I hoped you plugged in an annual inflation increase of at least 5 percent and as much as 7.5 percent

The discussion might be more productive if we realize that many of us are trying to make the best possible choices for our kids but limited by financial constraints that dictate where we live and whether or not we can afford private. The choices and trade offs are painful for those of us who cannot easily write a tuition check or afford an outsized mortgage but who nonetheless hope our children have access to opportunities that eluded us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ Your parents paid a lot to live in the right school district. Real estate in the top performing DMV clusters is 800K plus.

Exactly. And there ain't no financial aid for housing…

Right, but you're also never getting that money back (unlike with real estate in the better school districts in this area).

yea, but then you are stuck at that school. Kid being bullied? Too bad. Not all "good" schools are goof for each kid.

No, not really. It would be a stretch to go private (but it would be anyway). If it were an issue of bullying, where you really needed to get out, I'd find a way. Private school or move if I had to.

Large home in PG purchased before marriage and 3 kids...oldest going to a preK to 8th private this Fall. May consider lottery application for a specialty school...not sure yet. We plan to move once oldest is ready for 6th or 9th. I like having options not based on my address.

Another PG resident here... Large home under $280 purchased before marriage and kids. Oldest starts private