Surely you must worry about it...........

[Thighlander]

Employment is prohibited with an O-A for purposes of retirement, so even if you had the 800K, it really wouldn't last too long without a job. You have to be ready to move for work, if needed. I am 50, and live in Chiang Mai. There is a new truckload of TEFL wannabees arriving daily. Most want to teach here. So, if you're 50, and experienced, they will often times prefer the young and naive. People, who won't have the nerve to ask for a copy of their contract, or people, who think they will actually get their Summer pay. Work Permit, TL, and non-immigrant B also is a big hassle, so they are going to want people willing to work on visa runs (On Saturdays, of course). OTOH, I think they will appreciate you more in places like KK or UTH, and you might be surprised with higher pay.

"Employment is prohibited with an O-A for purposes of retirement ..."

No one living in Thailand can get a Non-Imm O-A visa. It would only be available to someone applying at an embassy in his home country or a country (other than Thailand) in which he is legally resident.

Either way, your extension based on age plus 800K in the bank does not give you permission to work.

[Scott]

Posts have been deleted. Do not use racial slurs when referring to any group of people and do not post links to other forums.

[DogNo1]

I think that it was Tip O'Neill (former U.S. House of Represtatves Speaker) who said "Everything is political and all politics are local. If you know the right people in different countries, they can shoehorn you into a job. One way to meet the right people is to go to the yearly TESOL convention in the USA and sign up for all of the job interviews that you can. You may meet a dean or hiring professor who you hit it off with. Representatives from universities and schools from all over the world recruit teachers at the TESOL convention. It is like having a smorgasbord of jobs. Also, besides China, two places that are really hiring are Macau and various smaller towns in Vietnam. A professor at Chula just came back from VN three days ago and said that they are desperate for teachers. The need in Macau is self a explanatory. Sheldon Adelson recently opened the Venician Macau which, I think, is now the largest casino in the world. It is certainly the largest building in the world. The number of people who visit the casino in two-weeks time is mind-boggling! One million people during a two-week period after their grand opening. It's a fact that most of the clientele are Chinese, but all of those croupiers, dealers and other gaming professionals must know English too. There are rich opportunities for older teachers willing to seek them out and make the life adjustments that are necessary. Just think... Eight or nine years of teaching as many hours as possible and living frugally and then back to the LOS with enough cash and investments to live out a comfortable retirement!

[Mencken]

Convention is great advice, but doubt most have funds, many have no degree. Do you have a link?

Macau would be an interesting place to livefor a few years. Vietnam will best Thailand in a matter of years, they are serious, hardworking people. Dedicated to learning as the Koreans.

Read of tedious bureaucracy already in VN, stickler for (good) qualifications. From pers experience and reading, people kind of harsh to white folks. Good money. Stunning ladies, good food, nice culture, proud history.

If you wanted money, arab countries. Assuming you have the quals.

Back to the OP, what is the specific issue? One way or another we are all finished after four years (if you are very lucky, ext to 5). You will have to move into non-waiver teaching positions such as language mills and unis.

Edited April 30, 2014 by Mencken

[OmegaRacer]

I do worry sometimes about the future. I'm almost 40 and been working/teaching in Thailand for 7 years. I feel that the teaching profession here doesn't give any security whatsoever regarding the future....not on a year to year basis and even less regarding retirement age.

I think it's important to have choices and sources of income. In business they're called 'multiple income streams'. If one stream dries up, you may have one or more to support you. Sometimes a secondary stream can grow so much as to become a primary stream and replace another one.

Saving is also very important. Get yourself 2 saving accounts: one for the the near future to buy whatever you need or want, and another 'untouchable' one, for the big unforeseen events in life.

[Elfin]

Internet teaching is another option to supplement your income. I regularly make $500-$1,000 per month without trying too hard and have students from around the world. You can choose the hours and work comfortably from home too!

[DGIE]

Internet teaching is another option to supplement your income. I regularly make $500-$1,000 per month without trying too hard and have students from around the world. You can choose the hours and work comfortably from home too!

Interesting! But how did you find students that were not your students before?

[DogNo1]

For information regarding TESOL, just Google "TESOL." It's a large organization which, among other things, publishes a newsletter with job listings which is available for a price. Regarding jobs in foreign countries, they all have pluses and minuses with particular hurdles or disadvantages. The key is to be optimistic and seek out opportunities while realizing that each job will have its own difficulties to overcome. When I was job hunting back in the eighties, I found that the pay offered in middle-eastern countries including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE was quite low compared to Asian countries. I eventually took a job with a four-year contract in Chiba, Japan as an associate professor. I got to know people during that time and through connections that I had made got a permanent job as a full professor at a University in Tokyo. During my last years at the university, I sat on committees that hired two permanent associate professors at a starting salary of around $120,000 with full benefits. I haven't heard of any middle-eastern country that will pay anything near that. In the late eighties I was offered several jobs in the middle-east that paid between $30,000 and $40,000 with free housing and a free trip home at the end of the contract. By my calculations, that only adds up to about half what the jobs in Japan pay. Of course you have to be around for a while and convince people that you are competent and agreeable before you can get the better jobs. As I quoted in my previous post, "Everything is political and all politics are local."

I retired from my job last year after thirteen years and now collect a modest pension and health care from the Association of Private Universities. I had to surmount a lot of obstacles to get to that point. People who are not willing to expend a lot of energy and put up with various difficulties will not get the best jobs with the best pay.

[Elfin]

Internet teaching is another option to supplement your income. I regularly make $500-$1,000 per month without trying too hard and have students from around the world. You can choose the hours and work comfortably from home too!

Interesting! But how did you find students that were not your students before?

From advertsisng on forum classifieds, google ads, and referrals by word of mouth.

[chonabot]

Article writing is a cool way to make extra money, it can be done from anywhere in the world and pays well.

[benj005]

You guys make it seem like its easy to find good paying work in America. The times are changing. The good paying jobs have been replaced with minimum wage positions. If you think that you're going to come home and find a $50k a year job you are in for a difficult time. Especially if you've been overseas for an extended period of time. For instance, if you want to pursue a teaching job you're going to have to sub for a while. And there are no guarantees. Schools are getting 300-500 applications for one teacher job.

Age discrimination happens quite often in America. If you're over 50 and looking for work you will probably have a difficult time.

Government pensions are a thing of the past. They have been replaced by 401k. My brother works for the post office. He has a 401k that he contributes to, and the post office matches what he puts in. I don't have this, so I just recently opened an IRA Roth account. I'm 44 years old and I don't have much in the bank. I can tell you that I will not be retiring at 60. I'm going to be working until 70-72. By this time I should have almost 30 years of ROTH IRA savings. This is how I plan to save for retirement.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Edited May 2, 2014 by benj005

[benj005]

You could always do what the young people do. Make a living on you tube! Become a you tube celebrity. The biggest trend now is doing prank videos. A couple of guys do prank videos and make good money.

Maybe you could do a prank video in Thailand? Lol

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Edited May 2, 2014 by benj005