Every now and then, someone posts about making 100k in income and requiring FA. Inevitably there follows a chorus of posts about how 100k is really wealthy. I live in one of those high cost of living areas and I can absolutely understand the problem. Below is not my personal situation, but here is how it can look.
100k = 71k take home pay in NY.
6k per month
expenses
3.5k for rent or mortgage on a small home or apartment. (because thats what it costs here)
800 health insurance (self employed or work for a small company)
700 food for family of four (USDA average for low cost healthy meal plan)
400 utilities
=5.4K
So 600 per month is left each month for, retirement savings, medical expenses (that insurance plan has a 6k deductible!), clothes, wifi, cell phones, birthday gifts, ballet lessons, child care, and the list goes on. Sure you can put away a little each month, but not nearly enough to make a dent in college tuition. You can quibble with some of the numbers. Maybe you can find ways to feed your family for less. But the main point remains. 100k after taxes, in a high cost area, especially if you are funding your own health insurance, simply doesn’t leave that much leftover.
I don’t see the point in coming up with hypothetical budgets for a hypothetical income. If you only gross $100k and need to pay $800/month for health insurance on top of that, you should move to a lower cost of living area or find a way to commute such that you’re not paying $3500/month in rent.
Maryland suburbs of DC - not quite as expensive as NYC, but still not as inexpensive as some other places we’ve lived. Income was about 80k when the kid was headed toward college. She went to our excellent local CC, and then to a decent in-state public U. Lots of kids from her HS did exactly that same thing.
H was making well under $100K when S was heading for college with D right behind him. Sadly, our state has highest COL in many articles. S was able to get good merit aid (no FAid) and we struggled to make it work.
Everyone has to figure out how to make things work for their family as best they can. We ended up full pay for D, since she didn’t qualify for any merit aid and we didn’t apply for any FAid.
I don’t recall anyone calling $100k “really wealthy”, but $100k is significantly above the median family income in the US of ~$60k. However, being above median income in the US does not mean you don’t require FA. I don’t recall anyone suggesting otherwise. Highly selective private colleges often cover the equivalent of full tuition for $100k income.
@Empireapple, SUNYs aren’t free. OP may qualify for a ~$6k tuition grant, but the SUNY COA is ~$20k. I don’t consider a being handed a bill for $14,000 “free.” And since OP works and pays taxes in NY, they’re getting their own tax money back. I’m sorry you don’t like it but repeatedly posting that people are going to school for free on other people’s money at no expense to themselves doesn’t make it true.
We live within commuting distance of Manhattan. Since we couldn’t afford private school for our dyslexic/dyscalculic/dysgraphic child we lived on one income for many years while I homeschooled. My husband’s income has slowly risen from ~$35k to ~$58k in the last ~20 years. Our utility bills aren’t less because we’re lower income and we don’t get a break at the grocery store either. Our property tax isn’t based on our income, so we pay the going rate. We have to make due with what we earn.
There are people here who chose houses with $3500 mortgages and cars that required monthly payments. We chose a small fixer upper and used cars that we could pay for out-of-pocket. The people who snickered and made what they considered amusing comments about the size of my little house or the age of my cars are scrambling to cover college costs. We have enough saved to cover the cost of a residential 4-year SUNY for each of our children even without the Excelsior. It takes planning, but it can be done.
Qualifying for the Excelsior based on income doesn’t mean you’ll get it. My eldest doesn’t qualify for it because he’s so far along in his program that he no longer has 12 credits/semester that count toward just his major. Our youngest likely won’t qualify either because she’s probably going to carry a part-time load. But because we planned around having to be full pay we can handle that. Now that they’re done with high school I’ve returned to work and am pursuing my Master’s. That makes 3 degrees we’ll be paying for out-of-pocket on less than $80k/year, all within the expensive area that lies within commuting distance of Manhattan.
And what about when you have two kids in prep school and third kid who aslo wants to go there as he sees her sisters confidence, grades, opportunities and invitation to program where only few top kids are allowed to compete and given summer employments on the basis of skills. Older siblings work side by side some folks who are in the top in those fields. The selection is not based on race but true passion as you prove these companies your abilities. Companies are not doing mobey for charities as they have problems and you are solving those real world problems.
We planned ahead. No mortgage at all by the time kids went to college. No car payments. No other debt…at all.
Some people DO have the option of moving to a smaller or less expensive living place. Some don’t.
When we had $100,000 a year income, there is NO WAY we would have assumed a $3500 monthly mortgage or rent payment. TBH, we wouldn’t have qualified for a mortgage in that amount on that income…I’m pretty sure.
But most important…we were a two parent income household. I know that’s not possible for some @austinmshauri situation needing to homeschool is an example.
The SUNY schools are not free…but at $20,000 a year…minus the Direct Loan, they are a better deal than a lot of instate folks have in other states. IIRC, tuition and fees are in the less than $10,000 or so a year range…which could mostly be covered with a student Direct Loan, job held by student, and a parent contribution of less than $5000 a year…so if the student commutes from home, that would save a lot.
The community college/commuting option is even less costly.
@doschicos I understand that prep school is a want not a need. Heck 5 years ago we did not know what was a prep school. Daughterwanted to go so we let her apply. Husband was against it. But when financial aid package came, we could not say no, therefore let her go with reluctance.
Prep school showed her a new direction, she got into ultra selective programs, summer job offers, second kid saw it, she followed it and did simialr path.
If you have asked us 5 years ago we would have told you no way.
I live in an unfashionable borough and our large house has a mortgage of $1900 per month and we pay about $3000 in property taxes. The commute sucks, but over the years our income has risen to about $300k and we have lived well since we hit around $150k. We have been able to pay for undergraduate and the leftover costs of graduate school for two kids, and the youngest is now attending an expensive private school.
Manhattan isn’t the only option, even for people with residency requirements.
Its a choice. The public schools here are excellent and offer fantastic opportunities. I had one child who was a “one percenter” in her year. She had scholarships to top privates, as well as admission to Stuyvesant. She chose another fantastic program with a peer group and a particular focus. She had every possible opportunity under the sun. Since it was a public school, there were corporate partnerships that would have blown your mind.
My third attended a fancy prep school on a talent scholarship. Also a fantastic experience.
we all make choices. And they all have consequences.
@Zoosermom My kid did not qualify for talent scholarship as they were attening on need based aid, even though they have > 700 in math and english in 7th grade. Kids were in those public schools but those programs were not very conducive to kids as they wanted to explore beyond math and science, more liberal education as well as meeting diverse group of friends from differnt countries.