retirement question

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retirement question

by Curious

Feb 5, 2011

Do international schools normally offer retirement packages? I teach in a private (Episcopal) prep school that not only pays well but offers a great retirement deal. I'm looking for a change but hate to give up all the perks. Another random question--does the typical international school have a large turnover? My family hosted an exchange student who attended a boarding school in Chongqing, China and he said that the American teachers normally just lasted a couple of years. Just curious why that would be. He didn't seem to know.

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Dave -> Curious Some schools do, but most retirement systems are based on government pensions. The high end elite schools usually ahve low turnover the second tier and lower schools usually do. One of the things with China, is if you dont marry their and start a family and start looking at making it a life time gig, a lot of westerners start getting tired of the w...See More

Feb 5, 2011

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Dave -> Thomas You can also choose to pay the 15% self employment tax if you wanted to build social security credits.

On 2/05/11, D. Thomas wrote: > Some schools do offer some type of payment into a retirement > fund, but most (of the better schools) just give you a yearly > gratuity (10%, give or take of your regular salary) in cash > that ...See MoreYou can also choose to pay the 15% self employment tax if you wanted to build social security credits.

On 2/05/11, D. Thomas wrote: > Some schools do offer some type of payment into a retirement > fund, but most (of the better schools) just give you a yearly > gratuity (10%, give or take of your regular salary) in cash > that you can save or invest in any way that you choose. > > As for turnover at int'l schools that will vary widely from > school to school. It makes sense that there will be regular > turnover as most overseas teachers are not looking to move > permanently to a certain country. They go, live, enjoy, > travel and after a certain amount of time look to move on. > This could be for professional reasons (moving to a better > school/position) or personal reasons (moving to a school that > offers a better lifestyle or savings potential, looking to > trade regions or countries: China for Japan, Europe for Asia > etc). Many of the top schools have teachers that do stay for > many years. As for the school in Chongqing, I've never heard > of it and I'm in China. It may be a fine school but I doubt > it is on anyone's list of dream jobs that would keep you > there for many years. > > As for giving up perks, many overseas teachers pay no rent, > no US taxes, get travel money every year, bonuses and are > able to save at least half of their salaries (or one whole > person's salary if they are a teaching couple). So it may be > worth considering. > > On 2/05/11, Curious wrote: >> Do international schools normally offer retirement >> packages? I teach in a private (Episcopal) prep school that >> not only pays well but offers a great retirement deal. I'm >> looking for a change but hate to give up all the perks. >> Another random question--does the typical international >> school have a large turnover? My family hosted an exchange >> student who attended a boarding school in Chongqing, China >> and he said that the American teachers normally just lasted >> a couple of years. Just curious why that would be. He >> didn't seem to know.

Feb 5, 2011

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Dave Sounds like ESL teachers.

On 2/05/11, Curious wrote: > Thanks for the response. I don't know that where our Chinese > "son" attended school was an "international" school. It was a > boarding school but perhaps was just a Chinese High School that > hired Americans to teach English. I do know that they provided > housing for ...See MoreSounds like ESL teachers.

On 2/05/11, Curious wrote: > Thanks for the response. I don't know that where our Chinese > "son" attended school was an "international" school. It was a > boarding school but perhaps was just a Chinese High School that > hired Americans to teach English. I do know that they provided > housing for the foreign teachers in the same buildings in which > the students lived (which didn't sound that appealing to me) but > the American teachers of whom he spoke were all young men right > out of college. > > On 2/05/11, D. Thomas wrote: >> Some schools do offer some type of payment into a retirement >> fund, but most (of the better schools) just give you a yearly >> gratuity (10%, give or take of your regular salary) in cash >> that you can save or invest in any way that you choose. >> >> As for turnover at int'l schools that will vary widely from >> school to school. It makes sense that there will be regular >> turnover as most overseas teachers are not looking to move >> permanently to a certain country. They go, live, enjoy, >> travel and after a certain amount of time look to move on. >> This could be for professional reasons (moving to a better >> school/position) or personal reasons (moving to a school that >> offers a better lifestyle or savings potential, looking to >> trade regions or countries: China for Japan, Europe for Asia >> etc). Many of the top schools have teachers that do stay for >> many years. As for the school in Chongqing, I've never heard >> of it and I'm in China. It may be a fine school but I doubt >> it is on anyone's list of dream jobs that would keep you >> there for many years. >> >> As for giving up perks, many overseas teachers pay no rent, >> no US taxes, get travel money every year, bonuses and are >> able to save at least half of their salaries (or one whole >> person's salary if they are a teaching couple). So it may be >> worth considering. >> >> On 2/05/11, Curious wrote: >>> Do international schools normally offer retirement >>> packages? I teach in a private (Episcopal) prep school that >>> not only pays well but offers a great retirement deal. I'm >>> looking for a change but hate to give up all the perks. >>> Another random question--does the typical international >>> school have a large turnover? My family hosted an exchange >>> student who attended a boarding school in Chongqing, China >>> and he said that the American teachers normally just lasted >>> a couple of years. Just curious why that would be. He >>> didn't seem to know.

Feb 5, 2011

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Curious > Dave "a lot of westerners start getting tired of the work ethic" This kid was lazier than sin... and was way full of himself. He had no work ethic whatsoever. But he came from a wealthy family, and I am assuming had never had to do for himself. Probably not the norm in China. On 2/05/11, Dave -> Curious wrote: > Some schools do, but most retiremen...See More

Feb 5, 2011

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Dave -> Curious Im sorry i ddint explain well, chinese schools and admins expect a lot out of their teachers. It can sometimes seem like a never ending road of work

On 2/05/11, Curious > Dave wrote: > "a lot of westerners start getting tired of the work ethic" This > kid was lazier than sin... and was way full of himself. He had > no work eth...See MoreIm sorry i ddint explain well, chinese schools and admins expect a lot out of their teachers. It can sometimes seem like a never ending road of work

On 2/05/11, Curious > Dave wrote: > "a lot of westerners start getting tired of the work ethic" This > kid was lazier than sin... and was way full of himself. He had > no work ethic whatsoever. But he came from a wealthy family, > and I am assuming had never had to do for himself. Probably not > the norm in China. On 2/05/11, Dave -> Curious wrote: >> Some schools do, but most retirement systems are based on >> government pensions. The high end elite schools usually ahve >> low turnover the second tier and lower schools usually do. One >> of the things with China, is if you dont marry their and start >> a family and start looking at making it a life time gig, a lot >> of westerners start getting tired of the work ethic, and what >> amount to as small wages. A typical 2nd tier school might only >> pay 12000 RMB a month which is about 2,000 USD a month and >> well thats not exactley the high life back in the states. Most >> professional teachers use Asia as a starting point building >> international experience and getting IB experience hoping to >> jump to Europe at some point (or Japan/Singapore). In my >> experience the people that stay in China, S. Korea, Thailand >> etc are the people (guys) who meet a girl and get married. >> >> No offense but even in China Chongqing is no ones ideal place >> to "settle down", eventually even the teachers who want to >> stay in china, want to move to Shanghai, Beijing, or Hong >> kong. >> >> GoOn 2/05/11, Curious wrote: >>> Do international schools normally offer retirement >>> packages? I teach in a private (Episcopal) prep school that >>> not only pays well but offers a great retirement deal. I'm >>> looking for a change but hate to give up all the perks. >>> Another random question--does the typical international >>> school have a large turnover? My family hosted an exchange >>> student who attended a boarding school in Chongqing, China >>> and he said that the American teachers normally just lasted >>> a couple of years. Just curious why that would be. He >>> didn't seem to know.

Feb 6, 2011

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