Anonymous
Post 06/10/2016 07:09     Subject: Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:We have had one child in independent school for a few years (starting in middle school), and our second child will start independent school in the fall for 6th grade. (We have been in MCPS for elementary.)

As of June 5th, we went from paying $4000 per month in tuition to paying $7000 per month in tuition. I knew it was coming, but it is such a large amount. Our total net income per month is $13,000 (HHI of approximately $380,000 with both DH and I working full time.)

I sense a lot of people pay tuition from investment income, and perhaps not out of salaries.

Does it seem a bit absurd to pay $7000 per month for two kids to attend 6th and 8th grades?

(BTW, I know that these tuition amounts are for 10 months of the year, and not all 12 months)


Whoa OP! that is our exact Net income and I cannot imagine paying that much in tuition....there would be nothing left at the end of the month after we pay our mortgage and grocery bill and we don't live extravagant lives. Our current tuition bill is approx $2800 per month and that makes me uneasy. DS has significant ADHD so this is a necessity for us, not a luxury.
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2016 00:44     Subject: Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:What are you smoking OP?! $200k isn't enough for college and grad school! You'll need 2x that and your kids are old!!!! You don't have that much time to save! Get on that, pronto.


Parents font pay for graduate school...
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2016 00:26     Subject: Re:Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No, people are conflating secondary private school aid (free money) with college aid (loans). People who can't afford college don't just get free money. They get loans they have to pay back for years and years, or they get to go to crappier schools.


FAid money in college is "free money"

Loan is separate from FAid from the school


Whenever I hear about people relying on possible, future, financial aid for their kid instead I think "oh, bless your heart...."
It's like really, really hoping that cute guy gives you a ride home from the dance because you already told your friend to go on ahead without you....optimism crossing over into arrogance.



I'ld rather have a brain surgeon operating on me who got a free ride because of merit and passion than from a kid that had a loaded 529.


Unfair dichotomy. You can be smart, passionate, and capable AND have parents who were capable of planning ahead.


Fair enough, however for very difficult jobs a society should always be able to choose from the largest talent pool available. Do you really think the last one standing because of cost is the best student for the task?
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 21:14     Subject: Re:Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No, people are conflating secondary private school aid (free money) with college aid (loans). People who can't afford college don't just get free money. They get loans they have to pay back for years and years, or they get to go to crappier schools.


FAid money in college is "free money"

Loan is separate from FAid from the school


Whenever I hear about people relying on possible, future, financial aid for their kid instead I think "oh, bless your heart...."
It's like really, really hoping that cute guy gives you a ride home from the dance because you already told your friend to go on ahead without you....optimism crossing over into arrogance.



I'ld rather have a brain surgeon operating on me who got a free ride because of merit and passion than from a kid that had a loaded 529.


Unfair dichotomy. You can be smart, passionate, and capable AND have parents who were capable of planning ahead.


Hmm

I much rather have a brain surgeon who got in because of his or her own merits, not some affirmative action program (the main source of free rides these days, instead of actual scholastic achievement)
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 20:59     Subject: Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
I spent a fortune on private school -- a top private -- and I'm sure my kids would have been fine without it. But, I went to one of those big, "excellent" public schools, and I always felt there was something lacking. I wanted private for my own children. Maybe it was foolish, but I had to go on my own experience.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 19:49     Subject: Re:Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Why would you do that? Why not move to a decent school district and put that money in a house? At least the house has some resale value.

Your kids don't need a perfect education. They need a good enough education.


Bingo!

Do you know what a nice house you could get in an excellent school district with a great commute for less than $7000/month?



Because not everybody values the same things as you do. Not sure why this is so hard to understand.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 19:36     Subject: Re:Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No, people are conflating secondary private school aid (free money) with college aid (loans). People who can't afford college don't just get free money. They get loans they have to pay back for years and years, or they get to go to crappier schools.


FAid money in college is "free money"

Loan is separate from FAid from the school


Whenever I hear about people relying on possible, future, financial aid for their kid instead I think "oh, bless your heart...."
It's like really, really hoping that cute guy gives you a ride home from the dance because you already told your friend to go on ahead without you....optimism crossing over into arrogance.



I'ld rather have a brain surgeon operating on me who got a free ride because of merit and passion than from a kid that had a loaded 529.


Unfair dichotomy. You can be smart, passionate, and capable AND have parents who were capable of planning ahead.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 19:34     Subject: Re:Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No, people are conflating secondary private school aid (free money) with college aid (loans). People who can't afford college don't just get free money. They get loans they have to pay back for years and years, or they get to go to crappier schools.


FAid money in college is "free money"

Loan is separate from FAid from the school


Whenever I hear about people relying on possible, future, financial aid for their kid instead I think "oh, bless your heart...."
It's like really, really hoping that cute guy gives you a ride home from the dance because you already told your friend to go on ahead without you....optimism crossing over into arrogance.



I'ld rather have a brain surgeon operating on me who got a free ride because of merit and passion than from a kid that had a loaded 529.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 19:14     Subject: Re:Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No, people are conflating secondary private school aid (free money) with college aid (loans). People who can't afford college don't just get free money. They get loans they have to pay back for years and years, or they get to go to crappier schools.


FAid money in college is "free money"

Loan is separate from FAid from the school


Whenever I hear about people relying on possible, future, financial aid for their kid instead I think "oh, bless your heart...."
It's like really, really hoping that cute guy gives you a ride home from the dance because you already told your friend to go on ahead without you....optimism crossing over into arrogance.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 18:38     Subject: Re:Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:Why would you do that? Why not move to a decent school district and put that money in a house? At least the house has some resale value.

Your kids don't need a perfect education. They need a good enough education.


Bingo!

Do you know what a nice house you could get in an excellent school district with a great commute for less than $7000/month?

Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 18:29     Subject: Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:NP. Are we in here talking about spending $70k a year on private k-12 or not? Then I don't think it is illogical to assume the OP would ALSO like to pay for private college (and grad school) as well. That's where all this is leading up to, right?


Its not illogical but I pay for private K-12 and would be very happy with my kids going to UMD - no interest in paying for private.


+1
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 16:28     Subject: Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
We do this. About 7k a month. I made about 500k last year but lots of mandatory retirement and other deferred comp stuff, capital contribution etc. makes my take home around 16k a month. It is tight but if I bonus out every year it is doable. I do think sometimes about what I would do with that money but the kids seem happy and well adjusted. It absolutely is not worth it in an ROI sense but I think my kids will do better in private than they would in public.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 16:16     Subject: Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
I'm not planning on paying for college purely out of saving. If I can swing $70k for private school now for my 2 kids then I figure I'll be able to cover half of college tuition out of cash flow.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 15:55     Subject: Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
OP, we pay about 1/2 that you do for private elementary school for our 2 kids out of earned income. it stings, and we may not have $400k for each child for private college, but we should be able to cover public school so it will be up to them to take out loans/pay for the difference if they choose private college.

at this point, we are happy and it is worth it.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2016 15:50     Subject: Anyone else spending $7000 oer month (or more) on tuition from earned income?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Do you have a mortgage? Are you saving for college? While it seems that you can pay the bill, it doesn't leave much room for after-tax savings. But if college and your mortgage aren't an issue, you're fine.


This! These threads complaining about the cost are so annoying. You knew it was this expensive going into it. If you have to ask, is it worth it, you can't afford it. You're in a group who can afford $7k a month with ease. That's what it means to be rich rather than simply UMC like the OP.


OP here. I really wasn't asking if we can afford it. (I know that if I posted this question in the DCUM Money Forum, people would think we were 100 percent crazy to spend $7000/month on tuition, and would say we cannot afford it.) Instead, I was mainly curious if many other people pay this large sum out of current earned income, as I'm guessing a fair number may pay it out of investments. I figured that would be best done on this Private/Independent School Forum. Thank you.


Back to your real question, OP. We are in almost the exact same situation financially. It's not easy but workable. We moved to private after being in one of the "really good" public schools. Our house is in an area that people on DCUM love to point to as the example of "where to move instead of paying for private". In all honestly, for our family, it is worth every $$$. I am glad that we have the firsthand experience to know that, otherwise I amsure we'd be wondering. Whenever we have to write those large checks, I remind myself of the myslef of the differences (there are many more than anyone here ever admits) it helps. It really depends on the kids. Without knowing your kids, it's hard to say if it's worth it for you. For us, it is.