If you are looking for a way to try living abroad and don’t have much money, you may want to consider teaching abroad. If you are from a western country or speak English fluently there is a good chance that you can become an English teacher abroad and even get paid a decent wage for the country.
If you have any prior teaching experience this process will be even easier and you can teach any number of subjects besides just English, that’s just the easiest one to get into generally as most any non-English speaking country need English teachers.
Many teachers from the United States report terrible conditions when it comes to teaching in the United States. I don’t know how many young American teachers I met who intended to only teach abroad indefinitely after seeing the night and day difference in conditions.
It’s truly a sad thing to say, but without a doubt you will be more respected, you will have fewer responsibilities, you will have better healthcare, and the pay will be better as well teaching abroad in many other countries than teaching in the United States. It’s just a thankless job back home.
If instead you decide to teach abroad, you will most likely enjoy a higher salary, health insurance and reasonably priced, or even free health care. All while getting residency in another country which could potentially lead to permanent residency or even a second citizenship. If you bring your spouse and children, they could also qualify. This could be an essentially free way to get your second passport, all while earning a middle class lifestyle salary abroad. Not a bad deal for a lot of people!
During part of my time while living in China, I taught a couple different classes as a way to stay in the country long-term and establish a base to travel around Asia during that time.
When I worked part-time (20 hours a week), I earned around ¥12,000 CNY a month (~$1800 USD) which was plenty for living a comfortable middle class lifestyle in China. If I had done full-time I could have earned ¥25,000 a month (~$3600 USD), but I enjoyed the flexibility the part-time job gave me while still keeping residency.
If you are well experienced it may be possible for you to get a job as a Vice Principal or Foreign Vice Principal. Then, it is possible to earn a $100,000+ yearly salary in a quite a number of major cities around the world.
Different countries will have different salary ranges as well as what level of education you teach at and subject. From my research, I found the best countries to teach in are China and Saudi Arabia as they both have a surplus of money but also a shortage of native English teachers who are willing to move there even temporarily. Perhaps China is off the radar for a while when it comes to teaching abroad, but other countries in Asia also offer competitive wages.
Also, as I mentioned above, you will almost always be offered health insurance as well with most teaching jobs abroad, which as an American, can save an unbelievable amount of money. The cost of health care will be a lot more reasonable too, and even possibly complete free. To many Americans that alone can make the move worthwhile. Not to mention, things are just cheaper in many foreign countries so it is easier to live a nicer lifestyle with less money.
Most schools will also offer to pay for a certain number of flights or cash value of flights each year (For you to return to your home country for holiday), but you can use those to travel to other countries in the region.
Which by the way, it’s super cheap to fly to most any other country in Asia once you settle in one city for a while. I had flights to the Philippines for just over $30, Thailand & Cambodia could be just $100 away and so on. It’s also a lot faster to get there if you are already in Asia! Check out my post on How to get Cheap Flights to go Anywhere if you want some ideas for finding such cheap flights.
As you can see, teaching abroad can allow you to live and work in another country, travel that country and the whole region for much cheaper than you would have been able to before, and you are getting paid to live abroad!
This really is a good way to get your feet wet living abroad and allow you to see other regions of the world for a lot less money than you could otherwise.
Another bonus is this can be a route to obtaining citizenship through naturalization in the country you are teaching in essentially for free just by making a time commitment. Obviously, not so much in China in my case, and a number of other, generally Asia countries. However, if you are looking for a way to get a second citizenship with as little money as possible, this may be a good choice for you. You could earn citizenship in many European or South American countries with some time commitment.
Income earned from teaching can also be deducted from your US taxes under the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion if you qualify, which will help your money go further abroad. You likely will be paying less in tax than you are used to (Unless you are teaching in Western Europe), so this income can go even further.
The IRS has an interactive questionnaire you can use to see if you qualify here.
It may also be possible to claim the Foreign Housing Exclusion or Deduction for your rent or other housing expenses. Just something else to consider!
Great article. I will be facing some of these issues as well..