The Teacher's Myth

I have been a teacher all of my life, or so I have been told.  I started getting paid to teach in 1994.  While my career is certainly in the later innings, I have found my 3rd or 4th rejuvenating burst of energy as I transition into full time financial coaching even as I help launch the Economics and Personal Finance curriculum for our State, District, and my School.  As my National Board Certification and almost two decade role as a NB Facilitator for my District has taught me, the single most important element to a child's learning is having a highly qualified and motivated teacher.  Even the most dynamic teachers, however, cannot be at their best if they are stressed, exhausted, or unduly frustrated.  Financial stress can create and compound the above and has made a good many of my colleagues question their career choice, some even leaving the profession as a result. My mission is to show teachers a way to have their cake and eat it too.  We can, and many do, build wealth even as we fully engage our students and make a career out of our calling.  The belief that teachers take a vow of poverty once they commit to a career in education is a myth!  In fact, this myth applies to many middle-class incomes, not just educators.  While "you didn't get into teaching for the money," may be true, it doesn't mean we shouldn't challenge the narrative that teachers are destined to live paycheck to paycheck, holding on for dear life until eligible for their pension.  In fact, if we are intentional with our money, the teaching profession affords us many opportunities to build wealth that others do not have.  Equally as important, the far more valuable commodity of time is more readily available to us than in most professions.  Taken together, time and a new money mindset can be powerful tools to both create a comfortable post-teaching life, as well as a tremendously rich journey throughout our careers.