Could You Retire in Thailand on a Teacher's Salary?

[impulse]

15 minutes ago, DILLIGAD said:

And you do?

 

Full (and tedious- sorry) explanation:  

 

We have people on here who have retired, are doing very well and I value their input for what worked for them.  We've got good guys on here who have retired and are struggling, and I value their input for what things they did that worked and what things to avoid doing.

 

And then we have people on here who are still decades away from retiring, telling them they're wrong.  That input, I don't value so much.  If I want to know how to climb a mountain, I want to speak to someone who's been to the top and back.  Not the guy in the lodge with a map and a plan.

 

And yes, I have reached retirement age.  I've had the health issues, lost my shirt several times, and gotten back on my feet each time- sometimes just barely.  I could stop working tomorrow and live out the rest of my days in comfort back home, or in luxury here in Thailand.  But I have no clue what's going to happen tomorrow.  I'm going to keep working while I still can- so I don't end up being one of those guys who thought they had life by the short and curlies- only to get hit by some black swan event like so many of the guys who have contributed their stories here over the years.

Edited January 21, 2017 by impulse

[zeichen]

On 1/20/2017 at 9:40 PM, little mary sunshine said:

Why would someone spend their entire workimg

career working for "chump charge" in Thailand?

B25-35,000 per month.  My friends teach with

Masters Degrees in Ed. Make $85-125,000 per

year.(US Dollars)

 

You retire to inexpensive places like Thailand after

you have made your money, have a good pension

that you earned, THAN move to a place where you

can live comfortably on B40-50,000 and never concern

yourself about money!!

Your name is ironic because there is no sunshine and rainbows in your criticism of others.

 

Personally, I think your facts are a little biased. First of all no starting teacher in the US makes 85k a year with a masters.  Some states are as low as 35k a year average is about 50k.  In New York State, you can check the government website which lists the salaries. Relevant masters, and 20 years experience is 80-90k dollars for Teachers. Admin about 20k more a year. 

 

so if your friends are making 125k a year as a teacher, they are either very experienced or working in California where that is chump change as well.

 

The reason people live here with their family is perhaps they want their family to have different values than you get in the US or other western countries.  Frankly 2 salaries raising a family earning 30k each isn't that bad. Going to live and work in a toxic environment for 30 years and then retiring isn't a life worth living for many. 

 

Instead of criticizing why not show how to plan for a future and still live their life here.  Perhaps because you are not a teacher and really are just wasting people's time on the teacher sub forum.

[simon43]

Just because you've paid/you're paying into a government pension scheme, do not assume that you will get that money paid back to you when you retire. Adults are living longer and governments are realising that they don't have enough money to pay the pensioners.  That's one reason why some governments have raised the retirement age from 65 to 67 years old.

 

For me, although I have paid reasonable contributions into my UK government pension, I am assuming in my retirement plans that I will receive not 1 pence from the UK government - they will find some way to deny me my pension, (perhaps due to my expat status etc).

 

So I plan for retirement based on my personal savings and/or investments, not based on the likelyhood of receiving a UK pension in a 'we-can-move-the-goalposts-whenever-we-want' scenario.

[puchooay]

41 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Full (and tedious- sorry) explanation:  

 

We have people on here who have retired, are doing very well and I value their input for what worked for them.  We've got good guys on here who have retired and are struggling, and I value their input for what things they did that worked and what things to avoid doing.

 

And then we have people on here who are still decades away from retiring, telling them they're wrong.  That input, I don't value so much.  If I want to know how to climb a mountain, I want to speak to someone who's been to the top and back.  Not the guy in the lodge with a map and a plan.

 

And yes, I have reached retirement age.  I've had the health issues, lost my shirt several times, and gotten back on my feet each time- sometimes just barely.  I could stop working tomorrow and live out the rest of my days in comfort back home, or in luxury here in Thailand.  But I have no clue what's going to happen tomorrow.  I'm going to keep working while I still can- so I don't end up being one of those guys who thought they had life by the short and curlies- only to get hit by some black swan event like so many of the guys who have contributed their stories here over the years.

If you had written the  above as your first post it would have saved some of us the effort of listening to you.

 

I told you my age and that I had a private and govt pension in the pipeline. I didn't say that I have to wait for them to be avble to retire.

 

Because of some "mountain climbing" I have done I plan to retire sometime before that.

Edited January 21, 2017 by puchooay

[impulse]

Just now, puchooay said:

If you had written the  above as your first post it woul have save some of us the effort of listening to you.

 

I told you my age and that I had a private and govt pension in the pipeline. I didn't say that I have to wait for them to retire.

 

Because of some "mountain climbing" I have done I plan to retire sometime before that.

 

And as I keep saying, I hope that all works out for you.  

 

[up-country_sinclair]

21 hours ago, ozmeldo said:

Anyone do the math on the retirement? You'll need 4/800k plus 22.5 million baht simply to spend into the grave.

 

 

Would you mind fleshing this out a little bit?  How did you get that 22.5 million figure?

[little mary sunshine]

1 hour ago, zeichen said:

Your name is ironic because there is no sunshine and rainbows in your criticism of others.

 

Personally, I think your facts are a little biased. First of all no starting teacher in the US makes 85k a year with a masters.  Some states are as low as 35k a year average is about 50k.  In New York State, you can check the government website which lists the salaries. Relevant masters, and 20 years experience is 80-90k dollars for Teachers. Admin about 20k more a year. 

 

so if your friends are making 125k a year as a teacher, they are either very experienced or working in California where that is chump change as well.

 

The reason people live here with their family is perhaps they want their family to have different values than you get in the US or other western countries.  Frankly 2 salaries raising a family earning 30k each isn't that bad. Going to live and work in a toxic environment for 30 years and then retiring isn't a life worth living for many. 

 

Instead of criticizing why not show how to plan for a future and still live their life here.  Perhaps because you are not a teacher and really are just wasting people's time on the teacher sub forum.

 

 

Please read the post...never mentioned STARTING salaries..Advanced

degrees teaching in NJ.   About to retire with 75% salaries for life.  Age

60 ish....set for life!!  They,will retire to Costa Rica next year!!  

 

 

[zeichen]

please read topic. We are discussing EFL teachers who do not possess the same qualifications. We are also discussing people who are starting their careers wondering if they can retire on it. not those that are at retirement age or end of their career.

 

The teachers here making 30-40k aren't here with advanced teaching degrees or certification. If you compare similar qualifications then you would find that International school teachers here earn the same as that in the US, but get free housing, airfare and more.  International school teachers tend to save at least 30% more of their salary than equivalent teachers in US. 

[DILLIGAD]

True, people piping-in detailing the end of a career or those working 2 to 3 jobs (legal or illegal) as well as teaching, are not what is being investigated here IMHO.


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[eldragon]

On 1/21/2017 at 0:40 PM, little mary sunshine said:

Why would someone spend their entire workimg

career working for "chump charge" in Thailand?

B25-35,000 per month.  My friends teach with

Masters Degrees in Ed. Make $85-125,000 per

year.(US Dollars)

 

You retire to inexpensive places like Thailand after

you have made your money, have a good pension

that you earned, THAN move to a place where you

can live comfortably on B40-50,000 and never concern

yourself about money!!

 

Yeah, I think if you've decided you want to live out in Thailand and teaching is your only option, then you up the education and expand your options. The part that would concern me is I don't see a lot of teachers in their 50s or 60s in Thailand with great jobs, regardless of their education level. Seems like they're scraping by on peanuts.

Edited January 23, 2017 by eldragon

[eldragon]

On 1/21/2017 at 0:48 PM, impulse said:

 

But how often do they get laid- and by exotic cuties?  When I was that age, I figured I'd be too old to do it when it was time to retire...  Now I know I'm just too old to do it every day.

Seems like plenty of old guys get laid often enough here, although I'd suggest getting it out of your system while you're young and not making it a determining factor in where you choose to reside. I'm not gonna sit here and say that's not a large part of the appeal of life in Thailand, but to sacrifice everything else that matters for a piece of a$$ that's usually not attached to much of a brain seems a bit degrading.

[zeichen]

 

On 1/23/2017 at 1:32 AM, eldragon said:

Seems like plenty of old guys get laid often enough here, although I'd suggest getting it out of your system while you're young and not making it a determining factor in where you choose to reside. I'm not gonna sit here and say that's not a large part of the appeal of life in Thailand, but to sacrifice everything else that matters for a piece of a$$ that's usually not attached to much of a brain seems a bit degrading.

 

On 1/20/2017 at 9:48 PM, impulse said:

 

But how often do they get laid- and by exotic cuties?  When I was that age, I figured I'd be too old to do it when it was time to retire...  Now I know I'm just too old to do it every day.

This is a teachers forum if you want to discuss those topics please do it in the general forum.  You tar the rest of us professional teachers with proper mindset not juvenile delinquents.  

[eldragon]

30 minutes ago, zeichen said:

 

 

This is a teachers forum if you want to discuss those topics please do it in the general forum.  You tar the rest of us professional teachers with proper mindset not juvenile delinquents.  

 

I wouldn't worry about your reputation too much. No one really thinks teachers or anyone else that chooses to live and work in Thailand is all that professional.

[simon43]

Back on topic...

 

If you're young and considering teaching in Thailand until you retire, one issue (which is not unique to Thailand by any means), is your age.

 

In some countries, the statuatory retirement age is 55, in China it is 60.

 

In some countries, age discrimination means that if you have been teaching for many years, have lots of relevant experience etc, then you either can't get a job or are 'put out to pasture' before your retirement age, simply because the school wants to employ female, pretty, white air-heads....

 

So even if you have great qualifications, a CELTA, PGCE, MA Tesol or whatever, those qualifications are near worthless if employers' employment decisions are based on bust size of the applicant and whether or not your skin resembles a ghost or a labourer.

 

If you teach in Thailand in a government school, I cannot possibly see how you could ever save enough money for a decent retirement.

 

If you teach in a 'real' international school, then indeed, your salary is sufficient to allow funds to be saved, but because you do not have 'tenure', you never know if your job is secure or not.  Once you hit 45, you'll forever be looking over your shoulder to see if there are some younger and prettier (or cheaper Filipino/a) candidates to fill your shoes.

 

This is one reason why I teach in Myanmar, where ugly, old, overweight BUT experienced teachers are valued :)