1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Welcome to had a money. I'm Joel, and today we're 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: discussing why teachers aren't doomed to a broke retirement with 3 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: Sean Morgan. Okay, so I'm married into a family of teachers. 4 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: My father in law he's been in the classroom for 5 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: nearly forty years. His wife has taught like thirty years. 6 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: My brother in law is an outstanding Spanish teacher, and 7 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: every one of them truly loves their work. But loving 8 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: your job, it doesn't always pay the bills, or it 9 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: doesn't pay as much as you hope it would. Sometimes 10 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: teaching it requires real sacrifice, especially in today's economy. And 11 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: sure no one becomes a teacher expecting to get rich, 12 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean teacher should feel financially stressed forever 13 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 1: or assume a mediocre retirement is inevitable. Guest Today says 14 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: that the assumption that teachers have to retire poor is 15 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: flat out wrong. Teachers, Yeah, they face some unique financial hurdles, 16 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,119 Speaker 1: but they also have real under used advantages, and when 17 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,399 Speaker 1: you understand them, retiring well is absolutely on the table. 18 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 1: Sean Morgan, he is a full time teacher who's just 19 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: as passionate about teaching personal finance to fellow educators. So 20 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,479 Speaker 1: that so I wanted to bring him on the show today. Sean, 21 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: thanks for joining me. 22 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 2: Happy to be here, all right. 23 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 1: First question I ask everybody who comes on the show, Sean, 24 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: is what do you like to splurge on? I call 25 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: it the craft beer equivalent because some people would say, oh, 26 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: you spend way too much money on craft beer, and 27 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: it's like, no, no, I'm doing it intentionally while I'm saving 28 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: and investing for my future in a smart savvy way. 29 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:40,959 Speaker 1: What would that splurge be for you? 30 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 2: Oh? Man, I have way too many things that I 31 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 2: really like to splurge on. That's part of the problem. 32 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 2: But you know, I think that just getting like a nice, 33 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 2: you know, travel experience is really what I like to 34 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 2: spend my money on. I just got to do a nice, 35 00:01:57,640 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 2: you know, get away trip for my tenth anniversary with 36 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 2: my life and it. First of all, it is great 37 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 2: to be able to say, yes, I'm spending a ton 38 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 2: of money right now, but it's in the budget. So 39 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 2: just like, you know, not skimping on that and really 40 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:14,239 Speaker 2: enjoying that experience, I think is what I like to 41 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 2: spend money on the most. 42 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 1: So okay, gotcha, gotcha? What was this last trip? And 43 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 1: are you is this like an intentional splurge where you're 44 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: saying no to other things and you're like, we're just 45 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:25,959 Speaker 1: funneling a lot of money in this direction because this 46 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: matters a lot to us. 47 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 2: Yeah, So what we've recently done is we cut our 48 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 2: food bill in half by cutting meat out of our 49 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 2: diet and not like entirely, but almost entirely, and just. 50 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: By actually giving prices right now. It's a smart move. 51 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 2: So by just like cutting that down, we're like, we 52 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 2: don't really need to just like shove meat into our 53 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 2: face constantly, and we cut that down. It reduced our 54 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 2: our spending on food drastically, and then we were able 55 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 2: to say, hey, now we have money, we don't have 56 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:57,239 Speaker 2: to stress about going on this anniversary trip that I 57 00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 2: promised my wife years ago we were going to go on. 58 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 2: So that was great. And then we didn't go do 59 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:04,799 Speaker 2: anything crazy, but we just got to ditch the kids 60 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 2: for a weekend and go to San Antonio and just 61 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,919 Speaker 2: enjoy the river walk. And there's some caves in San Antonio. 62 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 2: If anyone likes going down underground like we do, that's 63 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 2: a really nice area to do that. 64 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: So I love that travel beat steak for you. That's great, 65 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: that's great, And that's just what it takes. I mean, 66 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: like truly what it takes to make things work so 67 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: often is like you can't have it all. You have 68 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: to pick something. And I love that you've made an 69 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: intentional choice. And obviously, Sean, you're you're quite interested in 70 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: personal finance and building wealth. I'm sure you knew that 71 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: teaching wasn't going to be this quick path to riches. 72 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: What made you pursue that path anyway? As someone who's 73 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: interested in personal finance. 74 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, So my love of personal finance was always there, 75 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 2: but it's kind of like a latent thing, like just 76 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 2: like I was more frully minded. But when I was young, 77 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 2: I just I loved to learn. Like I was a 78 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 2: little weird, but like someone would come to like work 79 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 2: on like our piano, they tuned the piano, or someone 80 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 2: was like putting in a new internet, you know, lying 81 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 2: at our house, and I just sit there and watch 82 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 2: them work and ask them questions. They probably hated it, 83 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 2: but I was just constantly asking questions. So I just 84 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 2: I love learning. And I realized at a young age 85 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:18,600 Speaker 2: I loved learning so much, I wanted to help others 86 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 2: to love learning too, So that's what drew me into education. 87 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 2: And as soon as I got into education, I just 88 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 2: stumbled into personal finance and found out I had a 89 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 2: passion and a love for personal finance, for the independence 90 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 2: that comes from it. And I told myself, well, I 91 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 2: love teaching, I love personal finance. I'm going to find 92 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 2: a way to make this work. You know, even though 93 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 2: there are so many other paths I could take that 94 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 2: would pay considerably better. I wanted to almost prove myself 95 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 2: that it's possible as a teacher to find your way, 96 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 2: and also because I don't want to give up something 97 00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 2: that I enjoy and love. 98 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, you started off your career you're teaching, but like 99 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: you found yourself, you weren't making much money. You're kind 100 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: of sliding into debt. And is that like a place 101 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: where most teachers find themselves early on, that the salary 102 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: is meager and that they're trying to make ends meet 103 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: and it's incredibly hard, Like, how did you get past 104 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: those early years? 105 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:24,799 Speaker 2: Yeah? So my first year teaching was called teaching intern 106 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 2: which is not something most people do. But instead of 107 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 2: student teaching, I was a full time teacher for a 108 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,000 Speaker 2: whole year and got paid half first year salary teacher salary, 109 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 2: which is like laughably below minimum wage for how much 110 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 2: or I was putting in. But you know, that's kind 111 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,160 Speaker 2: of where I got started. And I was fortunate that 112 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 2: I was able to graduate debt free from school and 113 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 2: have some money saved up during that time, so I 114 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 2: was able to buy a home and all that stuff, 115 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 2: and it is great, and I was like, yes, I've 116 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 2: made it, and I'm going to double my salary next year. 117 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 2: Well I moved and my salary instead of doubling, only 118 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,279 Speaker 2: went up like four hundred bucks a month, So I 119 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,039 Speaker 2: was just making much less than i'd anticipated compared to 120 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 2: what I was. Like, I bought a home that I 121 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 2: could qualify for, so I just was un prepared for 122 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 2: what I was doing. And this home that I, you know, 123 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 2: qualified for was taking half of my take home pay 124 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 2: away every single month, So that alone just made it 125 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 2: not possible. I learned about personal finance like two weeks 126 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 2: into owning this home, and it's like, if I had 127 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 2: learned about this two months ago, I would have made 128 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 2: a better financial decision buying this home. So I think 129 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 2: it's very likely because of the lack of financial education 130 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 2: for starting out teachers that were going to make mistakes 131 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 2: and we're going to end up, you know, going into 132 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 2: to dead or really struggling those first few years. And 133 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 2: I'm not saying that I could have like lived high 134 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 2: on the hog those first few years because it was 135 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 2: tight and and uh, you know, we had a young child, 136 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 2: so my wife wasn't working at the time, which made 137 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 2: it really really difficult. But if I I just made 138 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:02,599 Speaker 2: a better, you know decision in those areas of those 139 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 2: big three you know, you're housing, your transportation, your food. 140 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 2: You know, those are the things that you can really 141 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 2: make smart decisions on at the beginning that can make 142 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 2: it so you're not going to have that struggle. But 143 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 2: because I didn't know about those decisions, I did struggle, 144 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 2: if that makes sense. So yeah, I feel like it's 145 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 2: just you have to have a very intentional plan when 146 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 2: you have such a limited budget, otherwise you're going to struggle. 147 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 2: For sure. 148 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: I feel like we're seeing I've seen more headlines about 149 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: teachers leaving the profession, right, and that is that because 150 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: teaching is harder than ever these days in twenty twenty six. 151 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:44,119 Speaker 1: Is that because the salary is smaller than it should 152 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: be for a lot of teachers. Like what do you 153 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: attribute kind of teachers just kind of choosing to do 154 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: something else and leave the professional together. What do you 155 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: chalk that up to? 156 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think all those are great points. So what 157 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 2: teachers crave most is to feel like they're supported by 158 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 2: their administration, by their parents, by students, right like that 159 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 2: that what they're doing matters to people, and that feeling 160 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 2: has eroded. And there's a few different things that go 161 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 2: to that one. There's just been a general swing towards like, uh, 162 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 2: you know, anything a child says in like an accusation 163 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 2: sense can get pinned on a teacher and the teacher, Like, 164 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,240 Speaker 2: I've just heard some really weird situations where the teacher 165 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 2: is the one that gets thrown under the bus when 166 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 2: something goes wrong. Like I had a friend who made 167 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 2: a joke with a student that he was really comfortable 168 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 2: with and that joke got twisted into something that might 169 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 2: have been racist, and he says, what and then the 170 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 2: next thing you knew he was he lost his job. 171 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 2: He's like that, like, I have no idea what just happened. 172 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 2: He was able to get another job because they're desperate 173 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 2: for teachers all over the place. But it is just 174 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 2: like it's just such a weird situation of no support 175 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 2: from administration, Like there was an accusation and we just 176 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 2: decided to hire you instead of like doing our due 177 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:03,679 Speaker 2: diligence and finding out what really happened. 178 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,079 Speaker 1: It does seemed like back when we were kids, or 179 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 1: when I was a kid, like the assumption was the 180 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: teacher was in the right and the kid was in 181 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: the wrong, And it feels like the shoes on the 182 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: other foot right now. 183 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, So I think that's one of the big ones. 184 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 2: But then the other thing is that we were just 185 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 2: noticing and I personally my personal belief, there's no scientific 186 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 2: data that I've really gone into to back it up, 187 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 2: but just like the prevalence of screens and screen time 188 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 2: and the anxiety that's been demonstrated to come from that, 189 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,439 Speaker 2: things like that are causing a lot of issues with 190 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 2: students as they're going through these very formative years that 191 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 2: are making the lives of the teachers more difficult. So 192 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 2: when you don't have administration backing you up, you have 193 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 2: students who are going through just like increased anxiety and 194 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:54,560 Speaker 2: other problems that are prevalent everywhere. And then on top 195 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 2: of that, our wages aren't going up at the same 196 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 2: pace as inflation. It's just coming down. I'm not paid 197 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 2: enough for this crap, right, That's really what it is. 198 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,199 Speaker 1: What about student loans, Like when a teacher graduates, or 199 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: somebody who wants to be a teacher, they graduate and 200 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: they're like, wait a second, I want to choose this profession, 201 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: but the starting salary look that great, and on top 202 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:18,920 Speaker 1: of that, I've got like this massive backlog of student 203 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: loans that I gotta start paying off. Do you have 204 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: any advice or teachers on that front, as they're like 205 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: starting out a job that might be might not pay 206 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: a ton, and at the same time they've got a 207 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 1: big albatross around their neck that is their student loan debt. 208 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. You know, actually I would say that unless you're 209 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 2: going to get like a significantly higher paying job, if 210 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 2: you have student loans, teaching is probably a much better 211 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 2: choice for you than saying, oh, I can make you know, 212 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,559 Speaker 2: twenty thousand dollars more per year, maybe even thirty. Because 213 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 2: we have this thing called public servant loan forgiveness that 214 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 2: pretty much every teacher qualifies for and what that is 215 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 2: is instead of the regular like twenty year payoff that 216 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:02,480 Speaker 2: a lot of loan forgiveness programs have, you are in 217 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,200 Speaker 2: a ten year track, and on that tenure track, you 218 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,680 Speaker 2: must be in an income driven repayment plan, and especially 219 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 2: in those first ten years of teaching, your income driven 220 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 2: repayment plan is probably gonna be zero or very close 221 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 2: to zero. And then after ten years it's forgiven. And 222 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:20,679 Speaker 2: that forgiveness is tax free, while other forgiveness programs you 223 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 2: get taxed on the forgiven balance. 224 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: So the. 225 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 2: Illusion that if I get a higher paying job, it'll 226 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,959 Speaker 2: be better for me is something that draws people away 227 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 2: from from teaching. With the student loans, But if you can, 228 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 2: you know, push through ten years, it's actually you're gonna 229 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 2: end up paying less out of pocket for that student 230 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 2: loan forgiveness. Usually now, if you have like, you know, 231 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:46,679 Speaker 2: fifteen thousand dollars of student loans, you'll probably be better 232 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 2: off just you know, paying those off. But like the 233 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 2: average balance is like in your thirty forty thousand dollars 234 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:54,599 Speaker 2: for student loan balance you when you come out, and 235 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 2: that range is when it starts to be like, yeah, 236 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 2: that that ten year track is probably better for you, 237 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:04,079 Speaker 2: especially when you have that lower payment, the non taxable 238 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 2: forgiveness and the just that tenure track instead of the 239 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 2: longer track for forgiveness. 240 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: Almost like the more student loans you have, the more 241 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: you should consider being a teacher, because PSLF is such 242 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: like a strong incentive. Right, Yeah, it is. 243 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 2: The hands down best financial forgiveness program for student loans 244 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 2: as far as I'm aware, I haven't found anything that's better. So, 245 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 2: I mean, it doesn't include graduate debts, so just keep 246 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 2: that in mind. That's we're just talking about like bachelor's debts, 247 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 2: but most teachers get in with just that bachelor debt anyway. 248 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: So I'm curious. You have a show podcast called the 249 00:12:38,120 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: Teacher Money Show. Why is money advice for teachers and 250 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,199 Speaker 1: necessity in the first place? Like, where does general personal 251 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: finance advice fall short when we're when we're talking about teachers, 252 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,959 Speaker 1: Why do they need something targeted or towards them directly? 253 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 2: And you know, that's a great question, and first only 254 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,439 Speaker 2: they say most general financial advice does apply very very 255 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,320 Speaker 2: well teachers, because you know, general financial advice is just 256 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 2: good in general, right, but there are a few different 257 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 2: moments that it just doesn't work. The first is the pension. 258 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 2: Most everyone doesn't have a pension anymore, and teachers have pensions, 259 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 2: and a pension just changes your retirement plans offhand. There's 260 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 2: just like so many differences between I'm going to have 261 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 2: a steady paycheck, how much I need because I've got 262 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 2: this coming in every single month is different. I've got 263 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 2: that plus Social Security, so that's different. How do I 264 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,079 Speaker 2: calculate that based on my pension? All the different things 265 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 2: I need to do to get my pension higher, Like you, 266 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 2: just no one talks about those things because those things 267 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 2: are so specific to teachers and public servants generally. 268 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about those things today, yes. 269 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 2: And so that's that's the first one. The second one 270 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 2: is this hustle mentality that a lot of general podcasts have, like, oh, 271 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 2: you just put in more work, you ask for a raise, 272 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 2: you job hop to get a higher bonus on your salary, 273 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 2: things like that. That just doesn't work as a teacher. 274 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 2: Like I've heard of teachers negotiating a higher pay rate, 275 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 2: but because we're so locked into unionized rates and yearly 276 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:09,880 Speaker 2: service step ups and education based step ups, it just 277 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,480 Speaker 2: doesn't make sense to like do that and we don't 278 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 2: get over time. You can't be like, oh, just work 279 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 2: hardering it more overtime and save and things like that. 280 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 2: So those things fall flat and teachers are listening to 281 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 2: those and they're like, oh, what about me? That doesn't 282 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 2: really work. And then the final thing is a lot 283 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 2: of general podcast advice is about like you're ramping up 284 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,520 Speaker 2: that income, and it's just that the trajectory is not 285 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 2: there for teachers. So the focus needs to be much 286 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 2: more on controlling what you have. 287 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: And I do want to talk about how teachers can 288 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: increase their pay because there are ways, right, and yes, 289 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: there are suggestions that you have, so we'll get to 290 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: that in a second. I guess too, there's something else 291 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 1: that you've mentioned that teachers have to overcome. You've called 292 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: it the teacher vow of poverty, and there's just almost 293 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: like this inherent assumption that teachers have that because it 294 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: is this job that's public service oriented, it's for the community, 295 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: it's for the kids, that they assume that they shouldn't 296 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: have money, that they shouldn't build wealth. Almost there's almost 297 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: like this self defeatism towards finances that comes along, not always, 298 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: but for a decent chunk of teachers. What do you 299 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: think that's about. 300 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's you know, the other piece. There's just 301 00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:22,680 Speaker 2: so many different things I could I could ramble probably 302 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,360 Speaker 2: all day about the different things that teachers have to 303 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 2: overcome that are different. But yeah, this is this mindset piece. 304 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 2: I spend a lot of time talking about the mindset 305 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 2: for educators because people in education are told, like the 306 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 2: first thing you say, I'm going to be a teacher, 307 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 2: that say, well, bless your heart, you're just not going 308 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 2: to be paid enough. Right. It's just a really sad. 309 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: At least in the South, that's what they say, right. 310 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 2: In the South. I'm in the South right now, So yeah, 311 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 2: just people assume that teachers are never going to make it, 312 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 2: that you're doing it for They say for the outcome, 313 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 2: not the income, which is just blowney because if any 314 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 2: teacher was told we're not going to pay you anymore, 315 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 2: but do it for the kids, they'd say no, see, yeah, 316 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 2: I'm leaving right. 317 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:03,480 Speaker 1: That's just abuse right there. 318 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 2: That is so we are in it for our income. 319 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 2: We have to be in it for our income so 320 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 2: we can survive, so we can thrive, because thriving teachers 321 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 2: make thriving students. So it's just a really hard mindset 322 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 2: shift out of this. You're being told by administration, by 323 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:19,840 Speaker 2: your friends, by your family, by the people that you 324 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 2: were learning from to become a teacher, you are not 325 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 2: going to be making very much money in your life. 326 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 2: You're going to be poor. But you know that's that's 327 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 2: not why you're here. 328 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: But you get summers off, right. 329 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 2: But hey, you get summers off. That's the constellation price. No, 330 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 2: it's just it's really sad, just like prevalent sidal level 331 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 2: view of teachers that we have to overcome. 332 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: Talk to me about teacher pay, not how much, but 333 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: the cycle of teacher pay, right they isn't it? Teachers 334 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: can usually get paid in over a ten month period, 335 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: or they can stretch those payments out to a twelve 336 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 1: month period. Do teachers usually get to pick how they 337 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: want to get paid? And how does budgeting look different 338 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: for teachers based on the fact that they're not that 339 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: they do have summers off. 340 00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 2: Some districts allow you to choose one or the other. 341 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,200 Speaker 2: For example, where I work, they say you can either 342 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 2: get paid ten months or we can take some money 343 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:12,639 Speaker 2: from your paycheck and put it over twelve. Some say, well, 344 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:14,440 Speaker 2: you're getting ten months, so figure it out. Others say 345 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 2: you're getting twelve months, that's it. So it depends on 346 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 2: where you're working. But you are like when when teachers 347 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 2: say I'm not paid enough compared to other professionals of 348 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 2: like education. I think the first thing we need to 349 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 2: figure out is, well, if we add it in those 350 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,120 Speaker 2: two more months that you're not getting paid for, how 351 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 2: big is the gap Because we are not getting paid 352 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 2: for those two months. Even if we're getting a paycheck 353 00:17:39,119 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 2: over those two months, it's just stretching the ten month 354 00:17:42,119 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 2: work of work over that time period. So I think 355 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 2: a lot of the gap, not all of it, but 356 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 2: a lot of the gap is because of those two 357 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 2: months that we are just straight up not getting paid 358 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 2: for even though we're stretching it. And if you to 359 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 2: go back to your question about budgeting, if you're being 360 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 2: paid over those ten months, it can be really really 361 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:03,160 Speaker 2: stressful if you don't budget for that, because you get 362 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 2: to the summer and now you have to work people 363 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 2: and you know, being a waiter or finding some other 364 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 2: summer job that they have to do to try and 365 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 2: make the bills to meet those bills over the summer. 366 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 2: If they don't budget for that, and since no one's 367 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 2: teaching teachers how to budget for that, like when they're starting, 368 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:23,680 Speaker 2: they're just saying, you get paid over ten months, good luck. 369 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:27,000 Speaker 2: It's a real big issue. But I think most districts 370 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 2: are moving more towards the twelve month just because they 371 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 2: don't want to have teachers feel that stress over the summer. 372 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: Yeah, I feel like there's these other little things that 373 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: are maybe like teachers decorating their classrooms. Man, I love 374 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: walking in and seeing my kids class and like especially 375 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: like kindergarten, right, it's adorable, like the way the classrooms 376 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: decorated and stuff like that. But I know oftentimes or 377 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,120 Speaker 1: I hear stories about teachers putting their own money into 378 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: that because they want the classroom to look awesome for 379 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: the kids and they don't have I guess, enough of 380 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: a budget to make it look the way they want. 381 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 1: And is I think I read somewhere the average teacher 382 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,199 Speaker 1: spends like close to a one thousand dollars right on 383 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 1: classroom spending that comes out of their pocket. So not 384 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,920 Speaker 1: only is it just inferior pay, but then it's also 385 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,720 Speaker 1: these other places where they're if not expected at least 386 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 1: they want to right the for the experience of the kids, 387 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 1: spend a little extra money. How nefarious is that? And 388 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: how often do you see teachers finding themselves spending money 389 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:27,680 Speaker 1: in ways that they didn't expect. 390 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 2: All the time. It's terrible. My philosophy is, if you 391 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 2: are spending money on your classroom, stop it. Don't do it, 392 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 2: because it's never going to change as long as we 393 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 2: continue to spend money on our classroom. So that's the 394 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 2: first thing. The second thing is why are you doing it. 395 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,199 Speaker 2: Most teachers are doing it because the way to not 396 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 2: spend money in your classroom is extra work, Like, well, 397 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:54,920 Speaker 2: I want this, so I'm just going to spend money 398 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 2: on it. And it's easy, you know. You see it 399 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 2: on Amazon, you see it on se and you just 400 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 2: pull out the credit card. But I have never spent 401 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:08,280 Speaker 2: a cent that was mine on my classroom because I 402 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 2: have always asked, how can I get this without paying 403 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 2: for it. Most schools have a small budget for teachers 404 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 2: to spend on their classroom, a couple hundred bucks. It's 405 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 2: not a lot, but the amount of times that doesn't 406 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 2: get used is just insane because you have to go 407 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:28,719 Speaker 2: without some paperwork and say I used it for this 408 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,400 Speaker 2: and then you get the money for or you get 409 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:33,440 Speaker 2: reimbursed for it, something like that. So that's one thing. 410 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 2: Another thing is most departments have funds, Like your social 411 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 2: studies department has money they can spend on social studies stuff, 412 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 2: and people just don't ask the department head, hey, can 413 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 2: I use some of this funds for this? Right? That's 414 00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 2: that simple. Or I had a principal who called us 415 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 2: in and said, we have a discretionary principle fund that 416 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:57,159 Speaker 2: if we don't use it by the end of the year, 417 00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,959 Speaker 2: we're gonna lose it. How are we going to spend this? 418 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 2: Your principle probably has some money that they need to 419 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 2: spend on things that if you ask, you can get it. 420 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 2: There's so many steps you can take in the school 421 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 2: to get things paid for. Now, are they going to 422 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 2: pay for your cute border around your boltin board? Maybe not, 423 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 2: but for a lot of those things, Like they bought 424 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 2: me like six monopoly boards to teach an economics unit with, 425 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 2: Like that's not like a need, but it's something that 426 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 2: I could justify. And then another thing I did is 427 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 2: I applied for a grant. Right, there are grants out 428 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,720 Speaker 2: there for teachers for classrooms a lot of local credit 429 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 2: unions have programs to sponsor teachers, and then beyond that, 430 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,920 Speaker 2: there are organizations that have like websites that you can 431 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 2: set up like hey, I need this for my classroom, 432 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:45,879 Speaker 2: and people can donate to that where you can go 433 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,199 Speaker 2: to your parents and say, hey, parents, we need this 434 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 2: for the classroom. Like there are so many ways, and 435 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 2: if not get creative instead of like buying the poster, 436 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 2: I would like handwrite it on these giant sticky notes 437 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,680 Speaker 2: they had in our lounge, and they're like, look, it's 438 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 2: not pretty, but it gets the information across. And I 439 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:07,160 Speaker 2: refuse to spend my own money, of my underpaid salary 440 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,600 Speaker 2: on this classroom. And just having that mindset of how 441 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 2: can I get it without paying for it is going 442 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,880 Speaker 2: to just allow us to keep more of our paycheck. 443 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:18,959 Speaker 2: And then as people see, hey, these classrooms don't like 444 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 2: look like you know, Disneyland, what's wrong? Is like, oh, 445 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 2: we just don't have the budget for it, And that's 446 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 2: going to motivate people to want to step in and help. 447 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: What about PTA, ever, I feel like our PTA is 448 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: like super active and oftentimes they're kind of going for 449 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: the big bang right kind of stuff where it's like, oh, 450 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:40,640 Speaker 1: we're the STEM teacher, We're gonna make sure they get 451 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,199 Speaker 1: thousands of dollars worth of stuff this year, and they 452 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,480 Speaker 1: kind of highly target that stuff. But there's also I 453 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:49,160 Speaker 1: think teachers can apply right for money from the PTA 454 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 1: as well if they've got an idea or a big 455 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:53,440 Speaker 1: spend they want to make. That's another good place to turn. 456 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 2: Absolutely, and my last little piece of advice is stop 457 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,639 Speaker 2: giving kids candy out of your own pocket. I know 458 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 2: you say bribery works, it only works in the short term. 459 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:07,679 Speaker 1: People also, yes, stop giving my kids candy at school please. 460 00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 2: I'm with you, Sean, So you know I have some 461 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 2: pretty strong opinions about this, but it's just it's the 462 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 2: only way to really have a change is if we 463 00:23:18,359 --> 00:23:19,879 Speaker 2: stop spending our own money. 464 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: All Right, I got more. I want to get to 465 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: with you, Seawan, and specifically I want to talk about 466 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: how teachers can get paid more. There are ways to 467 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 1: go about doing that, and I want to talk about 468 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: teacher retirement plans, the pitfalls and the potential. We'll get 469 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 1: to those that and more with Sean Morgan. Right after this. 470 00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:43,919 Speaker 1: We're back still talking with Sean Morgan talking about teachers 471 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 1: and how men. It sure seems like on its face, 472 00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 1: teachers have this uphill battle not walking to school both ways, 473 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:53,120 Speaker 1: up uphill in the snow. Maybe a little bit, maybe 474 00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: that's what it feels like, I guess for a teacher 475 00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: to dominate retirement, but it's very much possible, and Sean 476 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,800 Speaker 1: helps people inspire teachers to do that very thing. And Sehn, 477 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: I'm curious you talked about how the fact that like 478 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 1: teachers have less ability to negotiating that is like a 479 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,000 Speaker 1: classic personal finance tip is like, go in there and 480 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:10,879 Speaker 1: ask your boss or raise and come prepared in this 481 00:24:11,359 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: way so that you're able to at least like work 482 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,879 Speaker 1: towards getting a bigger paycheck, and maybe a ten percent 483 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: raise in the course of a year is not off 484 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: the table. But for a teacher, much of the time, 485 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:25,959 Speaker 1: it is like pay increases are very prescribed. They're like 486 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: you can't just be like, hen, I want that ten 487 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:29,920 Speaker 1: percent raise, what I have to do to get it? 488 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,879 Speaker 1: How do you think teachers should think about negotiating or 489 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: advocating for a raise when that sort of individual negotiation 490 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: is often off the table. 491 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, So, first of all, I think the first thing 492 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,080 Speaker 2: to ask yourself is what is in my control. What's 493 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,120 Speaker 2: in my control is I'm getting this pay raise every 494 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 2: single year. I can see it. I know what pay 495 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:50,640 Speaker 2: I'm going to have five years from now. It's there, 496 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 2: it's published for everyone to see, which is great. You 497 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 2: don't have that in a lot of places, like if 498 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 2: you don't negotiate for a pay raise in many companies, 499 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 2: you just don't get one. But by law, teachers are 500 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 2: getting to pay raise every single year, And as long 501 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 2: as you're aware of that and you're proactive with it, 502 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 2: you can start putting you know, say half of that 503 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:13,200 Speaker 2: pay raise every single year towards your financial goals. And 504 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 2: over the course of you know, ten twenty years, the 505 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:17,959 Speaker 2: amount of money that starts going towards your financial goals 506 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,320 Speaker 2: because you were intentional about taking a part of that 507 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,359 Speaker 2: pay raise and putting it towards those goals that you 508 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 2: know is coming like it's going to come every single year, 509 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,280 Speaker 2: is a huge step. Now. The other thing that you 510 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 2: can say is, Okay, they're going to pay me for 511 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 2: more time. I can't make time go faster. They're going 512 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 2: to pay me for more education. I have control of that, 513 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 2: and teachers tend to jump in and get education at 514 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 2: the schools they want to go to and they get 515 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 2: like a master's degree at a beautiful place, and that's 516 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 2: so nice, and then it puts you in more debt. 517 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,760 Speaker 2: And was that four thousand dollars a year raise worth it? 518 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:57,639 Speaker 1: Probably not because the cost of the education was too 519 00:25:57,760 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: much for the raise they were getting. 520 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 2: Is that yeah, Yeah, it's just like, if you're going 521 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,399 Speaker 2: to get, you know, twenty thousand dollars in debt for 522 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,200 Speaker 2: four thousand dollars a year raise, Over time, it'll make sense, 523 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 2: but initially that's just not really worth that return on investment. 524 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: How do you make it pay off more quickly? 525 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 2: Then, well, you find a cheaper option. There are so 526 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,680 Speaker 2: many schools that will give you a master's degree for way, 527 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 2: way less than you know, the state school or the 528 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,199 Speaker 2: private university. There's a lot of online options. We can 529 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 2: get a master's degree for a much smaller amount. You 530 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,680 Speaker 2: can get scholarships out there. They are not as many, 531 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 2: but there are out there for graduate studies. There are 532 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 2: so many other options. And then if you are able 533 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,880 Speaker 2: to do like a side hustle and work to earn 534 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 2: the money to be able to pay for it out 535 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 2: of pockets, that where you're not paying interest on the 536 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 2: back end. That makes the return on investment much much higher. 537 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 2: So there's just different ways that you can go about 538 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,320 Speaker 2: getting a master's degree debt free, which is going to 539 00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 2: make that return greater. And you do want that master's degree, 540 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 2: You want that higher pay scale because the difference is 541 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:04,520 Speaker 2: going to make you know for retirement down the line, 542 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 2: which is based on your highest average salary at the 543 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,720 Speaker 2: end of your career, is absolutely worth it. But you 544 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 2: don't want to get into a bunch of debt to 545 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:14,440 Speaker 2: do that. That's the second piece. 546 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 1: So it's gonna like it's gonna help with pay now, 547 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: right if you get your master's degree, but then it's 548 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: also going to help with your bigger paychecks in retirement 549 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, what about what about certifications? Like are 550 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: there are their different certifications that are worth pursuing that 551 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 1: maybe aren't terribly expensive or that you can even can 552 00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: you get those paid for by the school district? And 553 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: will those often lead to I don't know, better pay too. 554 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, So that's a good question. So first of all, 555 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,719 Speaker 2: your school might have a tuition reimbursement program for that 556 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,240 Speaker 2: master's degree that you're going to go for, So ask 557 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,800 Speaker 2: a lot of these things are just asking, but you're 558 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 2: talking about certifications. There is like a National Board certification. 559 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,040 Speaker 2: Some states recognize that, some don't, and they have to 560 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 2: give you a pay race for that. There's also high 561 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,160 Speaker 2: needs areas like special education, math and scien often have 562 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,880 Speaker 2: a stipend with it. It's not high but if you're 563 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:07,080 Speaker 2: interested in math and science like it's it's a no 564 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,520 Speaker 2: brainer to do that, and then you know there are 565 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:12,400 Speaker 2: there are other there's a lot of different things people 566 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,439 Speaker 2: can do. I did say, don't go job hopping, but 567 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 2: there's also a difference in pay from district to district. 568 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,240 Speaker 2: If you can find that sweet spot of this district 569 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 2: pays well, but it's not terribly expensive to live there, 570 00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 2: or I can commute really easily, that is something else 571 00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:30,359 Speaker 2: you can do there. There's some geo arbitrage that can 572 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:35,920 Speaker 2: happen as a teacher, so there's a lot less personal negotiation, 573 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 2: but a lot more like long term planning that goes 574 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 2: into getting the best salary as a teacher. 575 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 1: If you're thinking about moving districts, can't that be can't 576 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: that penalize you from a retirement standpoint, like not having 577 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: as many years served in a particular district like does 578 00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,760 Speaker 1: does like the higher paid bump maybe make less sense 579 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 1: at times if you've been in a particular district for 580 00:28:59,040 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: a longer period of time. 581 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,560 Speaker 2: Yeah, So there's a few different pieces of that. One. 582 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 2: If you're in the same state, it's not going to 583 00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 2: affect your retirement because it's all state based. Also, if 584 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 2: you you're vested in one state you move to another state, 585 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 2: sometimes you can roll over into that. It's not always 586 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 2: possible that there there are ways to do that. And 587 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:22,040 Speaker 2: then the other piece to consider is if you've been 588 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 2: in one district for a long time, moving can generally 589 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 2: be problematic because sometimes they don't accept past a certain 590 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,560 Speaker 2: number of years of experience of putting you on the 591 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 2: pay scale. But if you're early on in your career, 592 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 2: especially finding that district that you want to stay at 593 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 2: because it's got the right pay to cost ratio is 594 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 2: just a powerful early on strategy. So I moved from 595 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:49,520 Speaker 2: Colorado to Texas because Colorado isn't just not paying teachers 596 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,600 Speaker 2: well at all, and it was really expensive. Texas had 597 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 2: a higher pay, lower cost of living, so I chose 598 00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 2: that to be able to support my family on a 599 00:29:58,840 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 2: teacher's salary. 600 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,680 Speaker 1: It's the double whammy. Yeah, the lower cost of living 601 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: and higher pay. So yeah, that makes sense. In yeah, 602 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: I can't imagine teaching in a really high cost of 603 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,840 Speaker 1: living area. It just makes you think of like San 604 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: Francisco or New York City, right, there are places that 605 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: make it really it's really expensive to live if you 606 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 1: were a teacher, if you work in a service industry 607 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: and the pay is not bumped up enough to make 608 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: up for the ridiculously high cost of living. How how 609 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: do you think? I know you're keen, I think on 610 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: side hustles, But what do you think what would you 611 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: say to a teacher who says, man, the summer's off, 612 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:39,960 Speaker 1: that's one of the biggest perks. Like I realized, I'm 613 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: not gonna get paid as much, but I don't necessarily 614 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: want to have to like bust it in you know, 615 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: June and July when those are supposed to especially like 616 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,520 Speaker 1: a lot of teachers have kids, and so it makes 617 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,360 Speaker 1: sense for their schedule because their kids are out of school, 618 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,480 Speaker 1: they're they're not working. But what would you say to teachers, 619 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: how would you maybe talk about side hustles in the 620 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: importance or worth how worthwhile they are? 621 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 2: Well, if you don't want a side hustle. You just 622 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 2: got to deal with your pay, right. There's just no 623 00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,520 Speaker 2: other way really around that. The pay you have is 624 00:31:09,520 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 2: what it's going to be unless you're willing to side hustle. 625 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,080 Speaker 2: I think that the summers are an ideal time for 626 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 2: teachers to hustle because it doesn't have to be the 627 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 2: traditional teacher side hustle. It doesn't have to be waiting tables, 628 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 2: it doesn't have to be tutoring, which, by the way, 629 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:26,560 Speaker 2: like you know, if you really love tutoring, great, But 630 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 2: if you're tutoring and you hate it, that's probably because 631 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 2: you're burnt out from teaching for the whole year and 632 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:34,400 Speaker 2: now you're tutoring more. It's like, it's just you don't 633 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 2: want to do that. You don't want your brain to 634 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 2: continue to be fatigued by the same thing. The rest 635 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 2: you're getting over the summer is just the rest from 636 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:45,120 Speaker 2: doing the same intense work all year. So if you 637 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 2: flip it and you do something else, you're still resting 638 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 2: because your brain just likes novelty more than it likes 639 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,640 Speaker 2: to vegetate. And we don't really see that. I mean, 640 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:58,200 Speaker 2: people don't switch to some other kind of work they 641 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 2: switch to, you know, TV now, But if you just 642 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 2: switch to a different kind of work, your brain will 643 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 2: like it. Your brain will enjoy something new even if 644 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 2: you felt tired before. So that's my first piece of 645 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,360 Speaker 2: advice is don't discount side hustles just because you feel 646 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 2: so exhausted from teaching, because something new will probably invigorate 647 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:18,440 Speaker 2: you and not just make you more tired. 648 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: And then are there any like super creative ones you've 649 00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 1: done or you've seen other teachers do. 650 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, And what I love about it is you get 651 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 2: to really just personalize this to what you want to do. 652 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 2: So I sell fireworks every year, which I know it's 653 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 2: not possible in a lot of places, but I just 654 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,600 Speaker 2: really like the get to talk to people, and then 655 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 2: the sales aspect of it is kind of fun. And 656 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 2: it's just like a nice little short window around fourth 657 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 2: of July I get to do. I know of another 658 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,600 Speaker 2: teacher who operates the local swimming pool that's open from 659 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 2: Memorial Day to Labor Day. Great teacher side hustle, because 660 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:55,400 Speaker 2: that's when we're off generally. There's also basically anything that's 661 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 2: kind of seasonal can really be a powerful thing that 662 00:32:59,240 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 2: you can do, like there's like the farm things that 663 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:04,680 Speaker 2: are open during during the summer, So if you like 664 00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:07,240 Speaker 2: working with animals, you can do stuff with like a farm, 665 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:11,360 Speaker 2: that kind of thing. And then I just generally say, 666 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:15,200 Speaker 2: like if something that's online that you can ramp up 667 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:17,680 Speaker 2: over the summer, like a side business, something that you own, 668 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 2: not a job, but a business that you own that 669 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:22,360 Speaker 2: you can like, Okay, I'm gonna take the summer to 670 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:26,640 Speaker 2: ramp this up and then scale it back in the 671 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 2: school year when I'm busy. That's what I really like 672 00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:33,240 Speaker 2: about our flexibility. So finding those flexible things, like even 673 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 2: if you know I'm gonna be working on lesson plans anyway, 674 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 2: why not get those ready for teachers? 675 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: Pay teachers while you're at it, gonna as you can 676 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,520 Speaker 1: sell that on there, right, Is that like a viable 677 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 1: way to make make money? 678 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,520 Speaker 2: Yes, it is. I know a teacher. I know a 679 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:52,000 Speaker 2: teacher who quit because their teacher paid teacher store is 680 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:56,680 Speaker 2: paying them enough to survive. So wow, there's a viable 681 00:33:56,720 --> 00:33:59,239 Speaker 2: way to make money. I don't really advocate teachers pay 682 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 2: teachers because I don't like the fact that teachers are 683 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 2: paying to, you know, bring stuff into their classroom that 684 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 2: once again that same problem. But you can often get 685 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:09,520 Speaker 2: your school to pay for a teachers to pay teachers 686 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,160 Speaker 2: thing if you can prove that it is worthwhile. Right. 687 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,920 Speaker 2: So there's just like a lot of different things depending 688 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 2: on what you're doing. If you're already putting the time 689 00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,399 Speaker 2: and effort into it anyway, why not take that extra 690 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 2: effort to make it nice and available out there so 691 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:26,120 Speaker 2: that way you can get some income back from it. 692 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 2: There's just so many different like I struggle to find 693 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:31,799 Speaker 2: all of them because there's so many different things that 694 00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:35,279 Speaker 2: teachers can do over the summer. It just depends on 695 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,440 Speaker 2: your interests or passion and what you want to pursue. 696 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 1: Let's talk about teacher retirement and there's some good, some bad, 697 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: and some ugly in that space. Most teachers that you 698 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:48,720 Speaker 1: mentioned still have access to a pension, which is seen 699 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: as a major perk and it really can be. But 700 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:54,440 Speaker 1: do you think pensions are all they're cracked up to be? 701 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:58,520 Speaker 1: And what role should a pension play in retirement planning 702 00:34:58,520 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: for teachers? 703 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:06,000 Speaker 2: I would much rather have a like a defined contribution 704 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:08,719 Speaker 2: plan instead of a defined benefit plan, which is what 705 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 2: a pension is. Myself, which is actually my school doesn't 706 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:15,160 Speaker 2: have a pension, and I like that because I'm in 707 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:19,000 Speaker 2: control of the investment. However, to be in control of 708 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:21,560 Speaker 2: the investment means that you have control of the money, 709 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,480 Speaker 2: and most people don't make the right choices when they're 710 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:27,640 Speaker 2: in control of the money. The benefit of the pension, 711 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:30,640 Speaker 2: even though the return on investment is generally lower than 712 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,279 Speaker 2: a you know, like if you're going to put it 713 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,040 Speaker 2: into an index for the long term, is that you 714 00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:38,360 Speaker 2: have no say in the matter. You are going to 715 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:40,520 Speaker 2: invest for a retirement whether you like it or not. 716 00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:42,080 Speaker 1: There's a lot of certainty there. 717 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,239 Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot of certainty and the fact that 718 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:47,920 Speaker 2: teachers don't really have the choice to say with I'm 719 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 2: struggling right now, I need this money now, I'm going 720 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:54,439 Speaker 2: to spend it now, save so many teachers because when 721 00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:57,600 Speaker 2: we get to retirement, that benefit is there, and I 722 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:00,080 Speaker 2: think that that safety net for teachers has been and 723 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:03,799 Speaker 2: the only thing that's that's keeping us afloat right now 724 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:06,480 Speaker 2: because we don't have the choice to take that money. 725 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:10,920 Speaker 2: So if we could force teachers to just invest it 726 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 2: and not just take it to pay for their needs 727 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:17,360 Speaker 2: right now, then I think that the long term growth 728 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,240 Speaker 2: of the defined contribution plan is better. But just because 729 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,279 Speaker 2: of that that de pendable certainty of the pension, and 730 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 2: just because of where we're at right now with financial 731 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:28,480 Speaker 2: literacy for teachers and for Americans in general. It's not 732 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:32,640 Speaker 2: just teachers having that that dependable safety net is so worthwhile. 733 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:35,719 Speaker 1: Let's talk about the four or three B plans too. 734 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,319 Speaker 1: So pension is one of those things where, yeah, it's 735 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:41,520 Speaker 1: going to provide a base level what percentage of pay 736 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,960 Speaker 1: typically if the teacher serves thirty years, thirty years is 737 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:48,280 Speaker 1: usually the number right to get the max pension amount? 738 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:52,799 Speaker 1: Is that like fifty percent of your a certain amount 739 00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:54,719 Speaker 1: of your highest year salary. Like, how does that usually 740 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:55,520 Speaker 1: work on the pension? 741 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:58,279 Speaker 2: Yeah, so it changes from state to state, but it's 742 00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 2: usually in that sixty to sixty five percent range of 743 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:05,000 Speaker 2: the last three to five years average highest salary. Okay, 744 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,200 Speaker 2: so if your averatire salary was one hundred thousand dollars, 745 00:37:08,239 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 2: you'd you know, take the sixty sixty. 746 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:12,839 Speaker 1: Five thousand dollars, which, like, to be honest, I mean, 747 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:17,239 Speaker 1: is pretty spectacular, especially if you started teaching twenty five, 748 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:21,440 Speaker 1: you retire at fifty five, and you're talking about potentially 749 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:26,440 Speaker 1: many many decades of having that kind of payout, but 750 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,439 Speaker 1: four three B plans. In addition, can you talk about 751 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:31,200 Speaker 1: maybe some of the differences between four three b's and 752 00:37:31,239 --> 00:37:33,720 Speaker 1: four to one ks and how teachers should think about 753 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:35,960 Speaker 1: participating in a four or three B because they might 754 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,680 Speaker 1: be like, uh, why would I like contribute more to 755 00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:42,200 Speaker 1: my future retirement? I got the pension. 756 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:46,839 Speaker 2: Yeah, So a couple of things. One, people say, well, 757 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,160 Speaker 2: the pension is not gonna be enough because you know, 758 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,000 Speaker 2: I'm making say one hundred thousand dollars, I can't live 759 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,680 Speaker 2: on sixty five. If you track your spending and you 760 00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:58,520 Speaker 2: compare like your gross salary to your net, you're actually 761 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,719 Speaker 2: probably closer to that sixty five percent range as it is, 762 00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 2: just because of all the stuff that's taken out that 763 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:06,160 Speaker 2: won't be taken out of your pension. It might be 764 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:07,839 Speaker 2: a little bit of a pay cut, but not really 765 00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,800 Speaker 2: as much as you think it's going to be, especially 766 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 2: if you're contributing to like a defined contribution plan like 767 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,560 Speaker 2: a four H three B. Now onto the four or 768 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:20,719 Speaker 2: three B. The difference is simply that it's not protected 769 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:24,600 Speaker 2: by arist the laws. What that means is the person 770 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:27,319 Speaker 2: who is trying to sell you a four H three 771 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:31,640 Speaker 2: B has no obligation to be acting as a full 772 00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:35,799 Speaker 2: time fiduciary in your best interests at all time. What 773 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:39,400 Speaker 2: this leads to is multiple vendors, So you have to 774 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,759 Speaker 2: choose who is going to offer your four to three B. 775 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:44,359 Speaker 2: Some of them are good, most of them are bad. 776 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:48,040 Speaker 2: High fees, and we're talking two to three percent. Now, 777 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:50,799 Speaker 2: if you're like, why is that such a big deal 778 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:55,319 Speaker 2: on just you know, thirty years one hundred dollars a 779 00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:58,799 Speaker 2: month investment with no fees, that's gonna be like one 780 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:00,680 Speaker 2: hundred fifty thousand dollars out of ten percent re term 781 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:04,520 Speaker 2: on investment, right, those three percent fees one hundred thousand dollars. 782 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,479 Speaker 2: So we're talking about like a third of your pay 783 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:12,360 Speaker 2: or a third of your your growth potential gone in feed. 784 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:14,520 Speaker 1: Just get getting eaten away by high fees that teachers 785 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:16,400 Speaker 1: are particularly susceptible to you. 786 00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:19,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, so because of just the lack of protections like 787 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:22,279 Speaker 2: a regular four ROH one K, they are required to 788 00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:25,319 Speaker 2: have low fee options for three be's are not, so 789 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:27,680 Speaker 2: you're you're just more likely to get those huge fees 790 00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:31,120 Speaker 2: that're just eating things up. And then the people that 791 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:33,520 Speaker 2: are signing us up for these things are being sent 792 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,200 Speaker 2: by these bad vendors who have high fees, because only 793 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:38,560 Speaker 2: the bad vendors with high fees have the money to 794 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,640 Speaker 2: send people into your school to try and sign you up, 795 00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:44,680 Speaker 2: not the good ones. So we're getting you know, free 796 00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:47,160 Speaker 2: donuts and like, and I'll give you free financial advice. 797 00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:51,399 Speaker 2: Put all your money into this you know, indextinuity or 798 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:53,759 Speaker 2: into this you know, whole life insurance plan. It's going 799 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:57,200 Speaker 2: to be a great investment for you. And then we 800 00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:00,319 Speaker 2: just get eaten live on those fees. So so it's 801 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,839 Speaker 2: just it's very predatory. It's taking a lot of money 802 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,839 Speaker 2: from teachers. They pretend there aren't fees because they're able 803 00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:08,799 Speaker 2: to couch it in different language, and it just kind 804 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:12,080 Speaker 2: of hides the overall cost. And it's just it's all 805 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:16,880 Speaker 2: around just an icky experience. So I always advocate for 806 00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:20,480 Speaker 2: this group four oh three bys dot org. Their whole 807 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,080 Speaker 2: mission is to, you know, help people have a four 808 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:24,680 Speaker 2: to three B figure out if they have a good 809 00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:27,120 Speaker 2: one or not, get out of bad four three b's, 810 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:30,640 Speaker 2: and then find the right investment options for you. And 811 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:33,279 Speaker 2: I think that that is the thing to do. You 812 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:35,239 Speaker 2: just have to educate yourself because no one else is 813 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:36,319 Speaker 2: going to do it for you. 814 00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:38,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the site to turn to. Right, And I 815 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:41,160 Speaker 1: was going to ask you about that, because how is 816 00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:45,320 Speaker 1: a teacher supposed to know what whether their four or 817 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:47,520 Speaker 1: three BE is a good one or not, what fund 818 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:49,880 Speaker 1: to be fund or funds to be investing in inside 819 00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:52,400 Speaker 1: of their four or three B And oftentimes it's the 820 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:57,440 Speaker 1: noisiest person closest to them that wins out. But the 821 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:01,680 Speaker 1: four three B wise is a nonprofit, right, it's started 822 00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:06,399 Speaker 1: by by a former teacher, and it's it's who Dan 823 00:41:06,480 --> 00:41:10,560 Speaker 1: Otter who realized that that four or three b's are 824 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:14,400 Speaker 1: crummy for so many, so many teachers out there, and 825 00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:16,960 Speaker 1: it's such a great such a great resource. Some some 826 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:19,479 Speaker 1: teachers also have access to a four to fifty seven 827 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:21,480 Speaker 1: B plan as well. Right, And then how do you 828 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:25,360 Speaker 1: think should should teachers be We're talking about again, not 829 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:29,120 Speaker 1: like astronomical salaries, being able to maxim max out multiple 830 00:41:29,160 --> 00:41:32,360 Speaker 1: retirement accounts is a rarity I think for teachers, except 831 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:35,520 Speaker 1: for maybe the incredibly hyper frugal ones. But how do 832 00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:38,399 Speaker 1: you think about what teacher should do if they're offered 833 00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:39,680 Speaker 1: multiple retirement accounts? 834 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:41,200 Speaker 2: Yeah? So I love you that you brought up the 835 00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:43,440 Speaker 2: four fifty seven B And as a side note, I 836 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:45,960 Speaker 2: have a friend Stacey, who maxed out the four or 837 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:49,600 Speaker 2: three B four fifty seven b IRA and HSA as 838 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:52,840 Speaker 2: a teacher. Wow, she's impressed off of her side hustle salary. 839 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:55,520 Speaker 2: So oh my goodness, it is possible if you decide 840 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:56,879 Speaker 2: that that's what you want to do. 841 00:41:57,239 --> 00:41:58,840 Speaker 1: Stacy's going to have more money than both of us 842 00:41:58,920 --> 00:41:59,600 Speaker 1: put together. Sean. 843 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,520 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, for sure. But she actually got to step 844 00:42:02,520 --> 00:42:04,480 Speaker 2: away after she had a baby and is no longer 845 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:07,880 Speaker 2: working and she can just live off of that, and 846 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:11,200 Speaker 2: then she occasionally like works with the little pre k 847 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:13,480 Speaker 2: kids because she still likes kids. So there's just like 848 00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:15,520 Speaker 2: so many great things that come from the flexibility of 849 00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:18,080 Speaker 2: doing that. But that's of course the side note. The 850 00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:21,840 Speaker 2: four to fifty seven is a really awesome account because 851 00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:26,040 Speaker 2: of the flexibility. If you leave a district, you can 852 00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:30,400 Speaker 2: now access that money penalty free if you are investing 853 00:42:30,400 --> 00:42:33,799 Speaker 2: in a regular four fifty seven. The reason I like 854 00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:37,160 Speaker 2: four fifty sevens for teachers is because even though they're 855 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:40,080 Speaker 2: not offered in all states, there's usually only one vendor 856 00:42:40,120 --> 00:42:43,359 Speaker 2: because it's like a state or a district run thing 857 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:46,040 Speaker 2: that they can't offer multiple vendors of it, and they 858 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:49,719 Speaker 2: usually have low fees, not always so sometimes they have 859 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:51,279 Speaker 2: like you know, one and a half percent, which is 860 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:54,839 Speaker 2: not terrible, but it's not great, right, No, I don't 861 00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:58,560 Speaker 2: like it, but compared to the two to three it's better, 862 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:00,959 Speaker 2: but it's not great. But they can have I fees. 863 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:03,000 Speaker 2: Some of them have really low fees though, So if 864 00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:04,719 Speaker 2: you're in a state as a really low fee for 865 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:09,640 Speaker 2: fifty seven, that's fantastic generally for three B wise is 866 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:11,480 Speaker 2: why don't you just invest in an IRA. It's not 867 00:43:11,560 --> 00:43:14,040 Speaker 2: like you're gonna have like, you know, tons of money 868 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:17,319 Speaker 2: to invest anyway. So the IRA just allows you to 869 00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:20,040 Speaker 2: choose your vendor, choose your fund, and you're gonna be 870 00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:21,920 Speaker 2: able to have you know, lower fees just in general 871 00:43:22,480 --> 00:43:25,400 Speaker 2: doing that. But if my order of operations is generally 872 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:27,759 Speaker 2: if you have access to an HSA just because of 873 00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:30,680 Speaker 2: that triple tax advantage that we don't need to get into, 874 00:43:30,719 --> 00:43:32,160 Speaker 2: but like, there's just a lot of benefits if you 875 00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:35,320 Speaker 2: have access to invest in that with a good provider, 876 00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:39,640 Speaker 2: that's a fantastic option IRA just because you have control 877 00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:42,080 Speaker 2: over it and then you can look at your four 878 00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:43,840 Speaker 2: fifty seven or four or three B options. 879 00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:45,680 Speaker 1: I would think for a lot of teachers the roth 880 00:43:45,719 --> 00:43:46,640 Speaker 1: Ira as well. 881 00:43:46,719 --> 00:43:50,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, specifically roth Ira specifically because your your lower salary. 882 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:50,719 Speaker 2: It makes sense. 883 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:55,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, pay the tax now at hopefully a ridiculously low rate, 884 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:57,239 Speaker 1: and then never be taxed on that money again. Let 885 00:43:57,320 --> 00:43:59,560 Speaker 1: it grow. All right, I got more questions. I want 886 00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:00,839 Speaker 1: to get to you with Sean, A few more questions 887 00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:03,840 Speaker 1: specifically to about young teachers how they should think about 888 00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:05,840 Speaker 1: their their future. And I want to talk about personal 889 00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:09,240 Speaker 1: finance classes in high school as they're becoming more common. 890 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:10,799 Speaker 1: I want to get your thoughts on that. We'll get 891 00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:12,920 Speaker 1: to a few more questions with Sean Morgan right after this. 892 00:44:20,600 --> 00:44:23,360 Speaker 1: All right, back still, We're back still talking with Sean Morgan. 893 00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:26,320 Speaker 1: Sean wants a lot of teachers to get super wealthy, 894 00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:29,120 Speaker 1: and I'm down with that mission. So and and it's 895 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:31,560 Speaker 1: possible too, which I love too. I love the way 896 00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:36,400 Speaker 1: Sean helps teachers think through the realities, the hurdles, but 897 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:42,000 Speaker 1: also like the potential. So Sean, I'm curious to We 898 00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:43,719 Speaker 1: talked about the pension for a second, but what about 899 00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:46,560 Speaker 1: young teachers who are like, I don't know how long 900 00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:51,879 Speaker 1: I'm gonna do this the how like, let's say I'm 901 00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:57,440 Speaker 1: I'm in teaching for three, five, seven years. How much 902 00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:00,279 Speaker 1: of a benefit is the pension going to be? And 903 00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:02,480 Speaker 1: how should I think about saving for retirement if I'm like, 904 00:45:02,560 --> 00:45:04,480 Speaker 1: I'm gonna teach but not for forever. 905 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:09,040 Speaker 2: Yeah. So I'm always an advocate of control what you 906 00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:12,440 Speaker 2: can control, right, So if you're not sure where you're 907 00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:14,279 Speaker 2: gonna be, which no one's really sure where they're going 908 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:17,080 Speaker 2: to be, then putting as much as you can into 909 00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:20,279 Speaker 2: a defined contribution plan so that way you are in 910 00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:24,160 Speaker 2: control of those funds absolutely essential. And that's for your 911 00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:26,439 Speaker 2: future because even if you decide to stay in teaching 912 00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:29,439 Speaker 2: forever and you have an awesome pension, then you also 913 00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:31,480 Speaker 2: have a to find contribution plan with a ton of money. 914 00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:35,120 Speaker 2: It sounds great, right, a great retirement, solid financial footing 915 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,360 Speaker 2: there how to think about a pension. The pension is 916 00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:39,640 Speaker 2: going to be there, whether you like it or not. 917 00:45:40,040 --> 00:45:42,520 Speaker 2: So the fact that you can't opt out of a 918 00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:45,440 Speaker 2: pension in most cases, some states actually are starting to 919 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:48,359 Speaker 2: allow an opt out option, which I think is really cool. 920 00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:52,680 Speaker 2: But if you can't, then oh well. But the thing 921 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:55,960 Speaker 2: is that the pension money is your money, even if 922 00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:58,680 Speaker 2: you don't vest the money you put in still belongs 923 00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:02,879 Speaker 2: to you. I found this out after I had left. 924 00:46:03,640 --> 00:46:06,319 Speaker 2: I've actually left two different pension systems because I moved 925 00:46:06,320 --> 00:46:08,680 Speaker 2: around a lot early in my career, and one of 926 00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:11,480 Speaker 2: them wasn't vested. Like the money is sitting here, but 927 00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:14,520 Speaker 2: you're not going to get like a pension benefit from it, 928 00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:17,640 Speaker 2: but you can have it. So I rolled it into 929 00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:21,200 Speaker 2: my IRA, which is great. So if you're going to leave, 930 00:46:21,320 --> 00:46:24,399 Speaker 2: just remember to ask can I have this money back? 931 00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:26,759 Speaker 2: And put it into an IRA. And then the other 932 00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:28,560 Speaker 2: one like, well, you're only here for a couple of years, 933 00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:30,359 Speaker 2: but you've vested and it'll be worth like two hundred 934 00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:32,840 Speaker 2: and fifty bucks a month when you retire. I'm like, well, 935 00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:35,000 Speaker 2: with the way inflation's going, maybe I'll be able to 936 00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,080 Speaker 2: buy a cheeseburger every month with that money. I don't know, 937 00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:39,880 Speaker 2: but you know it's money, right, And I compared it 938 00:46:39,920 --> 00:46:41,120 Speaker 2: to like how much it would be worth if I 939 00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:43,600 Speaker 2: pulled it out and invested in, Like, E, it seems 940 00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:46,960 Speaker 2: good how it is right there, so I left it there. 941 00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:49,600 Speaker 2: So it just depends on each state that you're in, 942 00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:51,680 Speaker 2: so I can't really give like general advice, but just 943 00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:54,120 Speaker 2: ask your state what the benefit is going to be. 944 00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:57,600 Speaker 2: Can I pull it out if you move somewhere else 945 00:46:57,719 --> 00:47:00,080 Speaker 2: and roll it into an IRA, which you should be 946 00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:03,120 Speaker 2: able to not necessarily the money that your school put in, 947 00:47:03,520 --> 00:47:05,920 Speaker 2: but the money you put in if you're not invested, 948 00:47:06,600 --> 00:47:07,839 Speaker 2: can go with you to an IRA. 949 00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:11,520 Speaker 1: Can you explain how social security works for teachers and 950 00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:14,480 Speaker 1: how teachers can know whether or not they qualify for 951 00:47:14,520 --> 00:47:15,200 Speaker 1: social security. 952 00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:21,000 Speaker 2: Yes, every teacher that is contributing to social security qualifies 953 00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:23,880 Speaker 2: for social Security. Now, the way that this works is 954 00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:26,520 Speaker 2: there used to be an exclusion where you can't get 955 00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:29,000 Speaker 2: too much of social security if you have a pension. 956 00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:32,360 Speaker 2: That has been repealed. So if you are contributing to 957 00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:34,960 Speaker 2: social security, you will get it period. 958 00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:37,160 Speaker 1: And that was the Social Security Fairness Act, I think 959 00:47:37,239 --> 00:47:37,640 Speaker 1: is what was called. 960 00:47:37,800 --> 00:47:40,480 Speaker 2: Yes. Yeah, that recently passed just in the past year 961 00:47:40,560 --> 00:47:44,279 Speaker 2: or so. And the great thing about that is not 962 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:47,560 Speaker 2: every state where you're like, you don't teach and contribute 963 00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:49,719 Speaker 2: to social security. In every state. Some states you have 964 00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:52,680 Speaker 2: pension and self security, which kind of really sucks on 965 00:47:52,719 --> 00:47:55,279 Speaker 2: the front end because you're having putting money in both. 966 00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:57,480 Speaker 2: But in some states you don't, and actually kind of 967 00:47:57,560 --> 00:48:01,120 Speaker 2: like the ones where you are only contributing to a pension, 968 00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:04,840 Speaker 2: because then when you side hustle and you're paying your 969 00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:07,640 Speaker 2: five A taxes on your side hustle, you're building social 970 00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:10,160 Speaker 2: Security credits over there, so you get to kind of 971 00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:12,880 Speaker 2: have a pension through your main job, and then you 972 00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:15,239 Speaker 2: get to build up that social security through that side 973 00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:18,319 Speaker 2: hustle because it only takes so long to get those 974 00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:21,480 Speaker 2: credits necessary to pull in. As long as you're dependably 975 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:23,319 Speaker 2: putting money in through that side hustle, you'll be able 976 00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:26,720 Speaker 2: to get that credit limit necessary to start pulling social security. 977 00:48:26,719 --> 00:48:28,840 Speaker 2: And then as you just keep putting money into that 978 00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:32,080 Speaker 2: growing that income, your social Security benefit will also be there. 979 00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:34,840 Speaker 2: So you have both as a safety net when you retire, 980 00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:36,239 Speaker 2: which means you can play with that like I'm going 981 00:48:36,280 --> 00:48:39,640 Speaker 2: to retire, now, pull so security and let my pension grow, 982 00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:42,080 Speaker 2: or pull pension let my SOI security grow, and then 983 00:48:42,320 --> 00:48:44,959 Speaker 2: kind of play those two things against each other as 984 00:48:45,040 --> 00:48:48,160 Speaker 2: you consider the right choice for you in retirement. 985 00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:52,759 Speaker 1: YEA hearing that baby by the way, sean seven month old, 986 00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:55,080 Speaker 1: I love it. I love it. No, you're fine, it's great, 987 00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:57,879 Speaker 1: and so I'm curious to hear you know your take 988 00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:03,080 Speaker 1: as someone who loves personal finance and wants to help 989 00:49:03,080 --> 00:49:05,840 Speaker 1: teachers with their personal finances. Talk to me about the 990 00:49:05,920 --> 00:49:08,920 Speaker 1: revolution and the law in laws being passed in states 991 00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:12,359 Speaker 1: around the country making personal finance a requirement for high 992 00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:16,799 Speaker 1: schoolers in roughly like half the states. Now, is that 993 00:49:16,880 --> 00:49:19,080 Speaker 1: something you think is going to make a big difference. 994 00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:22,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, So, last time I checked, thirty one states had 995 00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:25,160 Speaker 2: something on the books, not necessarily like in place, but 996 00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:28,960 Speaker 2: it required in the coming years. And I get to 997 00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:32,759 Speaker 2: teach personal finance now at my school because of these laws, 998 00:49:32,800 --> 00:49:36,759 Speaker 2: which is fantastic. I love it, and I think that's 999 00:49:36,760 --> 00:49:38,919 Speaker 2: going to make a huge difference for a few reasons. One, 1000 00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:42,880 Speaker 2: it's going to help the students themselves start off on 1001 00:49:42,920 --> 00:49:47,239 Speaker 2: a good financial foot. And two, teachers are going to 1002 00:49:47,280 --> 00:49:50,919 Speaker 2: get asked kind of at random, like you're the social 1003 00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:53,799 Speaker 2: studies teacher, you need to teach personal finance now. And 1004 00:49:53,840 --> 00:49:55,520 Speaker 2: as teachers get into it, they're going to be like, 1005 00:49:55,640 --> 00:49:57,239 Speaker 2: I don't know anything about this. I'm gonna have to 1006 00:49:57,280 --> 00:49:59,840 Speaker 2: learn about it. And it's going to hopefully start to 1007 00:49:59,880 --> 00:50:03,320 Speaker 2: go row the number of teachers who are financially aware. 1008 00:50:03,880 --> 00:50:07,719 Speaker 2: And that's going to not only help the teachers it's 1009 00:50:07,719 --> 00:50:09,440 Speaker 2: also going to help the students because their teacher is 1010 00:50:09,440 --> 00:50:12,200 Speaker 2: going to be more and more knowledgeable. My only concern 1011 00:50:12,719 --> 00:50:15,920 Speaker 2: is that it's going to become just a check a box. 1012 00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:19,920 Speaker 2: You know, we're going to get a bunch of institutional level, 1013 00:50:20,080 --> 00:50:25,200 Speaker 2: like you know, textbooky, really boring personal finance curriculum that's 1014 00:50:25,239 --> 00:50:28,400 Speaker 2: going to just suck the joy out of personal finance 1015 00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:31,719 Speaker 2: because it is, in my opinion, the most relatable, the 1016 00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:34,880 Speaker 2: most flexible. Like it's got you know math that you 1017 00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:36,600 Speaker 2: can use in there. It's got English because you have 1018 00:50:36,640 --> 00:50:38,560 Speaker 2: to be able to explain why you chose to make 1019 00:50:38,560 --> 00:50:41,759 Speaker 2: a certain choice over another choice. It's got you know, 1020 00:50:41,840 --> 00:50:44,840 Speaker 2: critical thinking, It's got that real, real, real world application. 1021 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:48,799 Speaker 2: There's just so many benefits to teaching personal finance that 1022 00:50:48,920 --> 00:50:51,520 Speaker 2: I really hope we don't lose psychology. 1023 00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:54,080 Speaker 1: There's emotion, I mean, yeah, there's all that stuff that 1024 00:50:54,480 --> 00:50:55,520 Speaker 1: goes into personology. 1025 00:50:55,760 --> 00:50:57,719 Speaker 2: Yeah. I'm trying to connect with schools to be like, 1026 00:50:57,800 --> 00:50:59,520 Speaker 2: let me help you. I want to teach you how 1027 00:50:59,600 --> 00:51:01,040 Speaker 2: to how to do this, And I'm hoping that we 1028 00:51:01,080 --> 00:51:03,400 Speaker 2: can spread the message and get you know, if you're 1029 00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:06,040 Speaker 2: in this podcast and you're a teacher, you know, try 1030 00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:08,640 Speaker 2: and teach personal finance, try and teach people around you 1031 00:51:08,680 --> 00:51:10,439 Speaker 2: how to teach it, so that way we can get 1032 00:51:10,520 --> 00:51:13,479 Speaker 2: like a really awesome movement to not a a dud 1033 00:51:13,600 --> 00:51:14,720 Speaker 2: personal finance movement. 1034 00:51:14,800 --> 00:51:16,320 Speaker 1: Oh yeah. At the last question, at the end of 1035 00:51:16,360 --> 00:51:19,200 Speaker 1: the day, do you think teaching is it a smart 1036 00:51:19,200 --> 00:51:22,120 Speaker 1: path to pursue financial independence? If someone's on the fence 1037 00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:26,200 Speaker 1: and they're like, I don't like teaching sounds like something 1038 00:51:26,239 --> 00:51:29,680 Speaker 1: I would enjoy doing, but I also like, don't want 1039 00:51:29,719 --> 00:51:33,239 Speaker 1: to struggle, like, how would you what would you say 1040 00:51:33,239 --> 00:51:33,520 Speaker 1: to them? 1041 00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:37,279 Speaker 2: Teaching is a calling, which is what I guess. It's 1042 00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:39,759 Speaker 2: in trouble with the mindset piece. Could people think, oh, well, 1043 00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:41,479 Speaker 2: if I'm going to be a teacher, it's just about 1044 00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:42,960 Speaker 2: you know, because I want to be a teacher. But 1045 00:51:44,000 --> 00:51:47,040 Speaker 2: I've met multiple teachers who are just they're not really teachers. 1046 00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:48,719 Speaker 2: Their their heart's not in it. They're there but just 1047 00:51:48,719 --> 00:51:51,400 Speaker 2: because they didn't know what else to do, or I 1048 00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:53,759 Speaker 2: don't know if there's there's reasons people come teachers that 1049 00:51:53,800 --> 00:51:57,760 Speaker 2: are just not because they feel the need to teach. 1050 00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:02,760 Speaker 2: And if you don't have that poll, you're not gonna last. 1051 00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:04,640 Speaker 2: I'm just going to tell you right now. It is, 1052 00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:09,359 Speaker 2: in my opinion, the hardest job there is if you're 1053 00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:12,040 Speaker 2: up for the challenge, if you want to feel like 1054 00:52:12,120 --> 00:52:16,359 Speaker 2: you've accomplished something worthwhile and not just you know, data 1055 00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:18,359 Speaker 2: entry for some business it's making a ton of money 1056 00:52:18,400 --> 00:52:21,319 Speaker 2: or whatever. I'm not the be liittle someone else's job, 1057 00:52:21,320 --> 00:52:22,719 Speaker 2: but a lot of I've heard a lot of people 1058 00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:24,680 Speaker 2: that are in these big tech companies that just feel 1059 00:52:25,239 --> 00:52:27,319 Speaker 2: like their souls crush because they're not doing something that 1060 00:52:27,320 --> 00:52:31,080 Speaker 2: they find meaningful. Teachers find something meaningful. I always tell 1061 00:52:31,120 --> 00:52:34,400 Speaker 2: teachers in my podcast, you are already rich. Your wallet 1062 00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:37,719 Speaker 2: just needs to catch up because we have this just 1063 00:52:37,880 --> 00:52:41,000 Speaker 2: beautiful job that we're doing. So if that's something that 1064 00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:45,160 Speaker 2: appeals to you, know that you can become financially independent 1065 00:52:45,800 --> 00:52:48,960 Speaker 2: as a teacher. That doesn't mean it's going to be 1066 00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:52,440 Speaker 2: as easy as the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars 1067 00:52:52,480 --> 00:52:55,200 Speaker 2: salary where you know, you work for remote from home 1068 00:52:55,239 --> 00:52:57,240 Speaker 2: and you only like kind of work part ish time, 1069 00:52:57,280 --> 00:52:59,520 Speaker 2: and then you get a you know, the frugal and 1070 00:52:59,680 --> 00:53:01,480 Speaker 2: do whatever you want and you save a bunch of 1071 00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:04,320 Speaker 2: money really fast. Like there's other paths that are gonna 1072 00:53:04,320 --> 00:53:07,000 Speaker 2: get you there faster. I'm not gonna say that teachers 1073 00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:09,880 Speaker 2: are gonna get there as fast as one of those things. 1074 00:53:09,880 --> 00:53:16,760 Speaker 2: But I know multiple teachers who are multi millionaires because 1075 00:53:17,080 --> 00:53:21,560 Speaker 2: they've just done what they loved, refrugal, set money aside 1076 00:53:22,120 --> 00:53:24,799 Speaker 2: and let it grow. And if all you want to 1077 00:53:24,840 --> 00:53:27,520 Speaker 2: do is do something you love, set money aside, let 1078 00:53:27,560 --> 00:53:30,279 Speaker 2: it grow, and then get that flexibility and independence, you 1079 00:53:30,560 --> 00:53:32,480 Speaker 2: get to kind of have a mini retirement every summer 1080 00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:33,960 Speaker 2: as well, where you get to go out and then 1081 00:53:34,080 --> 00:53:36,680 Speaker 2: do like fun and exciting things like there's just so 1082 00:53:36,719 --> 00:53:39,640 Speaker 2: many great things about being a teacher on this financial 1083 00:53:39,640 --> 00:53:44,920 Speaker 2: independence movement if you are willing to go with the downs. 1084 00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:48,200 Speaker 1: As well, All right, man, you sold me. Yeah, maybe 1085 00:53:48,239 --> 00:53:50,759 Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to ditch the podcasting job and go 1086 00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:53,399 Speaker 1: be a teacher. That's great, Sean, thank you so much 1087 00:53:53,400 --> 00:53:55,480 Speaker 1: for taking the time today. Man, where can have the 1088 00:53:55,480 --> 00:53:57,880 Speaker 1: money listeners find out more about you and what you're 1089 00:53:57,960 --> 00:53:58,160 Speaker 1: up to. 1090 00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:01,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, so you can find me Teacher Money Show on 1091 00:54:01,840 --> 00:54:03,800 Speaker 2: any social I don't really post a lot on social, 1092 00:54:03,840 --> 00:54:07,279 Speaker 2: but you can email me at Sean saha Un at 1093 00:54:07,360 --> 00:54:10,640 Speaker 2: Teachermoneyshow dot com and you can find me on any 1094 00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:12,359 Speaker 2: podcast platform at Teach Your Money Show. 1095 00:54:12,680 --> 00:54:14,719 Speaker 1: Love it Sean, thanks for taking the time today, man, 1096 00:54:14,760 --> 00:54:15,480 Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. 1097 00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:16,319 Speaker 2: Thanks for having me on. 1098 00:54:17,200 --> 00:54:20,839 Speaker 1: That's good stuff with Sean Morgan, and I love his love, 1099 00:54:20,880 --> 00:54:26,640 Speaker 1: his passion for wanting teachers to succeed and thrive and 1100 00:54:28,120 --> 00:54:30,640 Speaker 1: a man even just that subtle mindhut shift. I think 1101 00:54:30,680 --> 00:54:33,319 Speaker 1: that's one of my big takeaways from this episode was 1102 00:54:33,800 --> 00:54:37,759 Speaker 1: when it's a calling, it can feel like you're making 1103 00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:40,320 Speaker 1: a sacrifice. And lots of teachers, if they're being honest 1104 00:54:40,360 --> 00:54:42,720 Speaker 1: with themselves, they are, even if they love the profession, 1105 00:54:42,920 --> 00:54:46,279 Speaker 1: is a calling, they are sacrificing right in order to 1106 00:54:46,400 --> 00:54:49,520 Speaker 1: whether it's greater pay they could get elsewhere, whether it's 1107 00:54:49,600 --> 00:54:52,719 Speaker 1: you know, the time, the time commitment, whether it's just 1108 00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:57,080 Speaker 1: the emotional burden that teaching can be, they're making a 1109 00:54:57,080 --> 00:55:01,080 Speaker 1: sacrifice in order to do this job that they feel 1110 00:55:01,080 --> 00:55:04,160 Speaker 1: passionate about. But I think what Sewan's getting at, and 1111 00:55:04,200 --> 00:55:06,640 Speaker 1: I think it's so true, is you don't have to 1112 00:55:06,680 --> 00:55:10,840 Speaker 1: sacrifice your finances completely. You don't have to sacrifice your 1113 00:55:10,960 --> 00:55:15,080 Speaker 1: ability to retire comfortably or your ability to reach financial independence. 1114 00:55:15,440 --> 00:55:18,640 Speaker 1: It's possible to do all those things. And I don't 1115 00:55:18,680 --> 00:55:20,800 Speaker 1: think Sean what I appreciate him too, is he's not 1116 00:55:20,840 --> 00:55:24,240 Speaker 1: making it sound easy, right, And he's like, yeah, there 1117 00:55:24,280 --> 00:55:25,879 Speaker 1: are other ways you can go where you could reach 1118 00:55:26,080 --> 00:55:28,200 Speaker 1: financial independence more quickly. But if this is a calling, 1119 00:55:28,200 --> 00:55:29,960 Speaker 1: and if this something is something you want to stick to, 1120 00:55:30,280 --> 00:55:32,799 Speaker 1: and by the way, that's the only way it's going 1121 00:55:32,880 --> 00:55:35,959 Speaker 1: to last is if it feels if it is more 1122 00:55:36,239 --> 00:55:38,120 Speaker 1: than just a job, that's the only way you're going 1123 00:55:38,160 --> 00:55:41,240 Speaker 1: to stick to it, stick with it. If that's the case, 1124 00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:44,759 Speaker 1: then you can, as a teacher, find a lot of 1125 00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:47,600 Speaker 1: satisfaction and fulfillment in this calling at the same time 1126 00:55:47,960 --> 00:55:52,040 Speaker 1: reach financial independence in a reasonable timeframe. So I love 1127 00:55:52,080 --> 00:55:54,799 Speaker 1: the message that Seawn is spreading. I think you know 1128 00:55:54,840 --> 00:55:57,880 Speaker 1: that other part of what he said right there at 1129 00:55:57,920 --> 00:56:00,319 Speaker 1: the end really resonated with me. He said, you're already rich. 1130 00:56:00,760 --> 00:56:02,480 Speaker 1: So if you want to do what you'd love and 1131 00:56:02,560 --> 00:56:04,759 Speaker 1: you want to set some money aside, be frugal and 1132 00:56:04,760 --> 00:56:08,880 Speaker 1: then let it grow, then yes, you can kind of 1133 00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:11,120 Speaker 1: have it all. And he said, do you even get 1134 00:56:11,120 --> 00:56:12,680 Speaker 1: many retirements every year? And I feel like we've been 1135 00:56:12,680 --> 00:56:15,960 Speaker 1: talking about many retirements more and more on the show, 1136 00:56:16,200 --> 00:56:18,840 Speaker 1: and you know, try it our own out for the 1137 00:56:18,840 --> 00:56:22,640 Speaker 1: first time last summer, And I love that idea right, 1138 00:56:22,680 --> 00:56:26,480 Speaker 1: where as a teacher, you if you want to right, 1139 00:56:26,520 --> 00:56:29,800 Speaker 1: if you can kind of hit all those buckets, like 1140 00:56:29,840 --> 00:56:32,000 Speaker 1: you don't necessarily have to work your tail off during 1141 00:56:32,000 --> 00:56:34,640 Speaker 1: the summer, you might be able to be frugal, let 1142 00:56:34,640 --> 00:56:38,080 Speaker 1: the money grow and take many retirements every year and 1143 00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:42,719 Speaker 1: kind of get some best of both worlds ways of 1144 00:56:42,800 --> 00:56:46,200 Speaker 1: living in there. As you're making a sacrifice to do 1145 00:56:46,239 --> 00:56:48,719 Speaker 1: this job, it doesn't mean that you can't experience a 1146 00:56:48,719 --> 00:56:52,520 Speaker 1: bunch of benefits financial benefits as well from doing it. 1147 00:56:52,680 --> 00:56:55,399 Speaker 1: So that's going to do it. You can. We'll put 1148 00:56:55,400 --> 00:56:59,560 Speaker 1: links to Sean's podcasts and some other resources like four 1149 00:56:59,640 --> 00:57:02,319 Speaker 1: or three wise up in the show notes on our 1150 00:57:02,360 --> 00:57:06,160 Speaker 1: website at howtomoney dot com. Until next time, best Friend Out.