Private school fees, do you think about the future?

[DidIMakeaMistake]

Or do you think yay, I’ve got through another year!

We’ve got two DC in private school.

I have about 2 years fees saved and could access 3 years worth if I needed to.

I have one year 4 child and one year 7 so we have 19 sets of fees to pay!! If we add up both kids!!!

We can do it but we are kind of paying out of income with the savings in the background.

I’m wondering if now the savings should be invested for income purposes?

I feel a bit exposed. How do you pay your’s?

Ur spreading too thin. Put them or at least the second one in grammar if u can

One DS in Year 1.

Paying from income, only 1 parent working, other will work once he starts year 3, so should reduce pressure considerably.

12 more years to pay.

Have 1 year saved.

@Razzmata we can afford it out of income. And DH’s income will go up considerably. We also invest significantly into our pensions (between the two of us we put in about £60k into our pensions voluntarily last year). Obvs the pension investment is a priority too!

we sacrifice on not a big house and not a flashy car. But we still get holidays.

I just panicked at how many years of this we’ve got!

We pay out of income for our twins in y2, but have enough in savings to carry us to a natural switching point of needed (so could fund from now to y6 at a minimum). It is way too overwhelming to think of it as 22 years of fees, but at the same time would not want to be forced to make a quick disruptive change

We only have one child, DS who is 15 years old now, so a lot simpler.

Luckily (lucky that we had it in place, thanks to advice from our mortgage advisor), critical illness insurance has been paying out £20k a year from 2017 and will keep going until 2033. It was part of the insurance considerations to ensure private school fees would be covered if I became unable to work.

@Labraradabrador thanks, maybe I need to stop thinking about it like that, as we’ve not had to dip into savings for the fees. So we know that income can cover it just got to hope the income stays consistent!!

@Greenbriar that’s one thing I currently don’t have. And I must as I’m self employed.

I hope you realise how lucky you are and hope the jobs you do are making the world a better place. You are the 1%.

I benefit people and their communities with my skill set, I hope so@AndThatWasNY 🙏🏽

We pay out of income but we have enough in assets to cover school fees until 2 dcs leave (1 dc in Yr 1, 1 dc yet to start). It's illiquid though and I'd rather not liquidate until we're ready. But we have savings in cash that would cover a few years of fees too. I'm not overly worried about losing our income though, it's fairly secure. A death in service payout would cover fees until they leave too. Going state at age 11 is an option as we're in catchment for a top comp but we'd prefer private unless something happened that meant we couldn't afford it.

DS starting private next year (age 9 now) and that will start us on 11 years of school fees assuming DD follows on. But only 3 years where they will be there at same time.

We will pay out of income until DD starts at which point we need to tap into savings for 3 years (have that money already) until we're back to one set of fees. All works on paper but who knows what the future will hold.

DD will still be at school when I turn 55 and 57 and I can access pension lump sums if needs be. We're hoping to repay the mortgage with the larger one when I'm 57.

I'm 35, dh 43. 2 kids in private school with the third starting next year. There will be three years when all three are there together. I work at the school so have 40% discount and grandparents pay half of the remaining fees. Will go full time next year so discount will be 50%.

I pay 2 out of my single income, very little left after bills. I have a couple of months to hand plus a few years in savings. I basically work to pay for the fees so I don't need to touch my savings.

I'm surprised people suggesting they don't pay school fees out of income. What on earth else is it paid from?!

One child, year 7. At the moment my parents are very kindly paying it but I do have enough savings if they could no longer pay it.
DS and I own a rental house via a trust which is mortgage free and the rent would just about cover his school and Uni fees also.
Very lucky, also only child of an only child with an only child. All these siblings add up 🤣

Anyone who works makes the world a better place though, work ethic is important and that’s what private school teaches IME.
The job you do is secondary to the effort you put in IMO. I say that as someone who works in healthcare and education.

Only one DC at (relatively cheap) private school, in year 6, we pay out of our income with 1 year saved. Would ideally like to have more saved though for just in case but 20% increase would prevent that if it happens.

If it’s not income, I meant like your earnings from your job. Others might have savings, investments, Grandparents etc.

I think about the future; the introduction of VAT on private school fees is a very real possibility with a (highly likely) Labour victory next year. Mine should just be out, or very nearly depending on how long it takes them to implement it. Some schools are planning for it could be in force by Jan 2025…..

A 20% increase in fees would hurt.

Not to derail my own thread but it won’t be a 20% increase. But yes an increase some private schools may take fees upfront.

We pay out of income, we are 8 years in and have never had any concerns. Down to one child now, with 7 more years to go and then uni. It’s just a normal bill for us now and will remain so.

We are nowhere near topped out on mortgage etc which probably helps a lot too.

That’s good to know!! We pay out of income but also still putting into our pensions and not seeking to move house just yet.

We have 3 DDs yet to start school. Eldest will start this Sept. Going for state primary as we have an amazing one in catchment. Will hope for private for secondary for all 3.

We have savings to cover 1 child from 11-18 but have a property portfolio and would consider selling to pay for private school as the state ones in my area are not great. Could all change by the time they reach secondary age though.

It does feel like a lot at that point. Make sure you have good life insurance in place - our pays off the mortgage and would leave the surviving parent a decent 6 figure sum on top of that, which would give some school fee security. not much else you can do.

Yes we have life insurance etc still it just feels like a lot to only have like 3 years fees for both of them saved up. We have a huge amount of equity in the house and rising earnings. We’ll carry on as we are…IFA seems to think we can do it.