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Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Eight Reasons Why Teachers Never Get to Succeed Financially

Mrs X is a public high school teacher in one of the rural areas in Panay. She is the role model of everyone in her community. She prepares for her lesson plan for the week on Saturdays and then creates the visual aids during Sundays. She believes that she can change the lives of people in her area. She wakes up at 5 AM to prepare for her own children’s needs. She cooks and tries to prepare for their needs as well as that of her husband. Then she changes her demeanour and becomes a teacher as she goes to school. At 5 PM, she cannot leave work yet as she has tons of paperwork to be done before going home. Then she comes home to be with her family and does the washing, cleaning, and other household chores. After a few years in the teaching profession, she wonders why she seems to work hard but cannot provide for better things for herself and her family. She is a classic example of a good person who cannot reach her goals despite her hard work.

I have been in the teaching profession for seven years. As I look back, it has always been my pride to be with the noblest professionals in the world. These are people who make other people’s lives better. (I hope this is still true.)

However, as much as we want to make a difference by teaching these children, I see that most of us grapple with balancing our personal lives and our professional lives. There are instances when some teachers love their work so hard that they work beyond the required eight hours. There are those who give time for other people’s children but they often neglect the needs of their own children.

However, even though teachers work hard, it seems that their high intensity of loving their work and their children does not seem to be in balance with their financial status.

Teachers belong to the rank and file system of the government (or with their company). That means, there are always limited opportunities despite the great talents of these wonderful creatures.

Despite the fact that teachers are better compensated compared with other professionals, I find it sad that most of us still find it difficult to pay for everything.

Here are my personal reasons why I think teachers never succeed financially:

1.Teachers pay more taxes than other professionals. In the Philippines, teachers paid more tax compared to half of the doctors and lawyers in Makati City as according to their income tax returns by the Department of Finance. Teachers pay P35,952 tax per year for those teachers whose monthly income is P21,500.

2. Teachers belong to the rat race. The rat race means being involved in a time-consuming job that burdens the person to pay for mortgages, bills, children, and others.

3. Teachers do not know the power of leverage. Teachers are trained to educate young minds academically. However, teachers are not trained with financial education.

4.  Teachers become chronic debtors. It is a sad fact that even teachers have to be in the sad cycle of receiving their salary, then paying half of it to the loan sharks, then borrow money to finance the next 15 days.

5.  Teachers have to spend a portion of their salary for expenses at school. It is a hard fact that the government cannot really finance all of the monetary needs of all schools. Thus, teachers spend their own money painting their room, repairing their ceiling, financing for sports events for their athletes, donating their money for Science Investigatory Project.

6. Teachers base their livelihood in active income. There are harsh cases when a teacher gets sick and he has to make a sick leave. There are instances when the teacher no longer has service credits and he has to be deducted with his salary.

7. Teachers learn the business after they retire. Retirement means having pension and a lump sum. With this large amount of money, some try to invest in business. However, they were not trained and they lose their investment. They did not start while they were young.

8. Teachers never get rich. Period.



If you are a teacher who wants to reach financial success despite the reasons that you have, there are a number of ways that can be done so you can reach your goal. If you do not have the knowledge on how it can be done, you can contact me.


Lornajane Altura

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3 comments:

  1. i agree. this is a sad reality that is why many of our youngsters no longer dream of becoming a teacher. they believe that they would not get rich in the said profession. plus the fact that they see it as a very stressful job although on the upside, very much fulfilling. worse, most of them have their salary as the only source of their income which is unfortunately the one taxed heavily in our tax system

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    Replies
    1. Choosing the teaching profession is a noble task as it has always been said. However, in terms of financial fulfillment, it is rare to see a teacher who gets rich just because of their salary. Thus, teachers should find other ways of earning income. They should engage in business as individuals who work as those who are most heavily taxed by the government.

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  2. although what our teachers really need is to be given themselves financial education so that they could find other sources of income, save more, invest wisely or develop the discipline and proper mindset in managing their finances so as to retire comfortably or so as not to end up sick and broke

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