Realistic plan to pay school fees or not?

[cargear01]

Hope to save 60k by the time ds is 5, hes 2 at the moment and I have 24k.

I am able to save around 1k a month towards this at the moment (I do this without factoring in the cms below and can manage).

it would mean when school fees start that I could pay half from the 60k and half from my own income. I haven’t included cms in my calculations as I don’t want to ‘rely’ on it (insane that that’s the state of this country but I’m working on worst case scenario). That said, ex currently pays 700 maintenance and he is a workaholic so I suspect it will go up. He works in the nhs so can’t really get out of it.

do you think my plan is doable? Should I be doing more? Is it totally unrealistic? I have assumed fees will be around 18k a year when dc starts, taking account of inflation.

When I say half from the 60k and half from my own income, I mean initially, ie 9k a year from my income and 9k a year from the 60k. I would save 1k a month hopefully still so always have some form of savings, if that makes sense.

why are you intending to pay fees at all? Why not start out in state and see how it goes? The early years are not the ones you want to blow all your savings on, surely? Maybe keep your savings for the GCSE years if it isn't going well in state school at that time

@notknowledgeable thanks, I would prefer him to go to private school due to personal experiences

Maybe his experiences would be better? lots of people have a good experience in state, and lots of people have a bad experience in private.

You’ll run out if your ‘paying half’ savings before he gets through primary school. Then what? Fees will only have gone up, massively if private schools lose their (ridiculous) charitable status.

I think that sounds fine. You’d have enough to finish prep school probably even if you lost your job or things changed half way through.

I would be seeking half the fees from dad on top of CMS though. It’s his kid too.

Think it’s a bit tight. Based on previous trends, school fees just about double over a school career. And sounds like you have little back up/ safety net. And ‘extra’ stuff - pricey uniform, trips, activities also £££. I did private with one, primary only with 1. Looking back, really not sure it was worth it. Both went to uni with similar outcomes. Cheaper to move to catchment of an amazing state or grammar.

@Patchworksack the plan would be to keep saving the 1k alongside it. I am not 100% confident I could do that but it might be feasible

Add in VAT on school fees and you’re up the creek without a paddle.

I would send him to state primary, carry on saving and then decide what to do.

@Youcannotbeseriousreally thanks. i will definitely be raising it with him but he’s extremely self centred so it will depend only if he has excess money and lots of it. He might be in that position in a few years as he is very career driven. I’m trying to do it without his help so then I know where I am

Our LO starts next year. We’re looking at £1500pm for fees and lunch, with uniform costs being separate. We save £1000 per month towards fees and have £55,000 saved as a buffer in case anything happens. We won’t use our saving unless there’s an emergency, instead the £1000 we save will be used to pay for fees and I’ll pay the extra £500 by upping my very part-time hours.

What does his dad think? If he also wants DS to attend private school then surely he should be paying half the fees? And if he wants DS to attend a state school then you need to cone to a consensus.

You don't appear short of cash if you can "save" 1k a month.
But by your calculations 60k is 3 years of school, 6 if you are able to top up from your pay.
What are you currently paying in nursery fees? Will you continue to save 1k/month once you start paying school fees?
Because as it stands you won't be able to afford high school.

I don't really understand cms etc....but if you both work then I would have thought things like nursery and school fees should be split equally unless one parent is paying the other to stay at home....I know that's not how it works but it should be.

Have you factored in inflation, costs of uniform, school lunches, trips.

@Sul126 thanks that sounds similar to my plan. I think I am possibly 400 or so short a month to do it from income alone and I would be stuck with asking family to bridge that gap which I don’t want to do

Have you factored in the additional 20% that may get passed on if Labour get in? Plus the extras on top of fees- we were lucky that DS's prep uniform was reasonable, but a full set of senior school uniform is nearly £1k. There were a couple of residential trips in the latter years of prep that were £600 each and we only got 5 weeks notice for one of those.

If you can cover everything, go for it. Do you have any relatives that can help you out with an unexpected cost if it happens?

What fees are you expecting to pay? Preprep won't be 18k pa unless highly sought after London school. Factor in above inflation increases and the increments as they progress, uniform and extras. Long term it could be 200k +

@Snowdropsarecoming yes, fees tend to go up 3-5% a year. 18k is a few grand more than the private primary schools round here so I am basing it on worst case scenario. Obviously secondary will be much higher

Do you have other savings? Are you saving into a pension? Are you saving for university fees and living costs? Do you have enough other savings to cover emergencies or if you or your Ex could no longer work and your income fell? Do you have income protection or sickness cover?

Private school fees have risen much faster than inflation so you would be using a higher assumption on future cost growth than just inflation.

@LIZS private primaries around here are around 12k a year at the moment. I’m looking at 18k aim to deal with worst case scenario when he starts in 3 years

I don’t think it’s enough. Not for 13 years of fees. They’ll go up every year.

@MojoMoon thanks this is helpful! I do save into a pension. I have no other savings, but ds does has a property on trust from grandparents so I am hoping that can play into his university fees and house deposit etc. This side of things does worry me though

I would start now saving £1750pm, which is what you are proposing you would be spemding when he goes to school. 1k saving and the 9k a year fees. See if you can do that first. Otherwise you will run out of money before secondary school.

It’s going to cost a minimum of about £75K id guesstimate ( excluding nursery provision) to finish prep school. Secondary is a whole other very very expensive kettle of fish.

you’d need more for all the extras but if you still get in 700 and save 1k it should be fine as long as your savings are working hard , I’d be separating them into pots so instant access for some but higher interest locked accounts for some for 3 years etc so you’re earning as much interest as you can.

I work in the finance department of a private school and one aspect of my job is chasing parents for unpaid fees. I have a feeling you are quickly going to be one of those parents as I think your savings are going to run out much quicker than you think they will. Being chased three times a year is going to be a level of stress in your life that won’t be nice.

Have you picked out your school of choice already? If not what is your £18k estimate based upon, fees rise quite considerably over the years. I am at a school in the SE and our fees seem to be inline with many other schools nearby and it is more like £25k per year from the age of about 13/14. There is also the possibility of VAT on fees which is being taken seriously.