Job Discussion Forums

[bhog]

Here's my dilemma. I want to live and teach English in Mexico or possibly elsewhere in S. America. I'm approaching 30 and feel like I should be saving/investing for my future, but understand that I won't be able to make much teaching in the W. Hemisphere. Unfortunately that's where I want to teach and work on my Spanish.
Is anyone else in this situation? Where could you recommend teaching in Latin America where I could at least comfortably cover expenses with my income? How old would you say the average native English teacher is where YOU are? I'm thinking maybe I should've done this right out of college!!!

[Guy Courchesne]

You can make your way in just about any Latin American country or city, but you didn't say anything about qualifications (just starting out or experienced?). Generally, you should bankroll yourself nicely before coming down and expect lower earnings for a bit until you're settled.

Teachers are spread out across all ages. Many who have permanently settled in Latin America, that I can see, are 40 +, though at least two of us posting here in Mexico who have settled are 33 and something a bit older ( to Oaxaca). I came to Mexico at age 27.

It's common for the recent college grads to do a spin around Latin America or other parts of the world teaching English, but youngsters are still immortal and have a bit of time to burn. At our age, maybe the consequences should provoke a little more planning. Is this something you're thinking about for the long or short term? Riddle yourself that first...

[bhog]

Hey Guy,
I have a TEFL cert, a BA, and very little teaching experience. In terms of how long I'm thinking about doing this in Latin America, right now I'm thinking 6 months or less. Then I might consider Japan for a year or so. If I could make Japan or SK money in Mexico or South America I'd probably live the rest of my life there though.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[geaaronson]

If you are concerned that you would be moving to a part of the world in which your age group is not adequately represented among the English teaching crowd, I believe that would present no problem for you.
What I have seen here in Merida, Yucatan, MX, is that there are two age medians for ESL instructors. The first is between 26 and 32, the second well over 40. There seems to be a dearth of teachers from abroad in the age group between 35 and 45.
The younger crowd is here for the experience of a lifetime, learning new cultures, seeing the world, meeting new people. Their concerns for monetary rewards are minimal. Nevertheless, they are able to save money and travel, sometimes to another country in Europe or Asia and start over again with another ESL stint.
The older group have banked money and the economic pressures are not immediately pressing. Their concerns is that they will have enough in retirement to travel without working, dining out at better restaurants and indulging in long lost avocational interests.
If on the other hand you are concerned about the age issue as you are uncertain whether at your ADVANCED AGE you should be thinking of saving for retirement, etc. or capital formation to start your own business, that is another matter. Keep in mind that if you after 10 years of teaching ESL in a Latin American country you should have accumulated at the very least $15,000 in savings, enough to start a small business here. Start up costs here in LA are not going to cost you what they cost you in the States or Canada. So whether you want to start an expresso bar, a bookstore, a touring company, a new language school, or what not, you will be able to do exactly that.

[mapache]

Your age should not be a problem. If you were older it might be. Owners here don't like to hire people over 54 if they provide health insurance because the insurance is higher for older people. There are no effective age, race, sexual orientation or gender discrimination laws in Mexico (even if they are on the Federal books, the states won't enforce them). People openly advertise for either a male or female and often include age ranges from 18 - 44. On the other hand, the perception is that older people are more likely to be stable. Good luck saving any money and making a comfortable living in Mexico. If you want to save money, I hear teaching in Korea offers a comfortable standard of living and the ability to save money.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[ls650]

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[business2300]

I'm at retirement age, and finding it difficult to get past my age factor in interviews. Do schools shy away from hiring retired individuals?

[chola]

Hi. Just my two pesos worth. I lived in Mexico and taught for one year and I am no spring chicken. It was great; not always, but usually. However, if you are concerned about money, consider this: unless you have a nice little nest egg or a soft place to fall when you decide to come home, you will find resettling after working in Mexico, or any other L.A. economy....a challenge.

In other words, when you get back home, you will find you have not got any money to count on unless you had some saved previous to your time teaching abroad, for the purpose of resettling. I would suggest you go somewhere more lucrative and save some money then.....onto LA for the livestyle. But, maybe you're in a position to not worry about that. Best Wishes, go for it!

[reddevil79]

I was going to bump up my old thread, but saw this one�

I asked a similar question last year on this forum, but didn�t get too much feedback. Are any teachers out there saving for retirement, especially the 30+ age group? Do you have pension plans, trust funds, or what? I currently keep up my British National Insurance contributions, but I am looking to put aside more money to be honest. I have asked some Mexicans around here, but seems they are less worried about it (then again, you could say that about a lot of things!).

I remember one person on this forum replied saying that he/she was looking to invest their money (houses, business) as opposed to putting it into a pension. Or maybe it�s just too difficult to plan for your future on Tefling in Mexico�

[MamaOaxaca]

I'm 34 years old.
For the time being, it is my intention to live out the rest of my life in Mexico. I've been working in Mexico for nearly 9 years
I have about 100,000 pesos in my Afore!
I took my Infonavit credit and bought a house, that I have already half way paid off. I have almost 12,000 dollars in savings from the 18 months I worked in Japan previous to arriving in Mexico. I just recently pulled it out of a mutual fund in the US because one it hasn't done much in the past 8 years and two I decided I didn't want to own little bits of American companies. I looking into buying additional land here in Mexico. I'm also investigating the possiblity of starting a business with one of my former students. For the mean time I deposited into my Afore on the voluntary contributions side. You can take that back out after 6 months if you want and my Afore currently has 10% interest! I should have done that 9 years ago! But at that time I didn't intend to live out my life in Mexico.

[thelmadatter]

I am 42 and I am in Mexico for the long haul.

Mama... I dont trust Afore as much as you. Like Social Security in the States, Im going to assume it will go belly-up before I am old enough to benefit. If Im wrong, great!

Like you, I believe home ownership is important. Im working towards buy a place right now. (but in DF .. me no likes the suburbs) I have an IRA in the States with decent money in it. Yeah, the mutual fund its has been in is a bit flat lately, but Ill leave it there for now.

I have another concern in that unless I meet some rich principe azul (yeah right!), I wont really have family to rely on when Im old. My son lives in the States and my biggest concern for him is that he can take care of himself (he is mildly special needs).

So I save as much as I can. Fortunately for me, my needs/desires are pretty simple. But with a paid-for house (or in my case apt) I should have fewer worries. But I also intend to keep working (part time at least) until I really cannot do so anymore. I cant imagine being fully retired. Id get really bored.

[FreddyM]