This just came up talking about passive income with an English speaker who wanted me to lay out the specifics of how they could retire 40 years early:
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Take a $9000, 40-hour-per-week in-person ESL job.
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Live on $1000 very comfortably abroad, invest the other $8000 at 5%; index funds are a good option and often outperform 5% returns.
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After one year, you have $96000 invested, returning 4800 indefinitely, $400 USD per month.
That’s enough to live in dozens of countries in a private bedroom with utilities/wifi and afford groceries and data.
- After two years, your return will rise to $9600 per year at 5%, $800 USD per month.
That’s enough passive income to live in most of the world in a private house/condo/apartment with utilities/wifi included with $400 left over for food and entertainment.
If you want to work 20 hours a week instead of 40, it takes 4 years instead of 2, working 10 hours a week takes 8 years.
8 years might sound like a long time, but it’s a lot shorter than 30 or 40 years and you only work 10 hours a week.
You can also blitz 40-hour workweeks 2 months of the year and work 10-hour weeks the rest of the year, there’s a lot of customization to be had.
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that would be every teachers dream.
China. That linked position pays $56 an hour, which is 9k a month at 40 hours per week.
You should, it rocks. I’m seriously considering going back for another couple years just to beef up my passive income and also because it’s silly comfortable and convenient living in China.
There are thousands of ESL jobs across China, here’s one for $5000 per month from yesterday in the Beijinger, a popular magazine in China. And another. More. There are a bunch on that site, but in the actual country there are practically limitless job opportunities for English speakers.
I’m happy to talk you through the process or answer any questions you have.
China is more a $500 per month cost of living, but if you want a very nice private apartment nearer to the city center and never want to cook or clean, $1000 is more realistic.
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Nope, all you need is to speak English to start teaching, although a TEFL certificate maximizes pay quickly.
Teaching English is perfectly legal, an English teacher is like any other language teacher.
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I understand this information is surprising, it’s why I post it, but there is nothing sketchy about teaching English. You are not accurately representing your former comments and your assertions about ESL teaching requirements and pay are incorrect.
no one is making 100k USD a year as a fresh-off-the-boat with a TEFL at a training center
The linked jobs and pay scales are accurate and it is very possible to earn $52 an hour with a TEFL certificate in China.
ESL jobs in China are paying 400 RMB per hour.
400 RMB = ~$57 USD
$57 x 40 hours = 2280
$2280 x 4 weeks = 9120
$9120 x 12 months = $109440
Not commenting on the data, just the math-
The number is actually higher if you do a direct conversion to weeks (52) instead of the 4 weeks x 12 months like you’re doing now. 😜Foooo sho, thanks. As time has gone on, I tend to underestimate benefits and overestimate hurdles when introducing travel concepts; I’m always playing defense against general travel skepticism.
I wager that If I used 52 weeks there would be a lot of weekends/holiday talk and since I didn’t account for those, travel itself must be impossible!
Like $56 is good pay, but I and many teachers were paid significantly more than that. Very few index funds return as low as 5%, those job listings are from posh schools with high requirements, but I think erring on the side of realistic humility serves the positive message as much as possible while staying accurate.
I promise that much of the time I have like sixteen other things rattling around my skull that I am struggling to reign in, haha
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This is accurate, sourced, publicly available information that has helped people already and I hope can help more people.
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You may have misunderstood the math, although you are correct that $56 per hour earns you over $2000 per week.
$56 USD per hour, 40 hours per week
56x40 = $2240 per week.
2240x4 weeks = $8960 per month.
It’s very comfortable living on $960 a month in China.
Invest the other $8000 each month.
After 2 years, 24 months, investing $8000 per month, you’ll have $192,000 invested.
A 5% annual return on $192,000 is $9600 in annual passive income.
That is $800 USD per month.
That’s enough passive income to live in most of the world in a private house/condo/apartment with utilities/wifi included with $400 left over for food and entertainment.
After 2 years, you’re retired comfortably.
Can you please update your comment with an acknowledgement? Your comment is currently misinformation and I’ll have to remove it without an edit or update so that nobody gets thrown off, thanks.
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tldr: that GBG price list is very inaccurate.
$400 won’t even get you notoriously cheap places like Hungary or Croatia.
Croatia and Hungary are known for being expensive(very tiny countries with severe housing crises), but
even Croatia:
It’s important to remember that most index funds outperform 5%, your actual ESL pay can be higher(my regular tutoring pay was closer to ~70 USD per hour and the highest I’ve received was a little over $100 per hour), and 2 years is not a deadline.
Work 6 more months and have $1000 in passive income. Every month, your leftover income can be reinvested and your passive income will create a little more passive income.
The property guide you’ve provided focuses on a few population centers around the world, a miniscule sample of the housing market.
List claims 1-br in Medellin is $860 per month.
Real world, private 1-br apartment in Medellin is $369 per month:
List claims 1-br in Mexico City is $1290 per month.
Real world, private 1-br apartment in Mexico city is $275
Casablanca, notoriously expensive city, $900 on the list.
Real world: private 1-br apartment in Casablanca is $423:
and $256 in other Moroccan cities
