[akgerber]

The way the United States provides schooling free of charge from age 4 to age 18, and expects families to pay massive tuition bills before and after, does make parenting expensive at times— especially for young families starting out.

$500,000 in income is, of course, enough money to pay even expensive bills, being well into the top 1% of family incomes.

[notfromhere]

People pay for private k-12 because there's a perception of the public schools being awful (and it may be true depending on the area). But if you live in a nice area with a well-funded school district, paying for private school is just ego. You won't get much of a difference in learning outcomes

[resters]

It depends on where you live. In my case the decision was rational and not due to some desire for status signaling.