Job Discussion Forums

sidjameson · Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Posts: 629 Location: osaka

Simple request. How old are you now and what do you hope to be doing at 50.

I know it's far off for some, but like a man crossing the desert, it's best to have even a basic idea of the direction that you're going in.

Me: 39. By 50 I definitely want to be out of teaching. Freed from the "need" to work. Probably living in a cheap country and hopefully doing all the things that up until now I've been to lazy to do. Running a business, learning a musical instrument, reading more come to mind.

Oh if you are over 50 then I guess 60 for you. Much over that and I guess you don't have t worry about it. Smile

zorro (3) · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 202

I want to have found the answer to what I want to do before I'm fifty, and then have acted on it.

John Hall · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:59 pm Post subject:

I'm 42. In Canada, my 80-year-old dad is retired, and plays golf in the summer, curls in the winter (that refers to the sport of curling, for those of you who aren't Canadian!), and plays cards with friends all year round. He seems to like it; but I wouldn't be able to stand that. Having no purpose in life would drive me crazy. I will teach for as long as I can. I might get into some other line of work too.

I have always believed that your interests should be in your work, not outside of your work. That way, you will neither want nor need to retire.

Furthermore, studies show that those who remain active and useful in life live much longer than those who don't have much to do in their later years. I intend to be around for a long time. Wink

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

I might be teaching, I might not - who knows? If someone had told me five years ago that I'd be teaching in Mexico I'd have said no way. I don't think you can really plan your life out in detail like that - or at least if you do, it's likely a very boring life.

tedkarma · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:05 am Post subject:

Uh . . . let's see if I can remember that far back Sad

I think I wanted to have my home on a tropical island - to be enjoying my life and to semi-retire (I never want to REALLY retire) by the age of 55.

Home on tropical island: check

Semi-retire when age 55: due in about three months - and will do it.

So . . . TEFL CAN get you there!

jpvanderwerf2001 · Joined: 02 Oct 2003 Posts: 1117 Location: New York

Semi-retire (maybe 10-12 hours/week). Tropical beach(or at least: short winters). Hundreds of books to read. Have the grandkids over for a few weeks a year.
That sounds really nice to me.

jammish · Joined: 17 Nov 2005 Posts: 1704

Running a bar on the beach in Thailand, with income supplemented by the rent from my 9 houses in China. Cool

QatarChic · Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 445 Location: Qatar

I'm 31 now- have no idea what I'll be doing at 50 Shocked

I prefer to take each day at a time.......

karinb · Joined: 05 Feb 2006 Posts: 33

I'm 21 and cannot even imagine more than doubling my years of life Shocked

I hear it all goes by fast, but yeah. No idea!

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

SueH · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1022 Location: Northern Italy

What a cruel question for those of us (just) over 50! I'm a career changer and pensioner teaching in Italy, and slightly hampered by the fact that I don't want a poorly paid job in a language school. I'd rather maintain flexibility with my time (particularly during the ski season!), and do fewer hours at a better rate. The problem is the variability of private work or getting contracts direct with training providers.

There's plenty of things I can and do do with my time - improve my Italian, musical instrument ability, reading, mountain walking.. ad infinitum, but I find that if I have a reasonable level of lessons I use my spare time much more efficiently. When times are quiet I waste time and it's difficult to motivate myself.

As for the medium term future, I rather fancy buying a small yacht and cruising the Mediterranean, but as I wouldn't want to be a single-hander the prospects look slim!

Teacher in Rome · Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 1286

Hang on in there Sue! You never know who you might meet who has a yen to sail the Med...

kuberkat · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Posts: 358 Location: Oman

I'm 31 and I've always kinda considered TEFLing as semi-retirement. Though it hasn't always worked out that way, I have usually had enough free time for studies, intricate hobbies and annual travels.

29 years from now I will be dividing my time between the branches of my international holistic eco-retreats in Knysna, Bali, Kerala, Provence and New Mexico. There will also be brief stays at the London pad for the occasional tete-a-tete with my multimedia digital publisher, and the Greenwich Village loft during the occasional satellite-broadcast performance. The Paris pied-a-terre will be strictly for gastronomic adventures. For book signings in other cities I'll just stay in envirotels.

Yup, amazing what you can do with the transferrable skills from teaching.

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

guty · Joined: 10 Apr 2003 Posts: 365 Location: on holiday

kuberkat,
you will need a good accountant anyway.