The International Schools Review Forum

I'm not on the recruitment train this year, but I've been reflecting on whether I should continue to teach abroad (year 3 now) or return to the US and find a good independent day school or boarding school (most of my experience is with boarding schools, including the one I'm at now).

For the IT veterans out there, I would be interested to hear about what you think are some hidden costs or downsides to staying overseas? Things like missing family, not being able to find a partner, ect.

Difficulty with making true friends / dull social life

Lack of access to clean air and water

No pension (excluding W. Europe)

High summer travel costs to home base and return

fine dude wrote:
> Difficulty with making true friends / dull social life
>
> Lack of access to clean air and water
>
> No pension (excluding W. Europe)
>
> High summer travel costs to home base and return

I would agree with all but the last one. Don't all schools cover this? There's no reason to not return really.

I would also say that coming to IT as a single person is difficult (and can continue to be the longer you are).

I agree with the last, but not the third. That is because it really depends on where you are. If you are in WE, you have clean air and water, but you don't generally get flights home.

I also disagree with the first. Some of the most loyal and lifelong friends I have ever met are people I know through IT. I get out and do more abroad than I did in the States, going to festivals, going out with friends, and trying new hobbies.

fine dude wrote:
> Difficulty with making true friends / dull social life
>
> Lack of access to clean air and water
>
> No pension (excluding W. Europe)
>
> High summer travel costs to home base and return


For me, the down sides are simply things like struggling with language, missing certain comfort foods or lifestyle choices, etc. It can be hard to be far away from family or loved ones during things like major birthdays or surgeries. But the downsides are so minor compared to the benefits IMO that it explains why we are abroad.

Downsides - being away from family. Deaths of loved ones. Friends drifting away.

Upsides - new friends to visit in cool places, new places to experience as a resident, not a tourist, great travel opportunities far cheaper than if you were flying from North America, global medical (in many cases)...

Downsides:
Being away from family
Lack of, or small, support network when things go wrong
Permanent, slight feeling of insecurity
Having absolutely zero say in Brexit even though it will affect me directly!

Upsides:
Better social life
Better pay
Better kids in the classroom
Interesting places to live or visit
Meeting new people

Extended vacations mean that you spend more money every time you're on break (or are tempted to!)
How fast a school can change based on an administrator
Lack of job security
Having to quit your job before you have another one in hand, esp. when you have children
Missing family

But I love it--not going back to the US until I retire!

Upsides

Opportunities for travel
Great kids and generally great colleagues
Opportunity to SAVE (we can put 3 kids through college debt-free because of our overseas work)

Upsides
Being away from family and their expectations
Being challenged to grow by living in different places
Having great opportunities to learn and use different languages
More freedom to move when things get bad at the school you're at or when the country's economy weakens
Opportunities to get to know host culture deeply
More opportunities for friendships with colleagues of different ages
Potential for living well above the socio-economic lifestyle of a teacher back in one's home country (depends on country)
Quickly having friends who live all over the world

Downsides
Having to plan another vacation ever couple of months
More challenges to moving pets across borders.
Difficult for US citizens to save in ways that are tax protected (IRA, 403B/401K); maybe this is tough for other people too
More difficulties in managing property one owns back in home country
Potentially making long haul flights back to one's home country

Another thing you may want to try doing is not working at a boarding school. Working in a boarding school tends to be intense. While there are benefits in the US because of housing and food, it's not as good overseas where lots of schools pay for your housing not on a school's campus. I've had friends who were getting burned out on working in boarding schools, but when they left the boarding school environment they were happier. It depends on what you like/don't like.

Eion

I'm curious how well lifelong career IS teachers are able to really save for retirement. In the US, most states have varying levels of pension programs that you are automatically enrolled in. At worst, you have a hybrid system with a modest pension plus a 401K. Different states have different rules, but a lot of folks do little financial planning and still wind up with a pension of $50K-$100K, usually pegged to how much of a salary you made at the end of your career, after 35 years, give or take, of teaching. In exchange, those teachers usually can't draw Social Security.
I estimate I'd need about $1-2MM in cash saved to finance my retirement at the level my pension will give me me. I feel confident I NEVER would've hit that level if I had to save it all by myself. Mad respect for anyone who can!

ILMathTeachr wrote:
> I'm curious how well lifelong career IS teachers are able to really save
> for retirement. In the US, most states have varying levels of pension
> programs that you are automatically enrolled in. At worst, you have a
> hybrid system with a modest pension plus a 401K. Different states have
> different rules, but a lot of folks do little financial planning and still
> wind up with a pension of $50K-$100K, usually pegged to how much of a
> salary you made at the end of your career, after 35 years, give or take, of
> teaching. In exchange, those teachers usually can't draw Social Security.
> I estimate I'd need about $1-2MM in cash saved to finance my retirement at
> the level my pension will give me me. I feel confident I NEVER would've hit
> that level if I had to save it all by myself. Mad respect for anyone who
> can!

I've been investing $20-25k per year into a taxable account. The pension issue isn't that big of a deal to me because if I returned to the States, it would be to work at an independent school. My state has great public schools, but I like the freedom that working at an independent school provides.

ILMathTeachr wrote:
> I'm curious how well lifelong career IS teachers are able to really save for retirement.

In the same way many people do back home, by living within your means and planning for the future.

caesar wrote:
>
> I've been investing $20-25k per year into a taxable account. The pension issue isn't
> that big of a deal to me because if I returned to the States, it would be to work at
> an independent school. My state has great public schools, but I like the freedom that
> working at an independent school provides.

HOLY SMOKES! Given I'm seeing people on here cite salaries of ~$30-40K, I didn't think that level of savings was doable, especially since many cite the benefits of IT as including convenience of travel. If you started at age 26 with $400/month invested at 11% return, you'd have $2MM by age 62. That'd be nice. But saving $20K annually, starting at age 26 at a more conservative estimate of 8% return, would make you a poor in 20 years, and worth $5MM by the time you're Medicare eligible. Are IS teachers, broadly speaking, actually pulling this off? Or is Caesar the exception to the trend?

Broadly speaking most don't save that much, but it is possible. I'm currently saving that much as a mid-career single with no dependents. Right now I am saving roughly 50% of my income and living comfortably, but with only around two international trips per year (one vacation and one back home).

ILMathTeachr wrote:
>
> HOLY SMOKES! Given I'm seeing people on here cite salaries of ~$30-40K, I didn't
> think that level of savings was doable, especially since many cite the benefits of IT
> as including convenience of travel. If you started at age 26 with $400/month invested
> at 11% return, you'd have $2MM by age 62. That'd be nice. But saving $20K annually,
> starting at age 26 at a more conservative estimate of 8% return, would make you a
> poor in 20 years, and worth $5MM by the time you're Medicare eligible. Are IS
> teachers, broadly speaking, actually pulling this off? Or is Caesar the exception to
> the trend?

I'm at what most here would consider a "tier 1" school and the salary reflects that. I'm also pretty frugal!

There is a difference, I think, between single and couple teachers. We're pretty frugal by nature. When we were in China for 5 years (elite school) we had 3 kids--we went home in the summer and 1 big trip at Christmas, and ate out a lot but lots of local food. We saved all of 1 salary except for the cost of our Christmas trip, so that was over $40K per year. We were in Saudi for a couple of years and did the same. In our Stateside teaching lives, it was hard to save when we had kids because I chose to take time off and because of the years overseas, our 3 kids can have debt-free college educations. Even now, in our current country, we are able to save most of 1 salary, but conditions make it a much more conscious effort and it is harder.

So yes, it can be done and it's not an anomaly. But it is a combination of personal choice, country realities (taxes, fluctuation of currency, etc.) school salaries and priorities. There are plenty that look at our choices and shake their heads at our choices, but what we've done has met our goals.