"NEVER get a summer job!"
Those were the first words I was told at the opening workshop day breakfast for the school I've been working at for the past 22 years. The veteran teacher that gave me and the other new teachers this advice that day had very sound reasoning for his directive. "Once you start working in the summer, you'll start counting on that income as part of your budget, and you'll never be able to quit!" He had started working and helping at his parent's small-town bar 30 years earlier and was still working that job every summer all those years later. He had grown accustomed to that "extra" money he made and couldn't just walk away. If us new teachers started working in the summers, we too, would grow accustomed to this income and never be able to walk away.
So why am I telling you this anecdote of a day so many years ago? Because it contains some valuable truth, but at the same time, a giant missed opportunity, or more importantly, a teacher's advantage.
The truth of his statement is what happens to most Americans. As their incomes continue to grow, a term we have used here before starts to happen, "lifestyle creep". People see their incomes rise and they allow their expenses to rise with them. Before you know it, you are spending as much as you are making and living paycheck to paycheck. Not the real "American dream" but unfortunately, the "American reality".
So where is this opportunity, or advantage? It still is picking up that summer job, BUT instead of allowing lifestyle creep to work its way into your life, any income you make in the summer goes DIRECTLY into an IRA or Roth account. The money should NEVER make it into your daily checking or savings accounts. If it does, it will magically find its way into your monthly spending and budget. Don't allow yourself to fall into this trap, or you will lose your teacher's "advantage".
So why am I calling this the teacher's "advantage? Well, if your district is like mine, your salary is paid in 12-monthly installments. You have your monthly income that SHOULD be covering all of your expenses AND funding your 403(b) account. (If that's not the case, I suggest you look at your budget and where you can cut some costs!) This means you have the opportunity in June, July, and August to work a second job or some other side hustle that will allow you to turbocharge your retirement and give you that teacher's "advantage". It really is the only profession that allows you to have 3 months to pick up some side work.
What kind of work could that be? Oh, that could be a whole post in itself, but some quick ideas are things like mowing, bartending, retail sales, landscaping (if you're younger) etc... You could even teach summer school (No thanks for me). Just don't burn yourself out at school doing all the "extra" stuff. Most teachers need that time away in the summer to "recharge" their batteries and be mentally ready for the next school year.
Hopefully this gives you some ideas on turbocharging your retirement and using your teacher's "advantage and as always....
KEEP STACKIN!