Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dunno I would not pay for private school and would not have replied to this thread if you hadn't mentioned it. IMO my lifestyle would not change much at all going from 500k to 1m. I would by a MODERN house, which they barely build around the DC area, and that's about it. I already outsource my cooking, cleaning, and lawn care. Drive the car I want to drive, go on the vacations I want to go on. Private school? Kill me

Do you have kids? You would value a nicer house over your children’s’ education?

Early Retired Biglaw partner here, with fully grown and long ago launched kids.

Ten years from now, your private school kids will be attending the same colleges as the public school kids. Ten years after that, your kids and those kids will be doing the same jobs, making the same money, and having the same lives and lifestyles - while also working alongside other kids who not only went to public schools, but also to public colleges and other colleges that no one’s ever heard of. The great big world is the great big equalizer when it comes to this stuff.

Unless, of course, you aspire for your kids to be in Biglaw. In that case, yea, the schooling matters. But if you want that for your kids I feel sorry for you - and them.

Anonymous wrote:I dunno I would not pay for private school and would not have replied to this thread if you hadn't mentioned it. IMO my lifestyle would not change much at all going from 500k to 1m. I would by a MODERN house, which they barely build around the DC area, and that's about it. I already outsource my cooking, cleaning, and lawn care. Drive the car I want to drive, go on the vacations I want to go on. Private school? Kill me

Do you have kids? You would value a nicer house over your children’s’ education?

Anonymous wrote:We reached annual income of 700K last year and we save a lot. We also went on two international vacations and two domestic ones. 1 of 2 kids in private and we save a LOT of money. To quote a previous poster:
Same old house, same old Honda (but ours is not a honda; just old)

We are at similar income level, so just curious how much is saving a lot of money mean for you?

I dunno I would not pay for private school and would not have replied to this thread if you hadn't mentioned it. IMO my lifestyle would not change much at all going from 500k to 1m. I would by a MODERN house, which they barely build around the DC area, and that's about it. I already outsource my cooking, cleaning, and lawn care. Drive the car I want to drive, go on the vacations I want to go on. Private school? Kill me

I love how so many threads about private school on DCUM have everyone saying that it's not worth it and good publics are better, then if you ask people what they do with extra money half of them immediately say private school.

Anonymous wrote:We are at 400k but we live in a community where many people are at 800k. Public school. Differences I notice, mainly with raising kids:
- Int'l vacations to desirable places at peak times without needing to look for discounts. luxury hotels, business class flights 2-3x a year. Comfort in travel.
- Homes are immaculate, modern and seem to be remodeled often. Anything broken is instantly fixed.
- Women have luxury brand clothing, jewelry
- Kids have private tutors versus taking an RSM class like everyone else
- Country club membership
- Many small things where I won't/can't pay for some activity or camp, but these folks will do it and then if they don't go, just forfeit the deposit.

I agree, plus private school for the kids and a second home.

DH and I are around $600K and we prioritize travel, sleepaway camp and savings.

Better vacation, private school, and lots of savings

We topped 400 last year and are in the 420ish range. Have both kids in private catholic high schools. Bought a second house.

We took no other vacations and economize when at home - limit eating out, focus on home cooking, limit purchases, rent the second home to cover half the mortgage. Worry about covering both tuitions. It's still a nice lifestyle - we do not scrimp on pricey kid activities (travel sports, private music lessons). We do save agressively on retirement and college savings (though not as aggressively as some - only one of us maxes out, and our total college savings goal is 200K each for 2 kids).

If our income doubled we'd travel more, for sure. Would not stress about colleges. Would not stress about parents who have not saved well and are in ill health.

Anonymous wrote:In most cases, probably a second house. And big costs like private school don't pinch anymore.

+1

Hoping to retire a few years earlier too.

We reached annual income of 700K last year and we save a lot. We also went on two international vacations and two domestic ones. 1 of 2 kids in private and we save a LOT of money. To quote a previous poster:
Same old house, same old Honda (but ours is not a honda; just old)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’re around 500k. At a million, private school is a lot more accessible as is three kids.

500k is solidly UMC in a HCOL area.

It’s about the 96th percentile of HHs in the DMV, so UMC is being used a bit loosely here.

It's LMC (Lower Millionaire Class)

This is perfect to describe me. I'm worth 4M (well, half that) and was born very poor. or maybe PMC? poor millionaire class?

We made this jump a few years ago and were able to put the one of our three kids who needed it into private and can more comfortably take two family trips a year. And paying for another kid to be in weekly therapy and for one adult’s personal trainer without it being such a crazy pinch. But mainly things stayed the same and we need the extra for college. Same old house and same old Honda.

We are at 400k but we live in a community where many people are at 800k. Public school. Differences I notice, mainly with raising kids:
- Int'l vacations to desirable places at peak times without needing to look for discounts. luxury hotels, business class flights 2-3x a year. Comfort in travel.
- Homes are immaculate, modern and seem to be remodeled often. Anything broken is instantly fixed.
- Women have luxury brand clothing, jewelry
- Kids have private tutors versus taking an RSM class like everyone else
- Country club membership
- Many small things where I won't/can't pay for some activity or camp, but these folks will do it and then if they don't go, just forfeit the deposit.

At 1M, I doubt our lifestyle would really increase to match (private school would add 100k and another vacation would add 10k or so). That's 200-300k after taxes extra going into savings and compounding every year.

More investment and less worries about expenses.