From the first day you become a teacher you should be planning for your retirement. That is the best advise I can give an educator. You should think about and plan for retirement income for yourself and your family as much as you plan the next day’s teaching lessons.

I am now long past the age of retirement and need to work at least five more years because of poor planning and the lack of a good advisor who specialized in working with teachers. I can’t tell you how many tax preparers and financial advisors I have had who didn’t even know about the teacher’s tax credit. Do your research. Ask around and use the Teachers.Net Retired Teachers Chatboard http://retired.teachers.net/chatboard/ and Golden Apples group to get good insights into the process http://teachers.net/mentors/golden/

The problems teachers face with retirement are based on such unique conditions such as - in some cases - not being able to collect full Social Security. You must check out the data to see if you are eligible.

http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/teacher_law.html#3

Financially speaking, the bottom line both literally and figuratively is that you need to spend a great deal of time on your state’s retirement site if you are a public school teacher. For example, how much does each unused sick day you have when you retire add to your monthly check? Is there a bonus for working past a certain amount of years, such as 25? Is your retirement income based on your highest year’s income or an average of three or so years? Can you buy extra time for your work as a substitute teacher? Is your district willing to give you a bonus to retire? If you retire can you still work as a teacher and get your full retirement? Can you buy into the district’s group health care program to save a lot of money? And, finally, when you retire don’t make the mistake of not having your ducks in a row. The first month after you retire you should be getting a retirement check, so do not wait until you retire to apply for your retirement benefits!

Online Resources

Here are some good online resources to help in your planning, regardless of your age, including a great many links about teacher retirement:

• My Retirement Guide For Teachers
  http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/retirement-guide.html
   
• Test your retirement knowledge
  http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1206/121506rp.htm
   
• Retirement Resource Links - Includes financial decisions, legal concerns, and aging and health links
  http://www.nea.org/retired/tools/retirement.html
   
• Retirement IQ test
  http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/calcs/n_rothq/main.asp
   
• Earning test for early retirees
  http://www.fairmark.com/retirement/socsec/earnings-test.htm
   
• Test your knowledge on retirement
  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13089081/
   
• Life expectancy calculator
  http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/calcs/n_expect/main.asp
   
• Estimating Your Retirement Income Needs
  http://www.aicpa.org/financialliteracy/retirement.asp
   
• Steps in Retirement Planning
  http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/ww1/14-02.html
   
• Ten Steps to Retirement
  http://money.cnn.com/2004/10/05/retirement/kansas_10stepssuccess/index.htm
   
• Before you accept an early retirement package
  http://retireplan.about.com/od/caniretire/bb/retire_early.htm
   
• Ten questions to ask before retiring
  http://retireplan.about.com/od/lifestyles/tp/retirementandme.htm
   
• Steps to take when you are 60
  http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/
  CreateaPlan/12StepsYouMustTakeAtAge60.aspx
   
• Printables for computing how much you need to retire and estimating expenses
  http://www.extension.iastate.edu/finances/personal/retirement/first_steps.htm
   
• Tax Benefits for Teachers
  http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf
   
• Women and Retirement
  http://www.nea.org/money/pf050912.html
   
• And, if you are thinking of looking for a better paying job here is a listing of salaries around the country:
  http://www.reacheverychild.com/feature/salaries.html

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