The reviews for TAISM seem to be good. Hope it's not a bad school because it's on the shortlist of places I'd like to go. I don't know anything about ABA. I love Oman!

I am an American and I have spent most of my years teaching overseas since graduating from university. My family is debt free and we have been able to save and invest some decent money the past couple of years, although times are rough now and things are going down. I have a number of concerns as I approach 40:

1. Should my family go home and should I put time in the public school system, so we can collect social security and medicare, etc. when we retire? Right now, I cannot envision our family surviving when we retire in the U.S. with the costs of healthcare there.

2. Will I face age discrimination if I wait too long to go home? I teach in a high need area and I feel pretty confident that I could get a job now.

3. Is teaching overseas with a family a realistic possibility (and being able to retire and live comfortably some day)?

We are not opposed to going home, although our experiences teaching overseas and our opportunities to travel are wonderful and, in my opinion, far [i]more [/i]rewarding that teaching the U.S. public school system. In the end, I guess I am just wondering if I am making a mistake by staying overseas too long, or if my dream is, in fact, a pipe dream. Family and friends at home are concerned about our future and have planted a seed that is really making me question if we are doing is right.

Sorry for the long-winded message. I would love to hear any comments from other teachers/families who are doing what we are doing and if people, particularly Americans with our health care system, are able to save for retirement. Thanks!