Where the... ?? Oh... you mention '401k', so you're probably employed by someone else. I don't think we've seen $600/month/family insurance policies that someone pays full-cost for in years. 3 years ago I knew people paying $1400-$1800, and for us, just 2, next year is slated to be $1300/month. Oh, and that's just base cost - you have a $10k deductible in there so... realistically budget $20k/year for a family with some regular medical expenses. But yeah, if a separate employer is footing some of the bill, then you might get away with 'only' ~$8k.
> It makes it seem like being a very high income household.
POST TAX $150k/year is a very high household income in many parts of the US. You're talking > $200k/year income, which is excluding 80% of US households.
I guess for sake of argument, that might still be 'low' 6 figures, not 'mid', but many of the jobs that pay that sort of money are going to be in high-tax states, and I suspect you're going to be closer to > $250k. In CA, you'd need to earn $250k for a take home of ~$150k.
Edit: Laws passed in the last decade declare all insurance plans must cover preexisting conditions and cannot adjust the price or decline customers based on preexisting conditions.
$50k will not cover many state schools. Especially if prices continue to climb.
That's plainly false. $50k will cover nearly all state schools, in-state.
The vast majority of all state schools are less than $12,500 per year for tuition + fees in-state. The exceptions tend to be among the top state schools, like UC Berkely (~$60k) and Virginia (~$70k). The $50k equivalent would still go a very long ways for those.
George Institute of Technology is $12,500 per year in-state for tuition + fees.
University of Florida is $6k per year.
Purdue is $10k per year.
The University of Houston is ~$8k per year. Texas A&M is $10k per year.
A bunch of the Cal schools are around $7k per year.
The same goes for the city schools in NY (CUNY), those are mostly around or under $7k per year.
UNC Chapel Hill is $9k per year.
UCLA is $13k per year.
The University of Michigan is $15k per year.
University of Texas at El Paso & San Antonio are around $7k per year. Texas at Austin is $10k per year. Texas Tech is $8k per year.
And this is the cost for some of the best state schools. Everybody else is between cheaper and dramatically cheaper. The primary requirement is that you have to go to an in-state school. I'd bet that the in-state median for state schools across the US is a lot closer to $6k per year, rather than $12,000.
Tuition + Other Estimated Expenses + subject major fees
It is important to know the whole cost as most schools have living expenses: Purdue would cost about $23,000 to $26,000 with room&board.
There is a lot more to "covering" school than just the tuition.
A SEP will allow you to put way more away than that. Better would be a "back door Roth" and transition from SEP to Roth and pay the income tax out of pocket each year.
>Healthcare: Insurance for a family is about $600/month or >$7,200/yr. Let's add another $500/yr in expected expenses > and another $1000/yr in emergency savings. Total $8,700/yr
You can get a better deal if you go with a Health Savings Account (HSA) + HDHP. HSA funds, if you don't use them, turn into retirement funds.
These are things you can do in the low six figures, not mid six figures. They are also things I wish everyone could be able to do.
Edit: The Math.
Retirement: Maxing a 401k and Roth Ira is $23,000/yr
Healthcare: Insurance for a family is about $600/month or $7,200/yr. Let's add another $500/yr in expected expenses and another $1000/yr in emergency savings. Total $8,700/yr
Saving for college: $200/month for 21 years (age when child pays last tuition) with 1% interest (pessimistic and safe long term view) will yield north of $50,00k, which is enough for state university tuition. Lets say we are saving for three children. $3,600k/yr.
Nice vacation: Nice doesn't have a specific meaning, but it's safe to say $10,000k is nice.
Total: $55,300k/yr. Considering how important these things are, it's within the reach of a household with a post tax income of $150,000 assuming average US cost of living. People with mid six figure post tax income can do much more. I really dislike these two paragraphs. It makes it seem like being a very high income household is the only way to provide the basic quality of life.