To use inheritance to pay for private school?

[Pondformarch]

We have a two year old and are due a second baby this summer. Our combined income is around £120,000, a bit more with a bonus.

My parents died when I was young and I inherited a flat. It is now worth around £125,000, not a fortune, but it would pay for private school fees.

I always had it in mind to send one child but finding out I was having a second made me think the fees would be too tight. Wondering if selling the flat might be most sensible. This is a fairly small school, not a big name one (obviously) fees for senior school are around £15,000 p/a. One of the main reasons I would prefer the private school (apart from local state choices not being brilliant) is the fact that wraparound care is really high quality and it would mean that we wouldn’t have to worry about pick ups and drop offs. Also, the school is right by my workplace, which helps.

But I also know it might be better to hang onto the flat long term. So interested in seeing what others think?

The VAT is a worry - will have to see if it happens or not. I rather suspect not.

Of course fees will go up, but so will DHS salary - mine won’t as much of course, but we did get 5% this year so shall see!

If I only had one child, which is what I expected, I would send to private. Two children are tighter, but then that’s what the flat sale could fund if needed to.

You could also consider sport/art/drama/music scholarships if they have any aptitude. They are fiercely competitive but usually in the region of 10%-20% which can make quite a difference.

OP do you mean just secondary school or from
4 to 18?

Ideally from reception. I’m really not keen on local primaries and I also have reservations about having children settled and making friends and then moving them to a different type of environment.

At present, fees are:

Reception - 9840
1 and 2 - 10,155
3 and 4 - 10,365
5 and 6 - 10,650
7-9 - 13,755
10-11- 14,310

So a total of 142,065. X 2 = £284,130.

Obviously, a lot of money, and I recognise the fees will go up.

However, if I look at the most expensive ‘point’ on there, which is when DC1 is Y11 and DC2 is Y9, that is £28,065. That is still affordable on just my salary, without selling the flat. Only just admittedly - going by current figures it would leave me the grand total of £109 left to myself, but I’m not a single parent and we have another salary of over £80,000 to pay the bills and essentials. Plus, if I was to keep the flat that would give another £500 or so of disposable income. And if I had sold the flat, that very expensive point - two in senior - would be exactly where I’d be utilising the money.

In other words, we have the following figures:

25/26 - 9840 R
26/27 - 10,155 1
27/28 - 19, 995 R + 2
28/29 - 20,520 1 + 3
29/30 - 20,520 2 + 4
30/31 - 21,015 3 + 5
31/32 - 21,015 4 + 6
32/33 - 24,405 5 + 7
33/34 - 24,405 6 + 8
34/35 - 27,510 7 + 9
35/36 - 28,056 8 + 10
36/37 - 28,056 9 + 11

So really it is only around nine/ten years we would be getting into that very expensive category where pretty much all my salary would be eaten up with school fees, and while it is true there are extras, I would think DHs salary could fairly adequately provide uniform and school lunches. We aren’t looking at extremely prestigious public schools with costly trips to exotic places. It really is about in the first instance, somewhere they will feel nurtured and cared for after school as well as in school, respected and comfortable. As they go through their schooling career, somewhere that isn’t huge and impersonal, supports and guides, encourages and so on.

We may well have a further inheritance from Dhs parents at some point too, obviously I hope this is a long way in the future as they are lovely people and also you never know and it could go on care home fees. But it is a consideration.

As a teacher surely you must know that unless a school is actually dangerous or unless the child is bullied which can happen at private or state school their natural ability and parental input are the biggest factor in outcome. Also the Mothers educational attainment is a big indicator. What people have to remember is that women were not encouraged to attend University in the past, so I personally had a very intelligent Mother who worked her way up as Manager of a branch of huge global corporation but she was not University educated. No one gets a sniff at job in that company these days unless you have a degree and they run a graduate scheme.

We sent DS to the local below average state school, much to the horror of some our friends. The horrified ones paid for private schooling or bussed their children to the very leafy outstanding school a few miles away.

If you have confidence in your own child’s abilities I think it’s unnecessary. I knew my child, the level he was functioning at and what he was like as a communicator so I had every confidence in him.

Being bright alone is not an indicator of success. One of the cleverest children I have ever met who was the DS of a friend of mine has a sort of sneering attitude. He just cannot get on with people at all.

I'm a very experienced state school primary teacher. I also do some holiday play scheme work at a local private school. And when the opportunity presents itself, I like to have a little nosy around, which might include a look through the children's exercise books... And, hand on heart, the work these kids are being set, and the level they're working at, is no better than the work the average state school kid is achieving.

I think you should reconsider local primaries. They can't all be awful!? They are most likely fine and your kids will do well with interested parents.

The cha ge to private secondary is really really easy. Kids at primary go to a range of secondary schools - it's the natural point for change as a secondaries are a melting pot from any primaries.

Starting a private secondary would be easy as everyone starts from a variety of backgrounds.

Another way of looking at is you and your DH have a combined income of 120k plus a non guaranteed bonus, can you afford fees for two at a ‘cheapish’ private school considering you have a 125k flat you can sell and use the proceeds for any shortfall you have?
Your DH’s salary is likely to increase and the school fees definitely will.
How much are your outgoings such as mortgage?

I don’t know what my childrens abilities are yet, @UnknownElement one is two and is following a roughly normal timeline, if ‘normal’ can be defined by babbling ‘oh no teletubby’ at 5am, and one is not born yet!

It isn’t just about academic achievement or ability. My children may not be bright. If they are like DH and I, which is reasonable, they will be bright enough, but certainly not geniuses and not gifted. I do think a lot of people confuse gifted with bright.

I don’t think the local primaries are awful, but they also aren’t quite what I am looking for. I think like a lot of public services, schools are struggling a bit and that’s not a reflection of the staff in them, it’s just a myriad of factors.

Mortgage is on the hefty side - just over £1200. We can afford it but it’s not small.

All this talk of 'investing' in your children is what puts me off sending my kids to private school (we could now afford it, but we could also use that money for other stuff). I feel like it must put quite a lot of pressure on the children - their parents have 'invested' money in them and will be expecting a delivery on that 'investment' which presumably will be a successful career, a network rich in useful contacts, a strong, confident adult etc.

What if the child doesn't live up to that? What if the child ends up happiest working in a low paid job or raising a family or whatever instead?

I wouldn't want to put that sort of pressure on my kids. Even if you never say it out loud, the fact you sent them to private school will be message enough.

It's different if there is loads of wealth and they were always going to go private and state wasn't even an option.

I think it is a good idea. You earn enough to cover a shortfall. If I had the money I would use private school.

@Pondformarch

It is completely doable as I see it from your posts. Your salary alone would cover the fees and then you’d have the additional £125k you could draw on to cover shortfall. Your DH husbands salary for a few years would have to cover everything else.

I was in a similar position but it was my flat. I sold the flat and reinvested the money -£125k
The income from that covers the school fees for my son.
I also have a salary as does my husband which could cover fees if needed.

I would think about speaking to a financial advisor and investing the money to give you solid returns.

the other issue with flats and keeping it is the maintenance and service charges. It was too much of a hassle for me to keep it for more years so I sold it. It was a huge relief to be done with it!

Isn’t it @Nanamuffin - complete pain in the arse! It’s a good idea to talk to a financial advisor and I think I will do so.

I’d sell the flat and invest the money towards Uni fees and accommodation costs. With your income, your DC will only get minimum maintenance loans that you’d have to top up. You don’t need to send them to private school, send them to state schools and use the money so they can graduate Uni with low or no debt and/or even fund post graduate degrees/work. Lots of summer internships are being converted into summer schools…so internships have gone from paid, to unpaid and now slowly shifting to pay to go.

🤣 our rent is £1600 and we are on less than half your income. £1200 is only 10% of your income- it’s tiny.

It's your money, do as you please.

I hope you're not expecting financial advice from mumsnet.

The people I know who have sent DC to private school for primary have found that it was affordable, as it was actually cheaper than nursery.

It sounds like you don't want the hassle of the flat, so maybe you should sell it, invest the money, and cover primary through income, knowing that you have an investment to put towards secondary.

I definitely wouldn't start at private without knowing you can continue there.

OP - reading all your posts, you don’t say what age range you teach yourself.

have you looked at working in a private school you would like your dcs to go to? Particularly if it’s through until 18 school. private schools here offer 25-50% discounts for teaching staff’s children and then higher discounts for SLT. Given there are shortages in the teaching profession at the moment, I would be very tempted to send in a speculative CV to their HR staff stating you will be looking for a new role after maternity leave and would they keep you in mind.

there are also other advantages of working at the same school as your dcs such as matching holidays and being able to give them a lift to/from school, as well as being there if they need you for anything.

most schools need you to work there for 2-3 years before you get the full staff discount for places so worth moving as soon as you can.

I’ve explained this in an earlier post, @LimeCheesecake - I personally will never work in a school my own children attend.

Honestly I think secondary is a very good idea but I wouldn't do all through - specially not if you want them to do sixth form in state!

DC is at an independent secondary and around 50% came from the attached prep or other private preps and it's very easy to tell which ones did.

Sorry but it's too insular and shielded.

You said you are a teacher.

Some private schools give staff who send their children to the school they work in a substantial discount.

Look out for jobs in private schools you like the look of and try and check if they offer discounts?

This is really turning into a “cancel the cheque” type thread. The OP has explained multiple times why she wouldn’t work in the school her kids went to, discount or not

Anyway OP we have a similar household income to you and I think it’s too tight for 2 sets of fees. You are leaving yourself with little contingency and you have two properties that you could gift your children when they are trying to get on the property ladder. That would take a massive burden off them

You earn 120k between you.. that more than covers private school fees !

Me and my brother went to private school for 5 or 6 years. One income less than 50k a year.
Yes a while ago but still.
I can't believe people think you need to earn loads. Pupils parents were anything from accountant teacher estate agent self employed.