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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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 Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 8:11 am Post subject: |
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11. The ability to rent a place without credit checks, rent histories, employment histories, leases, realtors, lawyers, UNREALISTICALLY HIGH RENTS, etc. that almost all US landlords seem to expect.
Just pay 4,000 NTD, maybe a small 2,000 NTD security deposit, and move in. Hand the fangdong 4,000 NTD every month I want to continue living there. Simple.
My sister just got screwed. She paid between (US) $2,000 and $3,000, only to find out that someone was just brutally murdered in her apartment right before her move-in date. Too bad. She can't get out of it. It's not illegal in the US to fail to tell a tenant something like that.
If I found out someone had been brutally bludgeoned to death in my apartment, I could just stop paying rent and move out in five days. However, she had to sign a one-year contract and can't recover any of her money if she decides to do this.
As much as Taiwanese newspapers lament the lack of affordable housing, I'm not seeing it. My place is 4K per month with a 2K deposit. It's run-down and spartan, but hey, try finding a place for that price in the US... |
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KaiFeng
Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 89
Location: At the top of the food chain.
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 11:07 pm Post subject: |
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1. Great opportunities to make excellent money.
2. Low taxes.
3. US Foreign Earned Income exclusion.
4. Studying Mandarin.
5. Easy availability of good texts for studying Classical Chinese.
6. The plucky spirit of the people.
7. The intense atmosphere of life in Type-A.
8. The many intense, committed business professionals I have had the pleasure of working with.
9. The great scenery of Hualien.
10. It's where my wife is from.
11. The National Palace Museum. |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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| KaiFeng wrote: |
1. Great opportunities to make excellent money.
2. Low taxes. |
Yeah, my friends in the US are just green with envy when I tell them I make $950 a month after paying 20% taxes!  |
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KaiFeng
Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 89
Location: At the top of the food chain.
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| Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
| KaiFeng wrote: |
1. Great opportunities to make excellent money.
2. Low taxes. |
Yeah, my friends in the US are just green with envy when I tell them I make $950 a month after paying 20% taxes! |
Yo! You're obviously not trying! |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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| KaiFeng wrote: |
| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
| KaiFeng wrote: |
1. Great opportunities to make excellent money.
2. Low taxes. |
Yeah, my friends in the US are just green with envy when I tell them I make $950 a month after paying 20% taxes! |
Yo! You're obviously not trying! |
Yo!
Do the math!
Even if someone "tries" (unlike me) and teaches 30 hours a week, that's still less than $1,900 a month.
600 NTD per hour * 30 hours maximum per week * 4 weeks in a month * 0.80 (20% tax) = 57,600 NTD!
That's $1,827.13!
Not exactly corporate exec pay...
Now, before you get into the whole "but it's nicer here and the cost of living is so low," that's not what I'm arguing with. I'm arguing with your "excellent money" and "low taxes" statements. |
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KaiFeng
Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 89
Location: At the top of the food chain.
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| Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 9:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
| KaiFeng wrote: |
| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
| KaiFeng wrote: |
1. Great opportunities to make excellent money.
2. Low taxes. |
Yeah, my friends in the US are just green with envy when I tell them I make $950 a month after paying 20% taxes! |
Yo! You're obviously not trying! |
Yo!
Do the math!
Even if someone "tries" (unlike me) and teaches 30 hours a week, that's still less than $1,900 a month.
600 NTD per hour * 30 hours maximum per week * 4 weeks in a month * 0.80 (20% tax) = 57,600 NTD!
That's $1,827.13!
Not exactly corporate exec pay...
Now, before you get into the whole "but it's nicer here and the cost of living is so low," that's not what I'm arguing with. I'm arguing with your "excellent money" and "low taxes" statements. |
Yo! You're still not trying! And I don't dispute your numbers at all!
When I was in Taiwan it was as a "language consultant", not an English teacher, for big multinationals, mostly pharma, finance, and consumer goods. This involved some classroom work, some one-on-one, some editing/writing/translating, and some executive coaching. Over the years I structured my portfolio of clients so that they were mostly within a square comprising Min-ch'uan E. Rd., Tun-Hua N. Rd., Sung-Chiang Rd., and Ch'ang-an E. Rd. That way I could quickly travel from A to B without incurring too much taxi charge overhead. With these companies I charged $1400-$1600 an hour, and my day started at 7:00 and went to 8:00. Plus I worked half of Saturday. Nearly all my work was in corporate settings, and I never had any pushback on my rates. I'd have to go back and review my numbers, but I'd say mine were almost all long-term clients (three years or more), with low turnover. Every time I _did_ add a new company, I'd add NT$150 or NT$200 to the hourly rate. That way over time you increased your revenue from your gradually evolving client base.
The daily schedule looked something like this (on average):
1. 7:00-8:00: early morning editing/teaching
2. 8:30-9:30: early morning corporate class
3. 10:00-12:00: editing/translation at a media outlet (paid less, but it got my work permit and health insurance)
4. 12:15-1:45: lunchtime corporate class
5. 2:30-4:30: miscellaneous clients, usually one-on-ones
6. 5:00-6:30: corporate class
7. 6:30-8:00: corporate class
Not all days were as perfect as the one above, but you get the idea. *Sigh* they were long, hard years. Especially in the years after we bought our place and I had to pay the mortgage. TBH, there are years of my life from the 80s and 90s when all I remember vividly was the dark sky when I left in the morning and the dark sky when I got home, and listening to my walkman. But I was a professional. I had to keep going. Any time I was "too busy" for an assignment or a client, I knew someone else would be happy to snatch it away or get a foot in the door with one of my clients. For several years I taught a class in Taoyuan (I grew to like it, cuz I could teach it mostly in Chinese). Even with the company driver they provided it was a loss leader due to the transportation time. However, had I balked, they could have found someone else in a flash, and soon that person would be asking if they had any extra hours in Taipei they needed covered....
I also did a lot of editing and translation. The key for efficient translation was to work with my Taiwanese wife. Even though my Chinese is very good, hers was perfect, so for translation, she'd read the meaning of the text out loud and I'd write the English text. Yo! Almost no dictionary time! Also, I had non-salary project work paid to her so it would not show up under my name for local taxes. And there was miscellaneous income- one great company paid me NT$20,000 a month on retainer to edit stuff.
Obviously I did not hit the ground running with this. It took years to refine and tweak, especially the geographical aspects of it. And this is only possible in a corporate setting. Schools, private and public, come nowhere near this, obviously, as we read every day on this forum. But you get the idea. By the end of my time in Taiwan I was making about US$10,000 a month. That's roughly $2500 a week, or just $500 a day, spread over ten hours (less, considering I also worked half-Saturdays and also had projects). Mind you, there were busier days and emptier days, but empty blocks of time I would fill with editing and translation work. Exchange rates have changed a bit over time. So, yes, making a lot of money in Taiwan is not impossible. My mortgage was around $2500 a month (a lot more fifteen years ago than it is now), but other expenses were (to me) very moderate. Taxis were a major expenditure, of course. There was food and eating out. Kids take up cash like you wouldn't believe! Business expenses for me were subs to Fortune, BusinessWeek, etc., a couple of suits a year, a cell phone, and a notebook. You should have a small professional library as well, and not just the usual ESL stuff like Lexicarry and Azar and NorthStar, but books like "Wall Street Words", "How To Make It Big As A Consultant", and Charles Karrass, as well.
As far as taxes go, my Taiwan taxes were affected by my long-time residence, the way I structured fees, with few deductions (my wife did the taxes, so I can't remember if we had a mortgage interest deduction or not). In the states now, I make just over $100K, and have property taxes, Social Security taxes, state taxes, and federal taxes. Sales taxes too, but the amount corresponds roughly to the Taiwanese VAT. I'd take my effective Taiwanese tax rate in a heart beat.
So, Roost, it can indeed be done. I did it for more than fifteen years, and I'm planning on doing it again when my kids finish college. |
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JZer
Joined: 16 Jan 2005
Posts: 3898
Location: Pittsburgh
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| Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 1:23 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Yo!
Do the math!
Even if someone "tries" (unlike me) and teaches 30 hours a week, that's still less than $1,900 a month.
600 NTD per hour * 30 hours maximum per week * 4 weeks in a month * 0.80 (20% tax) = 57,600 NTD!
That's $1,827.13!
Not exactly corporate exec pay...
Now, before you get into the whole "but it's nicer here and the cost of living is so low," that's not what I'm arguing with. I'm arguing with your "excellent money" and "low taxes" statements. |
Except that you do not pay 20 percent every month and when you pay 20 percent you eventually get it back. |
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zipper
Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 237
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| Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 5:06 am Post subject: |
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| KaiFeng wrote: |
Yo! You're still not trying! And I don't dispute your numbers at all!
When I was in Taiwan it was as a "language consultant", not an English teacher, for big multinationals, mostly pharma, finance, and consumer goods. This involved some classroom work, some one-on-one, some editing/writing/translating, and some executive coaching. Over the years I structured my portfolio of clients so that they were mostly within a square comprising Min-ch'uan E. Rd., Tun-Hua N. Rd., Sung-Chiang Rd., and Ch'ang-an E. Rd. That way I could quickly travel from A to B without incurring too much taxi charge overhead. With these companies I charged $1400-$1600 an hour, and my day started at 7:00 and went to 8:00. Plus I worked half of Saturday. Nearly all my work was in corporate settings, and I never had any pushback on my rates. I'd have to go back and review my numbers, but I'd say mine were almost all long-term clients (three years or more), with low turnover. Every time I _did_ add a new company, I'd add NT$150 or NT$200 to the hourly rate. That way over time you increased your revenue from your gradually evolving client base.
The daily schedule looked something like this (on average):
1. 7:00-8:00: early morning editing/teaching
2. 8:30-9:30: early morning corporate class
3. 10:00-12:00: editing/translation at a media outlet (paid less, but it got my work permit and health insurance)
4. 12:15-1:45: lunchtime corporate class
5. 2:30-4:30: miscellaneous clients, usually one-on-ones
6. 5:00-6:30: corporate class
7. 6:30-8:00: corporate class
Not all days were as perfect as the one above, but you get the idea. *Sigh* they were long, hard years. Especially in the years after we bought our place and I had to pay the mortgage. TBH, there are years of my life from the 80s and 90s when all I remember vividly was the dark sky when I left in the morning and the dark sky when I got home, and listening to my walkman. But I was a professional. I had to keep going. Any time I was "too busy" for an assignment or a client, I knew someone else would be happy to snatch it away or get a foot in the door with one of my clients. For several years I taught a class in Taoyuan (I grew to like it, cuz I could teach it mostly in Chinese). Even with the company driver they provided it was a loss leader due to the transportation time. However, had I balked, they could have found someone else in a flash, and soon that person would be asking if they had any extra hours in Taipei they needed covered....
I also did a lot of editing and translation. The key for efficient translation was to work with my Taiwanese wife. Even though my Chinese is very good, hers was perfect, so for translation, she'd read the meaning of the text out loud and I'd write the English text. Yo! Almost no dictionary time! Also, I had non-salary project work paid to her so it would not show up under my name for local taxes. And there was miscellaneous income- one great company paid me NT$20,000 a month on retainer to edit stuff.
Obviously I did not hit the ground running with this. It took years to refine and tweak, especially the geographical aspects of it. And this is only possible in a corporate setting. Schools, private and public, come nowhere near this, obviously, as we read every day on this forum. But you get the idea. By the end of my time in Taiwan I was making about US$10,000 a month. That's roughly $2500 a week, or just $500 a day, spread over ten hours (less, considering I also worked half-Saturdays and also had projects). Mind you, there were busier days and emptier days, but empty blocks of time I would fill with editing and translation work. Exchange rates have changed a bit over time. So, yes, making a lot of money in Taiwan is not impossible. My mortgage was around $2500 a month (a lot more fifteen years ago than it is now), but other expenses were (to me) very moderate. Taxis were a major expenditure, of course. There was food and eating out. Kids take up cash like you wouldn't believe! Business expenses for me were subs to Fortune, BusinessWeek, etc., a couple of suits a year, a cell phone, and a notebook. You should have a small professional library as well, and not just the usual ESL stuff like Lexicarry and Azar and NorthStar, but books like "Wall Street Words", "How To Make It Big As A Consultant", and Charles Karrass, as well.
As far as taxes go, my Taiwan taxes were affected by my long-time residence, the way I structured fees, with few deductions (my wife did the taxes, so I can't remember if we had a mortgage interest deduction or not). In the states now, I make just over $100K, and have property taxes, Social Security taxes, state taxes, and federal taxes. Sales taxes too, but the amount corresponds roughly to the Taiwanese VAT. I'd take my effective Taiwanese tax rate in a heart beat.
So, Roost, it can indeed be done. I did it for more than fifteen years, and I'm planning on doing it again when my kids finish college. |
Thanks for sharing your experience. It is very inspirational. In a big city like Taipei the sky is the ceiling. I remember getting good gigs for 1000 NT an hour in Taipei back in the early nineties. The internet didn�t exist back then, yet; and teaching in Taiwan was a best kept secrete. Now the competition is incredible. What kind of advice would you have for someone living in a small town outside of ChangHua County? Like you, I am married to a Taiwanese, but we are still trying to figure out if there is a future in Taiwan for English Language consulting. |
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KaiFeng
Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 89
Location: At the top of the food chain.
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| Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 10:56 am Post subject: |
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Zip, I lived in Sanchung and commuted every day for ten or so years of my time. Let me give this some thought for a day or so. Some immediate thoughts, assuming you don't move-
- Look for local electronics companies that need manuals/flyers/_business_docs_/etc., in good English. Send a couple of samples and offer editing/translation services. Go for hourly rates on this, or charge by the project.
- Do the same thing for doctors/lawyers. They also need sevices like this: doctors to publish articles, and lawyers to snag foreign clients.
- In fact they do not need to be local to your area.
- If there is a local business community group/meeting, join this. It's a great way to network, and people are generally more willing to do business with people they know.
- I have an awesome idea about self-promotion I'll write down this evening. It's from a great book "Networking with the Affluent".
The first thing I would do is consider moving within striking distance of the target markets. |
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zipper
Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 237
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| Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 11:36 am Post subject: |
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Awesome advice. I have one step out of the way; that is �name cards� In a couple of weeks from now, I think that I will hit the road and visit some of the venues you described and suggested. I mean, what do I have to lose from knocking on doors and fitting myself into an opportunity? Rejection? Hell, I am just too old to care about rejection anymore.
I have a lot of experience with mechanical and technical language in the medical field as well. Like you say, we have to apply ourselves, and get rid of our negativity, pessimism and lack of self confidence.
It�s hot and humid here. Would you recommend a tie and sports jacket in this kind of weather? Okay, this is probably a silly question.
Being just an ESL teacher in this game just doesn�t earn enough meat to keep the family cat fed nowadays.
Thanks chief for your advice and for sharing your wisdom with us. |
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KaiFeng
Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 89
Location: At the top of the food chain.
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| Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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Many thanks, Zip, and rock on!
Hee's what I was referring to earlier:
You need some sort of web site to do this. Rudimentary is okay. And of course a web site is also okay for self-promotion, too. Do the following about once a month.
1. Find someone in your area you would like to do business with. A person or a particular business area. It should be someone easy to see, and well-regarded/known in this field.
2. Contact that person as follows: "I use a web site to reach out to my clients, and I am always looking for content that would have value for them. As it is, I have a lot of viewers at my web site who are interested in your service/line of work, and I believe that they would be quite interested to hear your views on the economy/current trends in this field/how you have been successful/what they can learn from your success/etc. Could I swing by your office for an interview?" Who's going to say no to this?
3. Prepare some good questions, including some which allow your target to present him/herself in a positive light.
4. Edit and upload these, along with a picture from your target, on your web site. The old-style Playboy interviews are a good example of the style to go for. "It was hard to get time on Wang Ch'un-ming's calendar; he's always got someone pitching crazy ideas, asking for guidance, or needing help putting out a fire. But he obviously thrives on the action, and after a few minutes things quiet down for our interview. Over steaming cups of his favorite Oolong tea, with a small plate of melon seeds, this self-made chopstick entrepreneur waxed philosophical as he surveyed his career and plans for the future."
At some point you'll have your target ask you something like "There must be something I can do for you".
Respond like this: "Like you, I'm working to expand my work. I wonder if you could recommend anyone that I could contact, using your name?". Collect names. Then reach out to these people, saying something like "Recently I was discussing business with Mr. Wang Ch'un-ming and he mentioned you as someone I ought to connect with". Then you explain what you're looking to sell: training, editing, translating, writing, executive development, etc. Even if this person does not want to engage you, ask for a few references. Then repeat the process.
This is a great way to make contacts. It's adapted from Networking with the Affluent, an awesome book with many other great ideas.
The other thing is, every time you see bad English in an ad or article, don't just chuckle. Instead, clip it, correct it, and send these before-and-afters to the company that made the error. Explain you do stuff like this all the time, and you'd be pleased to help them with their language needs. I did this simple thing myself, and it landed one of the biggest clients of my career.
Ties and stuff...I loathe them, but I wore then all the time, along with good shoes. My wife loved this. I remember lots of business people wore business casual during the summer; I'd go with that. The big thing is to look like the money you want to reach. Lawyers do the exact same thing: dress like a million, and charge a few thousand.
I have some more ideas on my blog site- the-esl-life.blogspot.com. It goes back to 2006, but most of it is timeless.
Good luck!! Let us know how things are going. |
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zipper
Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 237
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| Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 7:37 am Post subject: |
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KaiFeng:
Your coaching is helpful. I have recently thought about creating a web page, but I don�t know how to go about creating one. Taking on the role of a journalist, interviewing a company executive, publishing their thoughts and following it up is a splendid and worthy idea. With this sort of effort, we could make friends in high places where mutual business opportunities may follow. The networking possibilities one could achieve later on sounds like it could be personally and financially rewarding.
Your �before and after� advice is brilliant. In fact, I have recently visited a company that could use an English pamphlet overhaul. If you haven�t mentioned this, I would have never thought about it; so another big star for you. I am going to visit the company again and review their display literature and information. I think that it would be helpful to them, since they export their products to English speaking countries. What a golden idea, and perhaps an opportunity!
I think that your ideas are so spot-on that I have cut and pasted these posts, and I am going to implement this business activity in June, because I am finishing up some business at the moment. I can�t wait. I am so eager to get out there and hustle using the techniques you have shared with us.
I agree that we should look and act the role. My wife balks at me every time I want to dress up, because she always wants me to look like a teenager or something. I don�t know. She is a funny gal, but smart, caring and loyal. I will recruit her fluent skills to help me with the translating part.
I will visit your blog site as well and see what else I can contribute and learn for it.
Thanks for being so generous, helpful and motivating. I believe that people like you that share so much will always be successful and happy. I will let you know how it turns out after I conduct my first interview with a CEO or company rep; whether it�s productive or not.  |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 7:42 am Post subject: |
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| Okay, KaiFeng, I concede that you are correct that there is excellent money here if you go beyond the standard buxiban teaching. I would still argue with anyone who claims buxiban are lucrative, but I'm sure that if you become bilingual, have a great deal of experience, take business initiatives on your own, and network with affluent people, it can be quite lucrative here. I won't be in Taiwan long enough to do something like what you're doing, but perhaps I'll do it with Japan, where I plan to stay longer. |
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KaiFeng
Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 89
Location: At the top of the food chain.
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| Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 10:16 am Post subject: |
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Zip, I hope there's something helpful in my experiences for you. Post here and let us know, and share your own discoveries, too!
Roost, check out my blog (the-esl-life.blogspot.com) for some ideas that might pay off if you're going to spend some time in Japan. Good luck there; I have always heard that there was great money to be made in Japan. Don't be a stranger! |
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markcmc
Joined: 18 Jan 2010
Posts: 262
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Fri May 21, 2010 9:07 pm Post subject: |
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Working for any school - anywhere - will never be especially lucrative. You need to work for yourself in some way. It's the only way to make money in esl.
Interesting story, Kai Feng. Are you still based in Taiwan? |
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