I am currently a 43 year old Special Education teacher for middle school (4th year teaching after being a home daycare provider for 11 years) and I am considering taking a state job working with disabled adults. I am comparing retirement and salary to aid in my decision; along with job satisfaction of course.
Salary:
Teaching-
next year=53415
55309
61345
62844
65822
max out after another 7 years to 78079
State job-
next year=51852
Maximum salary around 73000
2% raises per year or often no raise (the state employees just came off a wage freeze of 3 years)
Both jobs offer retirement in the form of pension plans, the option for a 403B with no employer match is available at both positions. The comparable pension plans are:
State- 3% employee contribution, 11.12% state contribution
Teaching-11.75% yearly employee contribution, 12.75% yearly employer contribution
I will likely need to work until the age of 65 due to my disabled child's needs unless the health care system in our country has a complete overhaul. I would like any advice available.