Separated and now not sure how to manage this financial situation?

see what your options are for after and before care locally before deciding.
It may be it’s cheaper and easier to keep private especially as your ex is paying half.

You need to create a financial model projecting your potential income and expenditure over the next 10 years or so. I totally empathise OP. Not the same situation but DS has just started PS (age 10) and I spent a year in a spreadsheet working out if we could afford it plus send DD for secondary in 5 years time. I almost drove myself insane with the 'what ifs'. DH and I ate comfortable but not in the usual MN £300k a year PS bracket and things could easily go tits up for us. But this was important for us to do and we can't control the future. I do however feel like 'the spreadsheet' is a comfort blanket for me. I know it's all doable if we stick to my plan and having that plan all mapped out helps

The income protection insurance that someone mentioned up thread is a really good call and definitely something that you should look into in this situation.

Cash in the bank gives you and your DC way more options for a happy life than private school does. I’ve moved DC from private school to state and they were much happier due to better friendships alone.

Come off it. Op has maintenance of 10k a year, so in terms of cash she has to find 3k a year to keep him in school. With 156k jn savings, the interest is 6k minus tax. So there is more than enough to keep the child in private school without using any savings at all and with it not impacting at all on her income or savings.

She is well set, and there is no problem here.

What is his salary like compared to yours? Honestly, unless he’s very wealthy I think arrangements like this are fraught anyway - if he meets someone else and has another 2 children, can’t afford them all in PS, what happens then? Etc.

I think I’d be inclined to move your son if I’m honest. Your CMS would drop if he moved in with someone with other children too, so if you’re that reliant on it all, I’m just not sure I would risk it. It’s far easier to move at a younger age.

My maths isn’t brilliant, but I think you just need to invest it somewhere with an interest rate of 5%?

5% of 150k = 7500
/12 = 625.

There seems to be a few options out there with this sort of interest rates: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest/

Maybe get some financial advice?

@BRre
To be fair this post can be put on by anyone that works to pay bills.

If anyone's circumstances change it would make financial life difficult.
Just keep saving your disposable income, you've a lot more there than anyone else.
You've at least 3 months to make a decision should the worst happen x

Well personally I don’t believe private education is worth the money so I would take him out now. Just think of how the financial freedom will add to you family’s quality of life; the lovely holidays and hobbies he could have, savings for his future, quality time with his parents (who perhaps wouldn’t be so stressed or working so hard). Unless he is special needs, he will be absolutely fine in a state school and personally I think he will be more well rounded into the bargain for going there.
Just my 2p!

Premium bonds aren’t an investment. Get proper advice before doing anything rash. Your panic seems to be emotional rather than factual. Could you take on extra work to make the few hundred quid if you had to?
Probably with his parents just having to split up it wouldn’t be great for him to change school too, if it can be avoided.
Right now you have his father locked into a 50:50 arrangement that covers your whole working day. He may be less willing to contribute to the wraparound care. I wouldn’t change an arrangement that’s working.

Oh behave.

shes fairly newly single with a young child to raise & be responsible for, it's an unnerving time.

she might be in a better financial position than many, with savings some of us can only dream of, but it's still new & scary for her.

@BRre

id look at it slightly differently

He is 7, he's just been through you splitting up & having to get used to this new arrangement

he's happy at school & you have good childcare there.

you have a lot of money in savings.

while you are navigating your new phase of life & finding your feet, I don't think now is the right time to be moving him.

i think there such a natural break between years 6 &7 I'd plan to leave him there until then, but you can move him at any time, you could move him to do one year at the feeder school for the senior school you can enrolled in.

im a little confused whether you're actually worried about being able to pay your 50% until he's finished or whether you have other things you'd prefer to do with your savings.

That's just 5% of 156k. Last year NS&I were doing a 6.5% fix. I'm no financial expert (again starting point is MSE) - but get the rates locked in before they start decreasing. Have as much as poss in Cash ISAs each year to minimise tax.

I'd keep your son in the private school and do everything you can to help your own financial situation. State schools are in a complete mess, avoid them if you can.

Is this stealth boasting . . . ?

I am anti-PS myself; however, that's not the issue. It's really normal to feel very vulnerable when you become a single parent, particularly around money and your ability to provide for your child. I wouldn't make any rushed decisions now - it's hard to make good decisions based on anxiety. If you solve this problem you may find you are just anxious about something else.

If your son is happy at school, that consistency and stability is beneficial for him, as he will also be adjusting to the separation.

You could model what the school fee increases are likely to be - look at what the annual increases have been over the past few years, work out an average and then project that average forward (you could add on 1 or 2% to the increase, to be cautious).

You could look at investing your savings differently - if you lock some of the savings away for 5 years you may get a higher rate of interest.

Nothing is certain. Your ex could lose his job, have another baby, move abroad. Whatever happens, you will find a solution at that time

Hey OP, I am also confused why you paying for the fees out of your savings when you have such a low mortgage and OK earnings and decent maintenance?

Yes it is, but it's not guaranteed & it's not as reliable.

does the school do any bursaries?

is there anything you can do to lower your outgoings?

Can you get in the habit of sell things dc has outgrown for a bit of extra money?

hopefully schools will keep their fee increases on the lower side and look at lowering their outgoings and it’ll hopefully balance out over the next couple of years.

It does sound like you could be catastrophising.

I don't really understand why you need to pay out of savings at all? School fees plus mortgage is till under £1600 a month for you out a take home income of over £4000 per month? That leaves loads of money left over surely???

@BettyBardMacDonald but she's not paying 100% of it, she's paying half of it.

other things are as expensive for 1 than for 2, so overall expenses are increased, but its not the same as paying 100% of school fees out of one incone

You don't mention work income ? If you can find a job you could add to your savings instead of using your savings. Also you mentioned the hours at school these are perfect for working as you wont need to pay additional costs for after school clubs

If you paid off your mortgage would what you save in interest be better than your current return?

Or reduce the term of your mortgage so you pay it off quicker increasing your financial security and freeing up more to contribute to fees in the future.

Yes this is what I came along to say. Surely you’re still adding to savings every month, and as other have said you need to maximise what your money is earning for you. Do a couple of smaller accounts with fixed higher rates while leaving some easy access. Money saving expert has some great suggestions that are kept up to date. The account I currently have would bring me in nearly £500 a month on what you have. Yes that’s taxable but still it’s almost half of your portion of the school fees annually. I’m sure you could maximise it further.

I do think you’re panicking unduly, but equally you need to give a rough summary of your outgoings rather than just fees and mortgage vs income. Do you have any debts? Massive fancy car?