Teaching in Germany

[citygirl]

Good evening,

I understand that things are going to depend on your salary and your whole package, but are single teachers typically able to live well off of salaries in southern Germany? I see that the taxes are very high and I am just wondering do schools usually compensate for this. I love to travel and want to know if it is possible to do this living off of an IS salary in Germany.

[b12r]

A lot the answer you are looking for is off which city in southern Germany

[Thames Pirate]

Wow, what a big question. Salaries at Munich IS are going to be much higher than other schools in southern Germany. However, Munich is the most expensive city in Germany. Cost of living in places like Stuttgart are lower, and Ulm even lower than that.

You say living well--what does that mean to you? Do you want a city centre flat or is a neighbourhood perhaps further out acceptable? Do you want a car/want to pay for fuel? You can save a lot going without a car, but that is easier at some schools than others. Do you have expensive hobbies or shopping tastes? Or is living well being able to go to cafes, do lots of local hiking or biking, and having other western amenities?

You say travel--do you want to go snorkelling in the Maldives, sailing in Fiji, hiking in Nepal, and sightseeing in New York at pretty much every break or is a weekend in Berlin or Prague with one or maybe two "bigger" trips abroad reasonable?

What is your savings expectation within that framework of travel/living well?

In general if you are interested in quality day-to-day life with a few weekend vacations around Europe and one or two big trips in a year and only saving a bit, it can be done easily enough. If you want the "I'm outta here every weekend" life while saving big and living in a fancy place, then no, it can't.

[PsyGuy]

No generally the WE doesnt compensate you with allowances to offset taxes. Those taxes provide you social services that you can avail yourself too. The package is typically salary, relocation and social insurance. You are a teacher in the west moving to a different part of the west.

I would generally agree with @Thames Pirate, much of this will depend on how you define living well and traveling. If what you mean by that is a typical middle class European lifestyle than yes, if you want to live an expat lifestyle on the high side, than no. If by travel you mean a trip at winter and summer holiday thats modestly within your means than yes. If you have to travel every weekend than no.

[Thames Pirate]

If you do want to travel most weekends in WE, you can forego the big trip and do little road trips by train or car most weekends instead. One of the beauties of WE is that there are a lot of neat places worth seeing in a relatively small radius--and southern Germany is fairly central!

[PsyGuy]

@Thames Pirate

Id agree with that but then your making compromises and sacrificing the big trips which may be of significant importance to the LW. If you want it all and think because Germany is the ATM of the WE youll be able to do everything, its not likely.

[wrldtrvlr123]

When we interviewed with the big school in Munich quite a few years back the headmaster nicely worked out the salary/tax situation for us and showed us that with two teacher salaries and the tax on one child's tuition benefit we would ALMOST break even the first year (but not quite). The situation may have improved since then but it would still likely be a position you take mainly for the privilege of living fairly well in a great city. I'd imagine some cities are a little cheaper to live in but salaries may be lower as well.

We lived in Germany teaching with DoDDS and were able to do well on one teacher's salary (plus some additional money from subbing, tutoring) but we had a good housing allowance, our utilities covered and did not pay German taxes.

[Thames Pirate]

And yet I know families of 4 who lived on 1 teacher salary and a bit of supplement from trailing spouse who had 2 kids' tuition benefit taxes, and they were able to make it work. They even took in an uncle for a number of months. As an advanced maths teacher with IB and AP experience in some pretty good schools, this person had plenty of options. So it really depends on how you do it, your individual tax situation, the individual package, the city, etc. But I think we can all agree nobody goes to cities like London, Paris, Munich, etc. for the money.

[PsyGuy]

My experience is congruent with @WT123, my expertise and experience can not reconcile with the experience reported by @Thames Pirate.

[citygirl]

thanks for the replies, I just need some general answers. When I saw the tax rates I freaked out a bit. What benefits do people get from paying the taxes in Germany?

[Thames Pirate]

And again PsyGuy has some mystical expertise that somehow invalidates my experience. I get that some people can't make it work financially, but many can, including supporting families. But again, because PsyGuy doesn't like m, somehow he is the expert and my experience is invalid.

You get the standard WE societal perks in terms of infrastructure, health care, social safety net, access to education, child support, etc.

[joe30]

You can't support a family in Germany on one salary unless your idea of good living is 4 people to a room living on bread and water.

The schools even tell you this themselves on Search.

You get no benefits from those taxes unless you stay 10+ years, it's just money down the drain. Unless you count helping a bunch of Syrian refugees with your money to be a 'benefit'.

[Thames Pirate]

Spoken like someone with no actual clue.

Funny, most Germans do just fine. I know a family of four who built a house on a salary a lot smaller than what most ITs make. They love traveling, have a boat, participate in sports and activities, and go to concerts.

Oh, and you can absolutely collect before 10 years. The correct number is five. If you work for fewer than five years, you can collect a refund on the state pension (which is 19%, so nearly half of your tax amount). If you are in country under two years (arrive in August, leave at the end of contract in June/July), you can also get your ENTIRE tax amount refunded. Suddenly that 69,000 (whether in dollars or Euros) is looking a bit better. That's if you are an American.

You really should consider doing a bit of research before pretending you know something.

And helping people is always to one's benefit.

[b12r]

@Thames

Thanks for this info! I have been looking at teaching in Germany myself. The tax situation does make me a little uneasy but I am single so I can make do on a rather small salary. The idea of getting all my taxes back if I leave after my 2 year contract is up in July or even tack on another 2 years ( to make it 4 years) and get half my tax money back is great!

[Thames Pirate]

If you want to teach in Germany or in WE in general, do it. You can live well in many cities, especially as a" single who can live on a small salary." Each country's tax situation is a bit different, but don't be too intimidated by those on here who really haven't done it. Remember, lots of non ITs live and work and do fine in these places! It's not like most Parisians are making more than ITs in Paris, for example--probably equal or less.

Plus, living here in WE is awesome!