I am trying to decide what I want to do once I retire. At the absolute latest, I plan to retire in at the end of December 2013, but maybe sooner depending on different circumstances. I hope to at least get in my 30 years of public service so I can collect my 66% of my final pay, but if the state messes with the pension system and reduces it, I might leave sooner depending on what they do and when they plan to implement changes. There's talk of a sharp reduction in benefits for retirees so I may get out while the getting is good, but since I have no retirement savings, I will have to go right back to work doing something. At this stage of the game, I am quite tired of working for someone else and having them control my existence. I am at an age when I am sick of other people telling me when or whether I can have a vacation or for how long I am able to be away. As finances grow tighter for libraries, less time is being allowed for people to take vacation. At this stage of the game, about the only times during the year when we are allowed to have any sort of considerable time off is either February or October. The rest of the year is pretty much off limits anymore because of how high in demand the spring, summer and winter holidays are for time off. We've pretty much been told that no one will be allowed any time off for the winter holidays anymore and that stinks knowing I will have no time off at all during the holidays. Summer vacation is also frowned on so it's getting tougher and tougher to get any sort of time off during that time of year as well. So given that I am tired of working for someone else, I am giving some thought to becoming a T'ai Chi teacher when I retire. I've been teaching for, oh, I don't know, maybe 5 or so years now, but I am not a certified instructor because that costs over $800 to do and I just don't have that kind of money. I'd like to teach classes during the day so I can have my evenings free but it's a matter of finding the proper venue. There's a yoga center here in town where I could teach but I do not know exactly how much I would make teaching there. I could probably offer classes through the city recreation department but lacking certification, that might be hard to do. I teach a class at church that is a part of our Adult Religious Exploration program so I do not charge for that, but if I want to make money teaching, I am going to have to find the proper venue where lacking certification is not a problem. I am a member in good standing of the T'ai Chi Association of America and it is through them that I would like to become a certified instructor but the money's just not there. So I will have to put out feelers and see if I can become an instructor somewhere here locally without the certification that would give me a bit more credibility. I'd like to offer twelve week classes in the fall, twelve week classes in the spring and then take my summers off. That would be my ideal. I'm just going to have to find the right venue that would permit me to charge enough to make ends meet with my retirement pension but not so much as to scare away potential students. I'm thinking in the range of around $15 per class. To me, that sounds reasonable. So the primary thing I will need to do is to put out feelers about teaching and find out who might be interested in hiring me to do so when it comes time for me to retire. Or I could see if maybe I could use our church fellowship hall or something if that would work. I'd have to find out how they felt about that and what they would charge in the way of rent. For a long time they hosted the Kent Yoga Center which is now in another building so maybe it would be OK for me to use the fellowship hall a few times per week to teach classes during the daytime hours when I could probably get some retirees to come. I have some time to plan all of this yet but doing something like this that would allow me to have more independence would be the perfect thing for me to do when I retire. I just want more freedom now that I am getting older, because truthfully, there's a lot I want to do while I am still healthy enough to do it, and nobody can see the future so I don't know how long my health will hold out. I hope well into my 60s and 70s, and my heredity seems to suggest that will be possible. Teaching T'ai Chi and keeping in regular practice as a result will certainly help!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Contemplating life after retirement
I am trying to decide what I want to do once I retire. At the absolute latest, I plan to retire in at the end of December 2013, but maybe sooner depending on different circumstances. I hope to at least get in my 30 years of public service so I can collect my 66% of my final pay, but if the state messes with the pension system and reduces it, I might leave sooner depending on what they do and when they plan to implement changes. There's talk of a sharp reduction in benefits for retirees so I may get out while the getting is good, but since I have no retirement savings, I will have to go right back to work doing something. At this stage of the game, I am quite tired of working for someone else and having them control my existence. I am at an age when I am sick of other people telling me when or whether I can have a vacation or for how long I am able to be away. As finances grow tighter for libraries, less time is being allowed for people to take vacation. At this stage of the game, about the only times during the year when we are allowed to have any sort of considerable time off is either February or October. The rest of the year is pretty much off limits anymore because of how high in demand the spring, summer and winter holidays are for time off. We've pretty much been told that no one will be allowed any time off for the winter holidays anymore and that stinks knowing I will have no time off at all during the holidays. Summer vacation is also frowned on so it's getting tougher and tougher to get any sort of time off during that time of year as well. So given that I am tired of working for someone else, I am giving some thought to becoming a T'ai Chi teacher when I retire. I've been teaching for, oh, I don't know, maybe 5 or so years now, but I am not a certified instructor because that costs over $800 to do and I just don't have that kind of money. I'd like to teach classes during the day so I can have my evenings free but it's a matter of finding the proper venue. There's a yoga center here in town where I could teach but I do not know exactly how much I would make teaching there. I could probably offer classes through the city recreation department but lacking certification, that might be hard to do. I teach a class at church that is a part of our Adult Religious Exploration program so I do not charge for that, but if I want to make money teaching, I am going to have to find the proper venue where lacking certification is not a problem. I am a member in good standing of the T'ai Chi Association of America and it is through them that I would like to become a certified instructor but the money's just not there. So I will have to put out feelers and see if I can become an instructor somewhere here locally without the certification that would give me a bit more credibility. I'd like to offer twelve week classes in the fall, twelve week classes in the spring and then take my summers off. That would be my ideal. I'm just going to have to find the right venue that would permit me to charge enough to make ends meet with my retirement pension but not so much as to scare away potential students. I'm thinking in the range of around $15 per class. To me, that sounds reasonable. So the primary thing I will need to do is to put out feelers about teaching and find out who might be interested in hiring me to do so when it comes time for me to retire. Or I could see if maybe I could use our church fellowship hall or something if that would work. I'd have to find out how they felt about that and what they would charge in the way of rent. For a long time they hosted the Kent Yoga Center which is now in another building so maybe it would be OK for me to use the fellowship hall a few times per week to teach classes during the daytime hours when I could probably get some retirees to come. I have some time to plan all of this yet but doing something like this that would allow me to have more independence would be the perfect thing for me to do when I retire. I just want more freedom now that I am getting older, because truthfully, there's a lot I want to do while I am still healthy enough to do it, and nobody can see the future so I don't know how long my health will hold out. I hope well into my 60s and 70s, and my heredity seems to suggest that will be possible. Teaching T'ai Chi and keeping in regular practice as a result will certainly help!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Have you looked for scholarships or grants for continuing education that would provide the money to obtain your certification?
Hmmmm, no, but that's a great idea. I should look into that! Thanks!
Post a Comment