The International Schools Review Forum

Those of you who haven't considered your financial future--as boring and middle-class (or maybe bourgeois) as that may seem--seriously need to look ahead and understand what the future holds, especially if you return to live in your home country. You WILL get older, and you WILL want to retire someday, and it will happen sooner than you might think. But will you be able to afford to? Or is life as a WalMart greeter or hamburger flipper in the cards for you? And, at least for Americans, medical coverage is going to be a big issue when you retire.

For a great retirement, but to still teach abroad, let's all apply for DODEA jobs y'all!

. . . but good luck getting hired, haha.

First overseas job, in my 40's after 20+ years in states. Wish I had done it earlier, but I will have full teacher retirement package when I eventually stop working.

Took my first overseas job at age 28. That was 35 years ago. Longest stretch of time I've been in the USA in those 35 years is 5 weeks. Guess you could say it got into my blood!

I came into teaching as my second career at the age of 31. After 4 years teaching in a US public school (granted a good one in a good but expensive district) and receiving my certification, I was itching to move overseas again. I started my IS career at 35, spent 6 years abroad, returned to the US for a couple of years and realized I really wanted to be overseas again (for financial reasons as well as diversity of opportunity). I don't think I'll teach in the US again.

It is quite possible to teach abroad and provide for your retirement: the two are not mutually exclusive. If you are from the UK, you can continue to make national insurance contributions which will entitle you to a state pension (currently, 35 years will entitle you to a full pension). I've been teaching abroad for fifteen years; unequivocally, the best decision I ever made. I aim to retire at 55, at the latest, something I probably wouldn't have been able to do if I had stayed in the UK.

[quote="Cee13"]I started teaching in the US right after I graduated college. This is my 15th year in the classroom and I'm 37. Next year will be my first year teaching internationally as I've accepted a position in South America. Oh, and I don't speak Spanish 😱yet...[/quote]

I am quite excited with you Cee. I am trying to get to South or Central America also... But since I don't speak spanish yet either I didn't get a desired position. Does your school hire many non-bilingual staff? Did you get this job at AASSA?

Hope I am not hijacking thread just curious.

Left the U.S. when I was 24 for a year to teach English in Japan, that year has turned into nearly 10. Spent time so far in Japan, India, Singapore and now Germany. Am considering staying in Germany for 5 years so I am at least vested in their state pension. My partner now is German too so I guess I might stay for him too;) He has promised to consider opportunities abroad if they should ever arise in his line of work.

Heyteach does make a wise point: we all need to keep our retirement in mind, each and every year. Unfortunately, pension plans in the US, for those entering the system now, just don't offer too much. I think for most states, the days of the big pension are disappearing. The states just don't have the money anymore. Fire and police might be the last (wo)men standing in that respect.

I know my wife and I try to max out contributions to IRAs and such each year. As someone else wrote on here recently, don't underestimate the power of compounding interest!

I entered the international scene at 27 after three years of teaching in the states. For me, I feel it was an important part of my career development to get the experience in the states before moving abroad. It makes me appreciate so much about the conditions in international schools and helps me keep my frustrations in check -- I know I have it better than I would if I had stayed in my job back in the states! Also, I feel there are certain aspects of learning to teach that you gain easier in the states. For example -- having to deal with confidentiality (FERPA) and a lot of special education issues has given me a lot of knowledge that my colleagues who have never taught in their own system don't have. This are important areas of education that many international schools ignore or skimp on...

As for retirement -- my husband and I fully fund our IRAs each year and then throw an equivalent amount into an investment fund. We know we have to fund our own retirement and we want to have the same great quality of life when we retire.

[quote="National"] As for retirement -- my husband and I fully fund our IRAs each year and then throw an equivalent amount into an investment fund. We know we have to fund our own retirement and we want to have the same great quality of life when we retire.[/quote]

Can you contribute internationally earned income to a US based Roth IRA? I was under the impression that you can only contribute US based income to an IRA.

We contribute to IRAs, which is Pre tax, I believe. Roth IRAs, I think, are after tax. We still file our taxes every year, per US law, so I guess that's why it's okay for us to put money, earned abroad, into a pretax IRA.

I started at 22.

retirement and medical care is one of the primary reasons you see ITs move to europe as they advance in their career. Either that or they plan on retireing somewhere with a very low cost of living such as S/C America, Thailand, etc.

There are IRA's and other investment/retirement accounts offered my firms outside the USA. You cant invest in an IRA stateside with not US earned income, but there are ways around that, such as self employment income and SE tax.
Many ITS pay no taxes (based on the Foreign Income Tax Credit) anyway so their is no tax benefit gained really from an IRA until dispersal, and many countries have better retirement investment accounts.

You can contribute to IRAs but it is tricky. You have to use money that you don't claim the foreign earned income exception on -- which for most teachers means they aren't eligible. If you make more than the $95,000 exemption, but less than the limit for IRA contributions, you can can use that money. Alternatively, if you don't claim the exemption (usually because you pay local taxes), you may be eligible. An overseas tax expert should know the ins and outs. Many ITs would not be eligible, but some are.

I started out by teaching ESL at 22 straight out of uni. Then after a few years I went back and did my PGCE and came back out at 28. :)