Anonymous wrote:Hi We will have three kids in college at once (a twin plus singleton situation). We are pretty high income $475k/yr. Please don't jump down my throat -it's a honest question- is there any way we will qualify for any aid
if all three are in school at once, or are we way out of the ball park - We just started making this income and do not have enough saved to pay 80k a year x3 for 4 years (if they go to private universities).

You want financial aid on earnings of a half of a million dollars a year? You make a million in two years? Why are you looking at colleges that cost $80,000? Look at community colleges for the first two years and transfer to state college the last two years? Are your kids working? Have them get paying jobs at age 16.

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Anonymous wrote:We have similar income. Yes, our mortgage is 7200. We have 4 kids. Life is expensive. We live ok. Decent house , but one that needs 39 new windows and new heat that is in a good neighborhood and not that far from DC. We go to Disney every year. We have the kids enrolled in 1 activity each. But I find it interesting that people are so angry at people who essentially have a house and can take vacation. I shop Costco, outlet malls, tjmaxx and target. I don’t have a cleaning lady. I don’t have expensive cars. No European vacation. No fancy house stuff. I have 50% ikea. While, yes this is a good life, it’s not a RICH life. So much hate here though.

You want empathy with a $7200 mortgage. You choose an expensive house vs saving for college. You choose 4 kids vs 2. You don’t get it.

+1 we have a similar HHI but a $3700 mortgage. Guess what, both our kids are at Ivies -- full pay.

Anonymous wrote:We have similar income. Yes, our mortgage is 7200. We have 4 kids. Life is expensive. We live ok. Decent house , but one that needs 39 new windows and new heat that is in a good neighborhood and not that far from DC. We go to Disney every year. We have the kids enrolled in 1 activity each. But I find it interesting that people are so angry at people who essentially have a house and can take vacation. I shop Costco, outlet malls, tjmaxx and target. I don’t have a cleaning lady. I don’t have expensive cars. No European vacation. No fancy house stuff. I have 50% ikea. While, yes this is a good life, it’s not a RICH life. So much hate here though.

50% Ikea in a huge house is not a bargain. $7200 means a $2-3 Million dollar house. Disney for 6 people yearly except if you are military is extremely expensive. You are house and vacation poor. Saying one activity is meaningless as that could be $100 a month or $1K a month. Outlets, Costco, and Target aren't excactly cheaper. You could have bought a house for $4K a month and saved that $3200 plus the Disney vacation for the kids college.

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Anonymous wrote:OP, I am not understanding why you can’t pay out of pocket at that salary, regardless of how long you have earned that. The difference between your current income and 3 private college tuitions leaves a huge remainder to live on.

Not really. A huge chunk of your money goes to taxes at this income. 3 private schools tuitions at $75K each a year is $225K (I’m assuming this based on your private college tuition assertion and the original post). It doesn’t leave much for mortgage, cars, and general living expenses. It is not feasible to pay all out of pocket, and definitely needs a savings plan and/or loans to accomplish.

They'd get a tax break for educational expenses. And once its just 2 of them at home they can live in a smaller house. No more need for the mcmansion they bought when their income shot up.

What exactly tax break are they getting?
I think people who don’t have that income have no realization how many tax benefits are phased out, or worthless because of AMT or various other scenarios. Yes, it sounds like a lot of money. I think you’d be surprised that they probably aren’t living in the lap of luxury on that income in DC. No, no one feels sorry for them. But to just say pay $225+ out of pocket isn’t realistic.

Yup, there be almost nothing left for food.

Then, the kids all go to state schools or they take loans that the parents help pay back. That's why many of us send our kids to state schools. Thats why many of us save since birth even if is is $20 or 100 a month. We also make different choices. Smaller/lower cost housing or living further out, less kids, etc.

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Anonymous wrote:OP, I am not understanding why you can’t pay out of pocket at that salary, regardless of how long you have earned that. The difference between your current income and 3 private college tuitions leaves a huge remainder to live on.

Not really. A huge chunk of your money goes to taxes at this income. 3 private schools tuitions at $75K each a year is $225K (I’m assuming this based on your private college tuition assertion and the original post). It doesn’t leave much for mortgage, cars, and general living expenses. It is not feasible to pay all out of pocket, and definitely needs a savings plan and/or loans to accomplish.

They'd get a tax break for educational expenses. And once its just 2 of them at home they can live in a smaller house. No more need for the mcmansion they bought when their income shot up.

What exactly tax break are they getting?
I think people who don’t have that income have no realization how many tax benefits are phased out, or worthless because of AMT or various other scenarios. Yes, it sounds like a lot of money. I think you’d be surprised that they probably aren’t living in the lap of luxury on that income in DC. No, no one feels sorry for them. But to just say pay $225+ out of pocket isn’t realistic.

Yup, there be almost nothing left for food.

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Anonymous wrote:We have similar income. Yes, our mortgage is 7200. We have 4 kids. Life is expensive. We live ok. Decent house , but one that needs 39 new windows and new heat that is in a good neighborhood and not that far from DC. We go to Disney every year. We have the kids enrolled in 1 activity each. But I find it interesting that people are so angry at people who essentially have a house and can take vacation. I shop Costco, outlet malls, tjmaxx and target. I don’t have a cleaning lady. I don’t have expensive cars. No European vacation. No fancy house stuff. I have 50% ikea. While, yes this is a good life, it’s not a RICH life. So much hate here though.

You want empathy with a $7200 mortgage. You choose an expensive house vs saving for college. You choose 4 kids vs 2. You don’t get it.

+1. Your choices.

Anonymous wrote:We have similar income. Yes, our mortgage is 7200. We have 4 kids. Life is expensive. We live ok. Decent house , but one that needs 39 new windows and new heat that is in a good neighborhood and not that far from DC. We go to Disney every year. We have the kids enrolled in 1 activity each. But I find it interesting that people are so angry at people who essentially have a house and can take vacation. I shop Costco, outlet malls, tjmaxx and target. I don’t have a cleaning lady. I don’t have expensive cars. No European vacation. No fancy house stuff. I have 50% ikea. While, yes this is a good life, it’s not a RICH life. So much hate here though.

You want empathy with a $7200 mortgage. You choose an expensive house vs saving for college. You choose 4 kids vs 2. You don’t get it.

We have similar income. Yes, our mortgage is 7200. We have 4 kids. Life is expensive. We live ok. Decent house , but one that needs 39 new windows and new heat that is in a good neighborhood and not that far from DC. We go to Disney every year. We have the kids enrolled in 1 activity each. But I find it interesting that people are so angry at people who essentially have a house and can take vacation. I shop Costco, outlet malls, tjmaxx and target. I don’t have a cleaning lady. I don’t have expensive cars. No European vacation. No fancy house stuff. I have 50% ikea. While, yes this is a good life, it’s not a RICH life. So much hate here though.

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Anonymous wrote:This is why you forego vacations and restaurants and Starbucks and salon coloring and manicures etc as needed once they are born to start saving for college. You had 18 years’ notice.

Haha 18 years of no Starbucks doesn’t make nearly enough for three college tuitions. This is the dumbest advice ever.

Starbucks, hair, nails but it depends on what you spend. Vacations, new cars, yes. It absolutely helps, especially if you have three kids and want to send them all to private.

I know people who make that much money and still don't have enough for private college. I haven't seen them doing any of the things first PP mentions.

You people just looking to judge.

How is that possible? High mortgage? Then downsize, move to cheaper area. Fancy cars? What are they spending on??

Did you read it was a recent income spike? We are in a similar scenario from medical school loans. We’ve been “spending” to aggressively pay them off before our kids start college. My husband wasn’t on staff and making much until 32 years of age. We have a lot of catching up to do, and unfortunately it wasn’t on vacations. It’s very different from people who’ve been making it for several years. I agree - people are just looking to judge.

In your situation you did have the income but had high student loans. That is why you don't send your kids to private colleges if you cannot pay cash. On OP income they can comfortable send 3 kids to public colleges, no issue especially if they claim not to have had the money and have not changed their standard of living.

Yeah, no. We had kids while in med school so our income was not high for very long. Please don’t tell other people what they can afford.
If we get financial or merit aid, I will gladly take it. No issue with not being able to pay cash. Very few people do pay full tuition.

If you had kids in Med school, it would still be 14+ years before they would enter college after you graduated.

Do you have a clue what residents make? Or that doctors don’t make a lot of money the year after graduation?

Your exquisite combination of martyrdom and arrogance is why so many people hate doctors.

Not sure what is arrogant about correcting the information. The pp was clearly uninformed about residency. It is a fact that residents do not make much money. Not sure why that makes you hate doctors, but you do you.

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Anonymous wrote:This is why you forego vacations and restaurants and Starbucks and salon coloring and manicures etc as needed once they are born to start saving for college. You had 18 years’ notice.

Haha 18 years of no Starbucks doesn’t make nearly enough for three college tuitions. This is the dumbest advice ever.

Starbucks, hair, nails but it depends on what you spend. Vacations, new cars, yes. It absolutely helps, especially if you have three kids and want to send them all to private.

I know people who make that much money and still don't have enough for private college. I haven't seen them doing any of the things first PP mentions.

You people just looking to judge.

How is that possible? High mortgage? Then downsize, move to cheaper area. Fancy cars? What are they spending on??

Did you read it was a recent income spike? We are in a similar scenario from medical school loans. We’ve been “spending” to aggressively pay them off before our kids start college. My husband wasn’t on staff and making much until 32 years of age. We have a lot of catching up to do, and unfortunately it wasn’t on vacations. It’s very different from people who’ve been making it for several years. I agree - people are just looking to judge.

In your situation you did have the income but had high student loans. That is why you don't send your kids to private colleges if you cannot pay cash. On OP income they can comfortable send 3 kids to public colleges, no issue especially if they claim not to have had the money and have not changed their standard of living.

Yeah, no. We had kids while in med school so our income was not high for very long. Please don’t tell other people what they can afford.
If we get financial or merit aid, I will gladly take it. No issue with not being able to pay cash. Very few people do pay full tuition.

If you had kids in Med school, it would still be 14+ years before they would enter college after you graduated.

Do you have a clue what residents make? Or that doctors don’t make a lot of money the year after graduation?

Your exquisite combination of martyrdom and arrogance is why so many people hate doctors.

LOL. And especially their wives ( politically incorrect term for spouses).

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Anonymous wrote:This is why you forego vacations and restaurants and Starbucks and salon coloring and manicures etc as needed once they are born to start saving for college. You had 18 years’ notice.

Haha 18 years of no Starbucks doesn’t make nearly enough for three college tuitions. This is the dumbest advice ever.

Starbucks, hair, nails but it depends on what you spend. Vacations, new cars, yes. It absolutely helps, especially if you have three kids and want to send them all to private.

I know people who make that much money and still don't have enough for private college. I haven't seen them doing any of the things first PP mentions.

You people just looking to judge.

How is that possible? High mortgage? Then downsize, move to cheaper area. Fancy cars? What are they spending on??

Did you read it was a recent income spike? We are in a similar scenario from medical school loans. We’ve been “spending” to aggressively pay them off before our kids start college. My husband wasn’t on staff and making much until 32 years of age. We have a lot of catching up to do, and unfortunately it wasn’t on vacations. It’s very different from people who’ve been making it for several years. I agree - people are just looking to judge.

In your situation you did have the income but had high student loans. That is why you don't send your kids to private colleges if you cannot pay cash. On OP income they can comfortable send 3 kids to public colleges, no issue especially if they claim not to have had the money and have not changed their standard of living.

Yeah, no. We had kids while in med school so our income was not high for very long. Please don’t tell other people what they can afford.
If we get financial or merit aid, I will gladly take it. No issue with not being able to pay cash. Very few people do pay full tuition.

If you had kids in Med school, it would still be 14+ years before they would enter college after you graduated.

Do you have a clue what residents make? Or that doctors don’t make a lot of money the year after graduation?

Your exquisite combination of martyrdom and arrogance is why so many people hate doctors.

These schools are no worse than the supposedly prestigious schools (and may be better, insofar as your kids won't be surrounded with neurotic strivers and status seekers). (Unfortunately, most colleges have lost their way, and academics have been displaced by politics.)

Agree. These students may do better and stand out more in a somewhat less competitive pool. From experience, it's generally true that merit scholarship money starts below US News Ranking of 30 or so. There are some exceptions though. Vanderbilt gives a few merit-based scholarships and Emory does too. There may be others, but not easy to get these.

Anonymous wrote:Hi We will have three kids in college at once (a twin plus singleton situation). We are pretty high income $475k/yr. Please don't jump down my throat -it's a honest question- is there any way we will qualify for any aid
if all three are in school at once, or are we way out of the ball park - We just started making this income and do not have enough saved to pay 80k a year x3 for 4 years (if they go to private universities).

What most people don't appreciate is that few private schools charge full price. The high sticker prices you see are marketing gimmicks. People tend to think if something is expensive, it must be good.

But colleges charge the way airlines do: nobody is paying the same price.

And here's how the game works. Have your kids send in their applications. Don't file a FASFA. Have the kid state on the application that he/she will NOT be applying for need-based financial aid.

When the acceptance letters come in, so will offers of "merit scholarships." These are just tuition discounts, and virtually every school awards them routinely -- as long as you're not trying to get your kid into an "elite" school (where the demand for spots is so great that no discounting is necessary).

Use the US News ranking schemes, and select colleges that rank below the top 30 or so on each list (liberal arts colleges on the one hand, research universities on the other).

These schools are no worse than the supposedly prestigious schools (and may be better, insofar as your kids won't be surrounded with neurotic strivers and status seekers). (Unfortunately, most colleges have lost their way, and academics have been displaced by politics.)

So, never fear. Ignore the sticker prices. Your kids can go to private schools for the same price as you'd pay at your in-state flagship public university.

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Anonymous wrote:This is why you forego vacations and restaurants and Starbucks and salon coloring and manicures etc as needed once they are born to start saving for college. You had 18 years’ notice.

Haha 18 years of no Starbucks doesn’t make nearly enough for three college tuitions. This is the dumbest advice ever.

Starbucks, hair, nails but it depends on what you spend. Vacations, new cars, yes. It absolutely helps, especially if you have three kids and want to send them all to private.

I know people who make that much money and still don't have enough for private college. I haven't seen them doing any of the things first PP mentions.

You people just looking to judge.

How is that possible? High mortgage? Then downsize, move to cheaper area. Fancy cars? What are they spending on??

Did you read it was a recent income spike? We are in a similar scenario from medical school loans. We’ve been “spending” to aggressively pay them off before our kids start college. My husband wasn’t on staff and making much until 32 years of age. We have a lot of catching up to do, and unfortunately it wasn’t on vacations. It’s very different from people who’ve been making it for several years. I agree - people are just looking to judge.

In your situation you did have the income but had high student loans. That is why you don't send your kids to private colleges if you cannot pay cash. On OP income they can comfortable send 3 kids to public colleges, no issue especially if they claim not to have had the money and have not changed their standard of living.

Yeah, no. We had kids while in med school so our income was not high for very long. Please don’t tell other people what they can afford.
If we get financial or merit aid, I will gladly take it. No issue with not being able to pay cash. Very few people do pay full tuition.

If you had kids in Med school, it would still be 14+ years before they would enter college after you graduated.

Do you have a clue what residents make? Or that doctors don’t make a lot of money the year after graduation?

Okay, I’ll allow for 4YEARS post graduation. Then you still have TEN years to save for college and 4-7 more when they are in college.

I have no idea why you’re arguing with me - it’s not relevant. Residency was 7 years plus a year of fellowship. Kids were 12 when my husband went on staff.
Whether you “allow” it or not. Go away.

Did you not work at all during any of those years?

WTF is wrong with this person?

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Anonymous wrote:This is why you forego vacations and restaurants and Starbucks and salon coloring and manicures etc as needed once they are born to start saving for college. You had 18 years’ notice.

Haha 18 years of no Starbucks doesn’t make nearly enough for three college tuitions. This is the dumbest advice ever.

Starbucks, hair, nails but it depends on what you spend. Vacations, new cars, yes. It absolutely helps, especially if you have three kids and want to send them all to private.

I know people who make that much money and still don't have enough for private college. I haven't seen them doing any of the things first PP mentions.

You people just looking to judge.

How is that possible? High mortgage? Then downsize, move to cheaper area. Fancy cars? What are they spending on??

Did you read it was a recent income spike? We are in a similar scenario from medical school loans. We’ve been “spending” to aggressively pay them off before our kids start college. My husband wasn’t on staff and making much until 32 years of age. We have a lot of catching up to do, and unfortunately it wasn’t on vacations. It’s very different from people who’ve been making it for several years. I agree - people are just looking to judge.

In your situation you did have the income but had high student loans. That is why you don't send your kids to private colleges if you cannot pay cash. On OP income they can comfortable send 3 kids to public colleges, no issue especially if they claim not to have had the money and have not changed their standard of living.

Yeah, no. We had kids while in med school so our income was not high for very long. Please don’t tell other people what they can afford.
If we get financial or merit aid, I will gladly take it. No issue with not being able to pay cash. Very few people do pay full tuition.

If you had kids in Med school, it would still be 14+ years before they would enter college after you graduated.

Do you have a clue what residents make? Or that doctors don’t make a lot of money the year after graduation?

Okay, I’ll allow for 4YEARS post graduation. Then you still have TEN years to save for college and 4-7 more when they are in college.

I have no idea why you’re arguing with me - it’s not relevant. Residency was 7 years plus a year of fellowship. Kids were 12 when my husband went on staff.
Whether you “allow” it or not. Go away.

Did you not work at all during any of those years?