As we contemplate the definition of rich, I just heard this morning on KNX 1070 news radio out

[Mike 03]

of Los Angeles that it takes $2.5 million to raise a child nowadays.

The context of this discussion was trying to determine what the mother of the octuplets, who already had six children, would need to raise these kids. Two point five million times fourteen (god willing they all survive) adds up to $35 million, and that is what the expert said it would cost.

So I would ask the folks here who despise the rich to reconsider what they think "rich" is. My father worked his ass off to send his three children to universities, and that was during the recession of the 80s. He worked twelve hour days to do this.

Let me repeat that: Two point five million dollars to raise a child born in 2009.

Is five hundred thousand filthy rich? You want to rip those folks apart? Or one million, two million, five million?

Or you want to go after the motherfuckers who are trying to hide $350 million in Swiss banks or the Cayman Islands?

Audio is here somewhere. I'm trying to find the exact web addy, but here is the general one.

The Octuplets are the lead story as I paste this addy.

http://www.knx1070.com/


Thirty five million is more than it cost Francis Ford Coppola to make APOCALYPSE NOW.

Just an interesting little factlet

[Gold Metal Flake]

1. 2.5 mil?

Break that down for me, please.

[Yavin4]

18. Cost of Private Tuition At A College

Cost of private schools K-12, as most public schools are too underfunded to deliver a quality education.

--or--

Cost of a mortgage in a public school district that has quality public schools

Cost of transportation
Cost of food
Utilities
Cell phones
Medical expenses

For a family raising a family near most major metropolitan areas, $2.5 million is about right.

[Gold Metal Flake]

19. Uh...

You have that as a breakdown from the source touted in the OP? If so, please show the work.

[ColbertWatcher]

25. Plus XBox and therapy. n/t

[customerserviceguy]

2. Sounds like a bullshit statistic to me

even Repukes don't spend that much on Muffy and Todd.

[Cleita]

3. Well, I'm all for going back to the 90% income tax rate for the top 10%

of the wealthy who own 90% of America's assets. I would then use the money for free education for all children through university. This would cut out the need for tuition and student loans and the best and brightest would get an education, not just the privileged and wealthy.

[CC]

4. Not sure where they got that

number but the last number I remember is 269,000.00.

[ferrous wheel]

8. Those damn impertinent decimal points!

:D

[Ediacara]

10. I think that must be what it is

[Ediacara]

5. 2.5 million?

Even if that were true*.... she sought a seventh pregnancy.

And yes, $500,000/year is wealthy (not rich, not filthy rich).

*Which I can almost guarantee it isn't. $100,000/year just for the kid's expenses! LOL! Unless we're about to see Turkish inflation that figure is just ridiculous.

[ferrous wheel]

6. I'm going out on a limb here...and claim that likely no more than 2 or 3 familes in a million

spend anywhere near 2M to raise a/each kid. Do you know a lot of parents who have that kind of money to spend on -anything-?

[BlooInBloo]

7. I just figure: if you have to work, then you ain't rich.

[cali]

9. I'd love to see that figure broken down. Are they saying that it takes

that amount of money directly from the parents to raise a kid? Because that's clearly nonsense.

[barbtries]

11. it can't cost that much.

for millions of people that is more than they will ever have. i don't know how they arrived at that number but i raised 4 children on way, way less, and my son will raise his three on much less. i don't buy that number at all.

[Gold Metal Flake]

12. Um, hello? Hello?

Did you even think about the figure for one minute before making this ridiculous, finger-shaking post, or is the OP simply a testament to your credulity?

[Mike 03]

13. Here's the only link I can find at the moment, but I'll be able to provide

something more substantial soon.

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12940646

"That's $2.5 million per child ~ so times 14 is $35 million until they are 18. I don't know about you, but I sure don't have $35 million laying around.

That's how much it's estimated to raise a child from birth to the age of 18, for just the basic necessities.

ETA: Which I don't think is very accurate, but okay. It sure doesn't cost us more than $125,000 a year per kid. ROFL"



Think about it. Think about how much it does cost to feed, clothe, send to school a child.

Two million just isn't very much money any more.

[Gold Metal Flake]

15. Yes, that is a link.

Of course, it is useless.

[Ediacara]

17. I can feed, house, and clothe myself for under $30,000/year

I buy fewer clothes than kids do, but kids don't have to pay rent. $100,000+/year per kid is ridiculous.

[lapfog_1]

14. That's incredible.

as in, I don't believe it.

Working backwards...

4 years of college ending in 2031 and assuming 5% inflation per year...

$50,000 per year turns into $109,000 per year or $436,000

For the previous 18 years (birth through high school) would mean $114,000 per year expenses. Even allowing for inflation, that's a lot of pre-school, meals, baby sitters, doctors visits, high school proms, etc.

I think it's safe to assume that this is NOT the real projected cost. And inflation may or may not be there.

If we choose to hyperinflate our way out of debt... $2.5 million will be at the very low end. But I suspect we will actually enter a period of deflation. It's better to leave that stuff out of the equation. And $50,000 a year right this minute will buy a decent 4 year college education ( not Ivy league or Stanford, but decent).

Put another way, the authors should calculate based on the present value of the dollar. And dispense with the $100,000 sweet sixteen party and the other crap that some now consider part of our "birthright".

[Yavin4]

20. Are You Sending Your Kids To Public or Private Schools?

If you want your kids to have a quality education, you will have to:

(1) Send them to a private school

or

(2) Move into a neighborhood with good public schools

Housing in neighborhoods with good public schools is going to be expensive.

So, yes $2.5 million for a kid from birth through college is not an unreasonable figure.

[Hannah Bell]

23. i don't know a single person who sends their kids to private schools.

[Selatius]

24. I cannot name any off the top of my head either. I'm sure I knew at least one or two.

Regardless, the vast majority of kids go to public schools. In fact, there was one girl I know who was home-schooled not because the public schools sucked, which wasn't the issue, but because the parents were religious fundamentalists upset at godless schools. As an aside, that girl rebelled against their programming and is now the exact opposite of what they wanted. She is no longer on speaking terms with her parents.

[Hannah Bell]

26. i know some home-schoolers too, but not private school. it's my impression

that's more an east coast/big city/upper middle phenomenon.

[lapfog_1]

28. Both of your points are debatable.

There are plenty of places where one can live on a more modest income and still send their children to "good" public schools.

Prep schools and the Ivy League colleges that follow also lead to the type of assholes that run Wall Street (or ran it into the ground).

Anyway, do the math and use real examples (name the schools and so on) that show how someone MUST spend $2.5M over the next 22 years to give one child a decent chance at making a decent living .

I'll wait.

That's $113,636 per year for 22 years.

[w4rma]

16. BS. (nt)

[Skittles]

21. oh what horseshit

some of us didn't suck of the parent teat past age 17

[Hannah Bell]

22. oh for heaven's sake. someone making $50K/year (higher than median income)

will make 2 million in 40 years of work.

so you're telling me half the workers in the US won't make enough in their lifetime to support a single child.

obviously false.

[Sanctified]

27. Bullshit that is around $138,000 a year.