Author Topic: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?  (Read 19811 times)

Lukim

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Re: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?
« Reply #50 on: October 23, 2014, 06:14:47 PM »
I paid for my 2 children in private schools from grade 1 to grade 12. 

I still have one in school, costing me about $A20,000 per year.

Fortunately, I do not have to pay for their university education - the government and the kids can sort that out.

Goldielocks

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Re: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?
« Reply #51 on: October 23, 2014, 11:44:28 PM »
School system in my state is 3 tiered. People will argue to the end of the earth about equity, funding, results etc but at the end of the day it's a 3 tiered system.

You have the public selective high schools filled with the cream of the crop. Then you have the private, independent, Catholic and other faith based schools which charge fees anywhere from 3,500 a year to 35,000 a year. Finally you have the public school system.

I'm not saying all public schools are bad, and all students within them are not going to be top achievers. But when you seriously analyse the HSC exam results, it's not difficult to see that the top schools are selective or private.

The reasons for it are of course varied, but boil down to essentially the socioeconomic background of the students, the location and resources of the school, and the commitment and value that the parents place on education.

In an ideal world public and private should be equivalent, but we do not live in an ideal world, and parents are prepared to pay for perceived quality, or for their kids to mix with the kids of likeminded parents.

If enough parents do this, then you end up with the tiered system we have. Sort of quasi market forces at play.

You may be interested in this survey from our top tier university.  It compares the first year calculus results for students from public versus private (top tier) education.   Note that less than 1/3 of students in our region go to private, most are fine at public, so there is not a huge cut off in terms of parents income etc.  (some but not too huge a difference.  Kids in our neighborhood with similar incomes choose both).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/public-school-graduates-beat-private-pupils-in-undergrad-research-finds/article4101993/

What is really interesting is the private school really teaches to exams, and motivates/ drives all students to greater high school success.   (For what ever reason, including parents).

The public school kids have to be a bit more self motivated, so a slightly lower % of them make it in, but when they do, they outshine the private school kids.  Our public schools really focus on creative thinking and in getting average and below average students to complete high school.  Not that many have extra support or programs for advanced learners.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2014, 12:01:59 AM by goldielocks »

Goldielocks

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Re: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?
« Reply #52 on: October 23, 2014, 11:54:28 PM »
What MMM does not really address (nor any Mustachians, that I can find), is how a double income family can save so much with child care being so expensive. MMM had the foresight to not have children until he was FI, but most people have kids already, and that means daycare. Currently, my wife and I spend $1650 a month for 2 kids childcare expenses. This price is actually lower than last year because my oldest just started half day kindergarten. Last year we were paying close to $2000 per month. We don't live near family, and we cannot imagine putting our kids into some crappy childcare facility (you know the one, called Nana Banana's fun fun childcare or some garbage for $450 a month). What do other people do?

I am guessing, but I think there are several answers to this.  I was in the same position as you, and barely saving 10% while kids were young.  Other MMM's may have:

1) high income, possibly because older and more advanced in careers
2) Family helps take care of kids, at least part time
3) Income increases after kids are 4-7 years of age....    especially if you had your kids in your 20's..
4) MMM's may not have had big expenses or changes in the past 6 years (since before kids), like bought a car, or upgraded home size, or never buy anything frivolous like plastic toys....  unlike the rest of us, that may be paying off or stuck living with those things for now.  (See point 1....   I think many people around 30ish tend to accumulate big ticket items, kids or no)
5) One spouse is SAH, and aggressively practices frugality,  (this is worth a LOT of $$'s) well in excess of the child care versus modest income that they would otherwise have.

nottoolatetostart

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Re: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?
« Reply #53 on: October 24, 2014, 03:03:28 AM »
When my husband accepted a new job, we purposely sought out a city with great schools. Where we lived previously, the schools were on the extreme low end, even the elementary school got low marks. I hated the idea of private school because they weren't much better for the dollars associated with it.

Thankfully, we live in a place that now has awesome public schools. Plus, I can walk our kids to elementary school when they are that age.

We do pay for daycare, but we both work full-time. We probably would pay for pre-school (no free option around here) even if I didn't work.

hdatontodo

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Re: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?
« Reply #54 on: October 24, 2014, 08:21:36 AM »
What MMM does not really address (nor any Mustachians, that I can find), is how a double income family can save so much with child care being so expensive. MMM had the foresight to not have children until he was FI, but most people have kids already, and that means daycare. Currently, my wife and I spend $1650 a month for 2 kids childcare expenses. This price is actually lower than last year because my oldest just started half day kindergarten. Last year we were paying close to $2000 per month. We don't live near family, and we cannot imagine putting our kids into some crappy childcare facility (you know the one, called Nana Banana's fun fun childcare or some garbage for $450 a month). What do other people do?

I liked the response you got with the itemized list. To add to that...

Have you considered one of you getting a 2nd job or developing another stream of income from consulting? It is obvious to say, but to put money away, you either have to spend less or earn more.

The care for our child was done by a local woman who was highly recommended by our neighbor. It was around 700/mo. When the kid was old enough for preschool, we paid about the same for that. Once he got into public kindergarten at a local magnet school, it was nice not having the payments. Now we just have the $1K summer playground cost.

Initially, the Mrs and I were splitting the cost of the daycare and having pretax money put aside for that. When she went from working 5 days to 4, at which time I had a salary increase, I paid for it all.

Also, recently, after 20+ years doing Information Technology work, I am finally getting overtime, plus I can work at home. This is something that kept me from having to get a 2nd job to pay down the house faster. My gross pay last year was 25% higher than my base salary.

Our mortgage payment of $2,100 (1/2 principal) is now getting an extra $1,300 per month. If our jobs hold out, we'll have the house paid off in 4 years instead of 8. (I'm 54 now.) I live in the Balto. suburbs where $250K gets you a small house.

I sold my new Mustang and am now driving an old Corolla that used to be my Mom's. She stopped driving at 87.

YMMV

oldtoyota

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Re: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?
« Reply #55 on: October 27, 2014, 07:51:02 AM »
I live in a cheap area with mostly crappy public schools. It's a race/class thing in terms of having bad schools.

That said, I can afford private school because I live in a cheap area. It's either this or live in an expensive area and use the good public schools. I save $$ doing it the way I do it now.


Kansas Beachbum

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Re: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?
« Reply #56 on: October 27, 2014, 08:53:34 AM »
This was a major point of contention between myself and my first wife.  Years ago when our daughter (now late 20's) was in 5th grade and struggling my wife became adamant that we should put her in private school, which was about $10K per year, since she wasn't doing well in public school.  Our school district at the time was (still is) recognized as one of the top public school districts in the United States, and her particular elementary school was designated as a Blue Ribbon school...meaning it was one of the 100 best elementary schools in the country.  I pretty much went ballistic and said no way in you know what were we paying for private school given the quality of the schools we had available to us.  This was one of those "beginning of the end" moments for that marriage :-) 

FarmFam

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Re: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?
« Reply #57 on: October 27, 2014, 10:01:05 AM »
Like others have said there are many different circumstances with everyone that includes location, financial, work, close family, etc.

I would like to add some things that I didn't see covered.

1) For those that do stay at home and still send their kids to paid preschool for the social interaction; I was also a sahm and had a very social child.  I found as many social meetups I can find locally to take him to so that he can interact with other children.  At the same time, I got to interact with other moms.  This was a win-win for both of us and it was only the cost of the group $10 per year and sometime we would go to the zoo or places that did cost money but it was minimal.  Most outings were free.

2) The choice for a mom to stay at home can put the woman's career not only on hold but can put you backwards.  When going back into the workforce, you may need to start over again on your career at a lower level than when you left, costing you about 10 years of career development.  This can cost a lot more money in the long run and something I wish I had known when I made the choice to stay at home.  I am now "underemployed" trying to get back into my industry.  If I had worked instead of staying home, I would be making 3 times as much as I am making now.  So, would it have been better for our family financially to pay for daycare so I could work on my career.


Just two more things to think about when calculating the decision.

GizmoTX

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Re: Face punch worthy? Who here pays for kids schooling?
« Reply #58 on: October 27, 2014, 01:12:01 PM »
Some kids will have difficulties in even the best schools if they learn differently. A learning difference or disability is a neurological condition that interferes with an individual’s ability to store, process, or produce information. It is not a disease but does not get outgrown. IQ is above average. With the right support & interventions, LD children & adults can succeed in school & life. Good private schools that understand LD & provide multiple learning methods can turn around a bad situation much more quickly & effectively than attempting to add tutoring to public school.