Why don't more teachers retire as multimillionaires?

[former player]

Set up my wife's 457 last week, sending about half her first year teacher salary to it each month to hit the max next year.

Admin lady double checked with me and then again twice later with my wife that it was the correct amount...if only she knew the other half was going to her 403b

Not quite sure why your wife wasn't doing this for herself, but the result is brilliant.

[Hedge_87]

Great post and can back up that my wife definitely puts in more hours that I do in my engineering job. My weekends /evenings are typically free whereas she spends a lot of them prepping and grading.

I also read about teachers (mainly in the US more than Canada) who end up spending their own money on classroom supplies.  Not only does that mean their green employees are not working for them, but it has to say something about the overall funding of their school system.

Also just wanted to emphasis this, the amount my wife has had to spend on classroom supplies is eye opening, I couldn't believe that she had to pay out of her own pocket...and still here in Kansas Brownback is forever cutting the Education budget!!

Years ago I was in the camp that teachers have it easy with their summer holidays and all, oh how wrong I was. Back in Ireland the pay is better and on a par with many professions but finding a job is near impossible for many young teachers, which sounds similar to TrMama's comments in her area.

I am also married to a teacher in KS. I never realized how much her income she put back into the classroom until we got married and combined all our finances. Now I see it all lol. Lucky for us we are in a position where we are able to "donate" a portion of our income without any problem. I just wish the general public knew about this.

[Sean Og]

Set up my wife's 457 last week, sending about half her first year teacher salary to it each month to hit the max next year.

Admin lady double checked with me and then again twice later with my wife that it was the correct amount...if only she knew the other half was going to her 403b

Not quite sure why your wife wasn't doing this for herself, but the result is brilliant.

My wife is happy to let me manage the household finances and planning as she has little desire to, I just keep her up to speed on the overall plan which we set out together initially.

Likewise she manages other aspects of the household which she enjoys and I have less desire to be so involved with. Works for us and plays to our strengths.

[Sean Og]

I am also married to a teacher in KS. I never realized how much her income she put back into the classroom until we got married and combined all our finances. Now I see it all lol. Lucky for us we are in a position where we are able to "donate" a portion of our income without any problem. I just wish the general public knew about this.

South Central KS here too!

I like your usage of donate, I'll have to start thinking of it like that.

[MrStash2000]

I am thankful that my wife and I have access to both a 403b and 457. Best perk in education!

[libertarian4321]

Every time I hear the tired old NRA "teachers are underpaid/poor/downtrodden" mantra, I kinda wish I could halt the conversation until that teacher puts in one week of doing a job that's really hard and underpaid (rather than teaching, which is well paid and hardly back breaking), where he had to bust his ass for a tiny fraction of what teachers make.

If the teacher survives one week of working a $15/hr construction job, or paramedic job, (to say nothing of a waitress job) then I'll listen to the same ol' "we are underpaid and work to hard and don't have enough benefits and wah wah wah!" bit that we've all heard a million times.

Here's a dose of reality, teachers.  YOU MAKE GOOD MONEY!  Not lifestyles of the rich and famous money, but a whole lot more than the average worker, and even a lot more than many college educated workers.

Just because you make less than doctors, lawyers and engineers does not mean you are poorly paid.

[nereo]

Every time I hear the tired old NRA "teachers are underpaid/poor/downtrodden" mantra, I kinda wish I could halt the conversation until that teacher puts in one week of doing a job that's really hard and underpaid (rather than teaching, which is well paid and hardly back breaking), where he had to bust his ass for a tiny fraction of what teachers make.

If the teacher survives one week of working a $15/hr construction job, or paramedic job, (to say nothing of a waitress job) then I'll listen to the same ol' "we are underpaid and work to hard and don't have enough benefits and wah wah wah!" bit that we've all heard a million times.

Here's a dose of reality, teachers.  YOU MAKE GOOD MONEY!  Not lifestyles of the rich and famous money, but a whole lot more than the average worker, and even a lot more than many college educated workers.

Just because you make less than doctors, lawyers and engineers does not mean you are poorly paid.

Ok, I'll bite.  I've worked road construction, worked for the forestry department (surveying, tagging and chopping trees), been on the line in a restaurant kitchen and worked in aquaculture.  Most recently I've been a teacher.  There's no doubt in my mind that the first four jobs I listed were physically more demanding, but from a strictly financial standpoint I find teaching to be the least financially rewarding.  There's a few reasons for this;  grading, lab-prep and mentoring takes up a large portion of time for which I am not technically paid.  For all those other jobs I was paid for every hour worked, and I never had to worry about doing work when I punched out at the end of the day.  While teaching is rarely physically demanding, it requires a level of constant mental interaction that can be equally exhausting.  Good teachers are always engaged with their students.

Ultimately, though, what makes teaching seem like such an underpaid profession is that it requires a much greater investment in education than the other jobs that either of us listed.  Almost anyone who can feed and clothe themselves can work for the forestry department, work construction or become a server/waitress - but there's a much stricter standard for teachers.  In most cases you must have advanced education, you can't have a criminal record, and you have to pass a bunch of tests.  Right or wrong our society pushes the idea that the greater education equals greater pay. Finally, there's the idea of culpability.  If you are (for example) a construction worker you do what the boss tells you and if you screw up you get yelled at by him and pretty much that's all.  If you are a teacher several dozen students and their parents will bicker and argue with you over ever grade, ever strategy.  In short - you take a lot more heat being a basic teacher than a basic construction worker.