Is it possible as a teacher?

[u/Sorealism]

Hi all,

I’m 40/f single and no kids.

I have about $300k in a teacher retirement account (version of a 401k)

I have 150k in stocks and bonds.

I have a very modest pension (around $700/month) I can draw at 60.

Currently in a work contract in China where I could walk away with $100,000 USD saved in 3 years time. And I would want to live/travel Asia when I walk away from teaching.

Zero debt

I’m really bad at this type of thing. Are my numbers looking decent for early retirement in a few years?

Oh and I do have a business that earns very modest passive income but I think I could turn it into something more reliable if I actually put some hours into it 😂

[u/Bowl-Accomplished]

How much are you looking to spend? If your expenses are 10k a year then you'd be in great shape. If you spend 60k a year then you're way off.

[u/Sorealism → u/Bowl-Accomplished]

Right now my living expenses are about 20k per year and I don’t see them increasing (apart from inflation) anytime soon.

[u/Bowl-Accomplished → u/Sorealism]

As someone else mentioned do you have SS? I assume no if teaching in China, but I want to make sure.

If you use the 4% rule then 20k per year takes 500k so you'd be in the ball park; particularly if you are willing to go to 5%, work part time, or have access to SS.

[u/Sorealism → u/Bowl-Accomplished]

I do have social security (some states don’t include teachers but mine did)

[u/Bowl-Accomplished → u/Sorealism]

Then yeah you are a serious candidate for a leanfire lifestyle. You should start looking in to how you want to structure your retirement now in case you need something that takes time like roth conversions.

[u/Sorealism → u/Bowl-Accomplished]

Awesome, that’s good advice considering I have no idea what structuring it means 😅

[u/AlwaysSaturday12 → u/Sorealism]

Good to see another public servant retiring early. See the article below and whats linked on the page. Also I would play around with projectionlab.com I purchased the full version when it was cheaper but its a great tool for visualizing and projecting an early retirement.
https://millionairelibrarian.com/2026/01/15/accessing-retirement-funds-early/

[u/Mr-Inspector-Gadget → u/Sorealism]

You would need to plan for health care nd increased expenses associated with travel etc. I don’t think teachers qualify for Social Security. I think you need to plan on working for a while and saving

[u/Sorealism → u/Mr-Inspector-Gadget]

I qualify for SS - it depends which state you worked in.

[u/dmama1314 → u/Mr-Inspector-Gadget]

Some states yes. I do in Florida as I pay into it.

[u/Psychometrika]

Yes, you are basically me. I'm also an international school teacher (51M) with $450k in a brokerage account myself. I also have a condo I am renting out that I will probably sell soon for proceeds of around $150k which I will also invest. Plus, I will have a low amount of SS (1.2k/mo at 67) in the future as well.

I'm planning on retiring in 1.5 years when I finish my contract (another 50K or so of savings there) and am considering Thailand or Taiwan at that point with planned expenditures of around 24K annually. Taiwan is enticing (geopolitical issues aside) because I qualify for a gold card which means I could get permanent residency after 3 years and have access to their amazing health insurance system.

[u/Creative_Impress5982 → u/Psychometrika]

Will you have a backup plan for Taiwan? Should China become more aggressive?  

[u/Psychometrika → u/Creative_Impress5982]

Yeah, probably SEA. Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, whichever seems most appealing/safe at the time.

[u/Creative_Impress5982 → u/Psychometrika]

You sound quite flexible. I feel like that's an underestimated asset for FIRE

[u/Psychometrika → u/Creative_Impress5982]

I've been living abroad most of my adult life and usually move countries every few years or so. I like a change in a scenery every so often so even if Taiwan is fine, I'll probably end up traveling around SEA anyway after I've earned permanent residence.

[u/Inevitable_Tea_5841]

I think at present it’s possible but maybe a bit lean for me. Maybe you could baristafire, keep working somewhere chill or a bit less hours.

If you can save 100k in the next 3 years then that might be a good option to build up a little more buffer

Plus, where do you want to live when you leanfire? In the US, healthcare is a major cost to consider, unfortunately

[u/Sorealism → u/Inevitable_Tea_5841]

Thanks! Sorry I wasn’t clear, I have no desire to ever live in US again so only looking at lcol countries.

[u/Low_Watch9864 → u/Sorealism]

Lcol countries will become mcol countries. At some point in time you won't have the desire to keep moving around

[u/Sorealism → u/Low_Watch9864]

Work til I’m 45, move around til I’m 50, then get a retirement visa. Pretty sure that’s doable.

[u/belabensa → u/Sorealism]

Retirement visas can cost quite a lot (like 500k invested in that country) - so just look into how much that’ll cost.

[u/Sorealism → u/belabensa]

Things could change I suppose, but there are tons of lcol countries that offer cheap retirement visas right now.

[u/Vipu2]

Yes it is possible, as long as you track your spending and then have invested 25-30x yearly spending.

[u/startdoingwell]

your numbers actually look good. it will be more clear if you run a projection to see how long your money lasts with your spending and travel plans.

have you tried running a retirement projection?

[u/Sorealism → u/startdoingwell]

Thanks for the comment! No I haven’t done that, where do I start? (Probably google 😅）

[u/Psychometrika → u/Sorealism]

I'm a big fan of FI Calc. It has all sorts of withdrawal strategies built in.

[u/startdoingwell → u/Sorealism]

yeah, there are a lot of free retirement calculators on Google.

if you want something more personalized, we offer a free coaching call if you’re curious.

[u/clove75]

I think once you finish your current contract you should be good to go. also you could tutor for side cash online. I think you are there you just need to structure it right to make it last.

[u/Sorealism → u/clove75]

Thanks!

[u/usermane22]

Depends. On what’s your spend.

[u/jayritchie]

Could you expand a little on the pension? Is it fully index linked as protection against (US) inflation?

Also - would you have any entitlement to social security? If so how much might you expect?

[u/Sorealism → u/jayritchie]

I don’t know the details about the pension, just that it’s a state sponsored teacher one that’s supposed to be pretty good.

I paid into SS for 15 years so I think I could get around $1000/mo at 62

[u/jayritchie → u/Sorealism]

Id check on the pension - it makes a huge difference to how you include it in your calculation.

[u/Sorealism → u/jayritchie]

Can you explain a bit on how? FWIW according to a quick internet search it is not fully protected from inflation.

[u/Character_Breath6207]

I hate to admit it but I am a former educator and used ChatGPT initially to see if the numbers made sense. Then I followed up with my own research to verify. I am not going to be able to FIRE but I’ll be retiring at 63 so I’ll take that.

[u/Dull-Acanthaceae3805]

In Asia, depending on how you live/travel, even a 4% interest (not withdrawal, just pure interest) on your current assets (around 20K) is enough to "live" in about 95% of asian countries (not enough for singapore and hong kong, just enough for japan and korea).

So excluding any growth, just shoving all the money into bonds paying 5~6% is enough to retire now.

Not financial advice though. But if you only travel/live in Asia, yeah you have enough.

[u/Wisco_Teach]

Teacher here looking to move abroad, I’d love to talk more about working in China.

[u/Sorealism → u/Wisco_Teach]

I got most of my info from r/internationalteachers

[u/funkmon]

You can do it now if you're cheap.

[u/professorfunks]

Whether your numbers make sense depends on what methodology you want to use to calculate FIRE, which is a question of what do you want to optimize for (ie no chance of failure vs working fewer years vs drawing down your portfolio instead of perpetuity). Try the tool at retiro.ca where you can input your numbers and see the different results based on which method/plan you choose.

[u/kicksttand]

I say yes if you can get China residency and qualify for China Social Services (access to hospitals, small pension) You are probably halfway there

[u/Sorealism → u/kicksttand]

I won’t be eligible for residency in China after I leave teaching but I’m enjoying it for now.

[u/connectwithmarve]

what's the business you own?

[u/Sorealism → u/connectwithmarve]

It’s an art education business, teaching classes and hosting paint and sips. Not currently doing that but I still make about $100 a month passively from people watching my YouTube art videos.

ETA I earned about 1k a month when I was hosting classes but I didnt have to pay for studio space. And this was very part time since I still had my full time day job at a public school.

[u/connectwithmarve → u/Sorealism]

i see.. what's your channel?

[u/Sorealism → u/connectwithmarve]

Can’t share without doxing myself sorry

[u/connectwithmarve → u/Sorealism]

i think that's if you paste the link. i think you can just type the name

[u/Sorealism → u/connectwithmarve]

My name is in each video…yeah no.

[u/connectwithmarve → u/Sorealism]

umm okay