The International Schools Review Forum

Which schools in asia or europe can be considered as retirement postings? If you are in your early 40s and if you wish to work at a single school for a couple of decades to save a decent cash pile for retirement, what schools would come to your mind?

Assuming these schools are established with great pay, health insurance, and in sound financial health.

Thank you.

Not western Europe.....

There are some in eastern Europe where the cost of living is low enough that you can save decently for retirement though.

Most of the Established schools in ME, South Asia (India, and Bangladesh) and South East Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia) will pay enough to save between 30 and 50% of the salary. I currently save 50% of my salary in Bangladesh.

Most schools want you to move on after a period of time. Some countries make it easy (tax breaks ending after 5 years etc.). The truth of the matter is that teaching Internationally has a different "idea" of loyalty and effectiveness as is seen in the US. Think about your life in 5-10 year incriments and you might be happier.

That being said, I have seen people with 10-15 years experience in Singapore and Hong Kong as well as a smattering accross most of Asia. Also remember that some countries have age limitations for visas that must be taken into account.

Good luck in your search.

You need to check carefully for time limits on the foreign hire package offered by a school if this is your intention. Some schools have caps on the number of years that you can be considered a foreign hire (8 years or so seems fairly common). After that time, you either move on or you become a local hire, losing all the foreign hire benefits such as housing.

It's all well and good to plan on staying somewhere long-term. However, though fun at first, a lot of places can really wear on you over the course of years. Lots of teachers I know tend to want to move on after their current locations become too much to handle. Of course this amounts to merely 'trading problems' but there is much to be said for a fresh start.