Job Discussion Forums

[Professor]

Is is even possible to have a retirement if one stays in the EFL field? I know it is for those who have SS checks coming in every month from the evil United States and for those who 'help' the newbies by offering them a course in teaching, or for those with some type of trust fund.
But for the ones who actually TEACH EFL for a living, is it possible?? If so feel free to throw some ideas this way.

[TeresaLopez]

I guess it requires some planning, just like any other profession. We have a small house in a small town in Zacatecas and are planning on building a small cabin on the land, probably in the next year or so, and renting it out, either just as a guesthouse, or to someone who is interested in an immersion Spanish course. We have also considered opening a small business of some kind, we wouldn't need to earn much, as my husband's cousin has several differet places she owns that she would let us use for free. With the expansion of internet based jobs, some kind of tele-communting job might be possible. Ironically, the interet is faster there than here.

[Professor]

So there is NO retirement plans in Mexico except real estate and owing your own business (with all the risks tha enatails)?? EFL teaching ALONE doesn't work??

[Prof.Gringo]

[geaaronson]

There`s a few opening with the ZETAS. They are always in need of a gringo or two to expedite transactions.

[TeresaLopez]

[Guy Courchesne]

What other options are there for retirement? Investing maybe, but EFL doesn't pay nearly enough to sock away much. In EFL you'd have to work hard on professional development but even then, the career path leads you to either owning/operating your own school or management of another one.

Playadelsoul could maybe answer this one best with regards to Harmon Hall and what the ladder is like there. I wouldn't expect it to lead to riches.

[Professor]

[Guy Courchesne]

[MotherF]

I've got quite a bit of money in my AFORE at this point. I realize that if the peso should crash again, that will go up in smoke, but it's something.
I also had the good sense to marry someone with greater earning power.

[gregd75]

Oh come on! Lets look at this objectively... I don't think this question, concerning lack of retirement prospects applies to the EFL career in isolation.

In Mexico, in the USA and in Europe there are several industries / fields that are not providing a secure plan for the future. Just look at France where civil servants are protesting against the government because they want to raise the retirement age.

It just goes to show that Each individual needs to take ownership of their future. The problem is that we live in a credit society and we want it all NOW. Buying property, investing or doing something with the money you earn is a discipline.

Its no different in the case of EFL.

As for the comment concerning language schools that don't pay on time. Theres a simple solution. QUIT.

[Rodrigo]

[TeresaLopez]

[TeresaLopez]

[geaaronson]

I have never had a student fail to pay me, although one did pay me one week late. She actually tried to weasel out of paying for the first class as she had gotten me a good lead on another prospective student.

Regardless, I have worked for recruiters who have failed to collect from their classes, and this is no reflection on the services rendered. In one case, a Mexican teacher and I were teaching two conversational Business English classes to 8 students apiece in a business out on Bosque de Lomas. Students were ecstatic. They loved Guadeloupa and myself. Couldn`t have asked for better students as everything clicked all around.

As the company did not pay for the classes, one student was designated as the tuition collector. He had the superior position in the company and was boss to my other students. By the third month, he was withholding money, claiming holidays that did not exist, and otherwise embezzling his peers payments to a large percentage. The recruiter had enough of him and the two had a blowout over the phone.

The upshot was that Guadeloupa and I got paid but the recruiter was cheated out of a month and a half of pay. This is a woman with a very good reputation in the business with fantastic accounts.


So whoever made the snide comment about pretend money for pretend work needs to get real. There are cheats out there, everywhere, and the fact that a client does not pay does not reflect on the services rendered.

To get back to the point.

You might think seriously about opening a mutual fund in the US that requres 30 days notice to withdraw moneys. This would make it difficult for you to take the money out, leaving it all in the account until you retire.
Only put the amount of money that you feel comfortable doing so. If its only 500 pesos a month, start with that and over the years as your business income increases, up the amount.

At the age of 42 you must have worked in the USA for at least 10 years, 40 quarters. That, I believe, is the minimum amount of time you must work in the US in order to receive SS. SS sends you a yearly statement as to how much you are eligible to receive so they should have already sent you such a statement. But as since you are now residing in Mexico, they would not necessarily send you such a statement to here. My own statements stopped as soon as my postal forwarding expired after the first year of my move.