A UK-based subreddit for ‘High Earners, Not Rich Yet’ (HENRY). Aimed at £125k/yr+ earners.
// throwaway account
Both me (39) and my partner (38) are HENRYs. I run a software consultancy, and my partner has a senior tech job as PAYE. We have 2 kids - 6 years and 2 years old. We recently visited Dulwich College in London for our older one, and really liked it. But now are thinking through whether we can afford it. Until this idea of potentially sending the kids to private schools came up we were on track to FatFire in the next few years.
Financial details (combined for both of us):
Cash: ~£100k
ISAs (invested fully in FTSE Global all cap): ~£450k
Pensions (invested in indexes): ~£550k
General investment accounts (invested in FTSE Global all cap): ~£320k
Crypto + options in an early stage tech startup (slowly working on moving this to FTSE Global all cap): ~£100k
My consultancy business has a revenue between £350k-£500k -- I have been running it for the past 2 years.
Partner has an income of: ~£180k-£200k (salary + bonus + stock options)
Own a house worth ~£1.1M with a mortgage of ~£500k.
School fees estimate (annual):
Fees: ~£32k (Assuming the VAT changes proposed by Labour go through)
Trips/Clubs: ~£2k
Wraparound care: ~£6k
Total:~£40k.
Assuming both the kids go to the same school for the whole 11 years, the total cost is ~£880k in today's money
Other considerations:
We currently live in Greenwich and will either need to move to Dulwich, which will probably mean moving to a house worth ~£1.5M which will be an extra cost.
Analysis:
I am trying to figure out how much buffer we have -- mainly to potentially reduce our working hours and/or take less stressful roles in the future.
My current thinking is our investments today (minus the pensions) are enough to cover the house move + the school fees for both the children, but I am not quite feeling confident in this assessment.
Any other suggestions on how to approach this ? I am basically trying to figure out how much can we afford to reduce our income?
Anything else I should be thinking about that I have missed?
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My wife and I have been have a very similar discussion - our joint earnings are about half of yours, and I won’t go into details on everything financial as this is a comment, but here are some of the things we’ve talked about -
Standard of education is better, but not insanely so - you’re paying for the network more than the better teaching most of the time. Is this worth it? (Yes imo)
If you live in a high income area (I’m in the green belt and come to London once per week) - is the state school good? Some small places have exceptional state schools due to the catchment only being high earners. If this is the case, could it be worth it?
It’s a long term commitment and ties you to an area - are you ok with this?
There is a significant time commitment as a parent to any good school, can you do it? If not, are you happy to pay someone to do it for you?
There is a huge social scene attached to these kind of institutions. Are you ok to be involved in this?
For full transparency, I was privately educated from 16 - 18 and I do think it’s worth it, but it’s more than a money cost.
Also, as where we live has a an amazing state primary, we’re moving in year 5 to private. Alot of others are doing the same!
Thanks for such a thoughtful comment. Lots to think about.
Right now he is at a state primary which is absolutely brilliant and he loves it. But there aren't as many good secondaries.
One other thing that is appealing is he won't need to do 11+, which is great in terms of pressure on him + time saved not having to do tutoring etc.
Won't he still have to do an entrance exam?
Can't really speak to the affordability, I think ultimately it's about whether you want to prioritise this vs the FIRE.
But one thing I can add: I really don't think that you'd need to move to Dulwich if you didn't want to. I'd be amazed if one of the school coaches doesn't go from Greenwich area. I know several people who live in Greenwich / Blackheath type area and the kids went to one of the Dulwich schools.
There is a coach service that we are keeping in our backpocket if required, but the pickup is at 7.15am. I am not sure I want to subject my son to that.
nice
When I was growing up it was possible for one person on a high income to pay for Dulwich, ladder being pulled up hard.
I think you have to look at the alternatives. The main reason that people send their kids to private school is because the alternatives are bad. London seems to be less bad than it was but the problems at schools are still...bad. Even with independent schools, there is a massive gap but people in some areas are so desperate for their kids not to be exposed to certain things that they will pay anything (even today, on significantly lower incomes than you).
I would also look at what the alternatives are if you are concerned about fees. There are a few others in South London (Alleyn's, possibly Whitgift although that is a bit...can't say on Reddit) so you can look about and try to get a scholarship. Returns are high but it is an arm's race for academic scholarships: parents make substantial investments into these tests...there are also other scholarships if you are lucky.
Also, the best value of money is City, their fees are significantly lower than what they could charge and they are one of the few schools that can turn a thick child around. Dulwich is not one of those schools...but it is a very solid school tbf.
You could also do sixth form. Just imo, I know people who have done that, and it is often too little, too late. But it is worth looking at.
You aren't paying for the network. There are a few schools where you are: St Paul's, Westminster, Eton...but these schools are hard to get into, so it is already self-selecting. Outside of this, the vast majority are normal schools that normal people are sending their kids to for various reasons. People don't realise there are hundreds of other independent schools that aren't Eton.
There is no social scene attached to these schools. Everyone is fucking busy, the last thing they want to do is to spend their time wanking around at their kid's school. This is particularly the case at London schools. I knew a guy from China who told his dad he wanted to go to school in the UK when he was 13, his dad bought him an airplane ticket and told him to come back in 9 months, no PTAs, no sports days (this kind of thing happens in independent schools, if you don't want to do anything they aren't coming to your house asking why you aren't there, you pay the money and they don't care).