The International Schools Review Forum

My husband and I have recently been reading Mr. Money Mustache (a great website) and discussing our plans for financial independence. One of our coworkers swears that, because we're both STEM teachers, we'd be able to save upwards of $100,000 a year at some schools, especially in Singapore. Now, I'm in no way tempted to move schools, but it does make me curious as to where we fall on the savings scale with our current position.

So, to throw this out there: 1. What country/area are you in and 2. How much are you able to save (single, dual-teaching, or with kids?)?

To start, we're a dual-teaching couple (no kids) in South Asia and save $65,000/yr.

I'm in Indonesia and am saving roughly 30K per year. I'm single with no kids.

China and 90k a year, dual income and child flown the coop

It's true that you can make a solid income in Singapore, but friends at SAS and UWC there seem to always complain about how expensive Singapore is becoming. Yes, they make a lot of money, but it's still all relative to the cost of living. You might be able to come close, but over 100K seems like a stretch unless you never eat out, never travel, and never do any type of activity outside of your home. Personally, if I am going to live abroad, I like to indulge in experiences I wouldn't be able to have/do in the States.

Mrs. Shadowjack and I don't save as much as we could. But we do a lot of travel and seeing things many people in the world never see. In that regard, we are part of the 1% - not financially, but in places we've been and things we've done and seen.

I am sure we have all had friends who didn't do anything because they were "waiting until we're retired and have the time." Retirement came, and shortly after came the end of time. With no guarantees in life, we are trying to balance savings and doings - there are things we don't want to be doing at 65 or 70 that we can do now, and with no health guarantees, why wait until it's too late or not enjoyable due to older age?

Where we are we have upwards of 70,000 a year if we didn't do anything - but this last year we have been to 9 or 10 countries, with a couple of more to come. Next year will be similar. Time to make more memories is what we say.

I have been in Singapore and $100,000+ savings seems a bit ridiculous. You would have to do no travel, only eat at hawker stalls, and pretty much eliminate all alcohol (except the occasional hawker stall beer). Also, savings potential definitely depends on the school and their benefits. Some have good housing benefits that cover a reasonable place, others give amounts that might only cover half. Singapore is expensive, but the salaries for teachers are much better than any other country I've been in. The increased cost of living is more than made up for with the increased salary. You do have to limit how much you eat out at restaurants, however. This is a quick way to eat through your money. We were able to save an entire salary and still eat out probably once per week in a nice restaurant. We also traveled extensively. Additionally, it seemed that many expats expected to have a car. If you think this is a requirement than the cost of living does seem ridiculous. However, the public transport system is excellent and always expanding and taxis are quite reasonable.

We are currently in SE Asia and as a couple with no kids, we are able to save $60,000/year. We subscribe to the Shadowjack philosophy of life as well -- we are not sitting at home doing nothing in order to save. We travel during every vacation and try to see as much of the world as possible. We definitely save for retirement as much as we can, but not to the detriment of our current quality of life.

I'm intrigued by your friend's assertion that you can save more as a STEM teacher. Based on STEM teachers being boring nerds who always save for tomorrow rather than having fun today? Or based on STEM teachers earning more than other teachers? Neither seems based on reality as I know it.
Nor does the 100K assertion, as others have attested.

Single. Fresh out of Uni. Bottom of the salary grid. Managed to save 30k CAD. =D

Great responses so far! We also subscribe to the "Shadowjack philosophy" and prioritize travel above saving more money. That's part of the reason we're not interested in moving regardless of salary - our current country is FAR too interesting to leave anytime soon. Still, the data geek in me enjoys seeing what others are saving and it seems like we are just about average (which is fine!).

To answer Sid: We're not exactly boring nerds - although we do have geekish tendencies - so I think he was referring to the fact that STEM teachers are more desirable to the big Tier 1 schools. It does seem like that's not reality though, which is perfectly fine.

Dual-teaching couple, no kids, travel far and wide every break, home for summer. Saved/invested $100,000 last year. We teach in Shanghai.

Hey, another MMM fan - welcome!
DH doesn't teach at an int'l school, but at a university in Beijing. I'm an overseas hire - not exactly an admin, but not a teacher either. As you can guess from my username, my field is considered the opposite of STEM! Though engineers and artists have a lot more in common than most people think. DH and I keep our finances separate. I am on track to save US$40K/year on average during my time here, including bonuses. This includes plenty of frugal working holidays as well.

We have looked at Singapore previously, and it's possible to save quite a bit there. Depends on how you live, how you work and travel. HDB flat rather than fancy expat condo. Cooking at home, combined with finding a handful of your favorite hawker stalls. Electric bike rather than insanely overpriced car. If you're the Mustachian type, you'll homebrew rather than pay Singapore's insane alcohol prices ;) Lots of good fruits there for DIY winemaking! Loads of cheap destinations in nearby Indonesia for your holidays.

Edited for typo.

I'm single, teaching in Venezuela, and I could be saving about $30K if I weren't aggressively paying down my student loans as per Mr. MM! I also travel at every opportunity or it could be a bit more.