Prep Time ... for Retirement: Questions and Answers

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Prep Time ... for Retirement

Questions and Answers

Carol Baird-Krul and Enise Olding

Question
When I retire I’m determined to continue teaching in some way, but all I can think of is the type of teaching I’ve done all my working life—high school (junior level) specializing in English, Social Studies, History. Do you have any ideas about how I can use my teaching skills using these areas of knowledge in another way and for other types of learners? I need some variety and a change.

Answer
There are several options available to you especially given your specialties, but your choice will depend on a couple of factors. One factor is where do you want to work—in Canada or elsewhere? Another factor is whether or not you are willing to take a course to get your ESL certification. A third factor will be whether or not you are anxious to top up your pension.

If remaining in Canada is what you want and a salary is required, I would suggest that you look at getting the extra certification, then see about working at a college or language school that specializes in teaching ESL. If salary is not an issue, then you might want to offer your services, whether you have the ESL certification or not, to a multicultural society where you would be valued teaching English, helping to write resumés or assisting with correspondence studies. Whether or not you get the ESL certification, you could consider setting up your own tutoring service or working for one. If you have a specific area of expertise in one of the subjects that you presently teach, you might want to think about teaching an Elder College course. These are usually held once a week for a couple of hours over a short period of time.

Working overseas could be just what you need if remaining in Canada isn’t necessary. Options abound for Canadian teachers and promise a significant change and challenge. If you have ESL certification you can pick and choose from language schools, private schools specializing in using English as the language of instruction or a public school that wants English language teachers. If you prefer to stay in a more mainstream setting or don’t have the ESL certification, then you could look at working in an offshore or international school. In all cases you can find legitimate companies that hire teachers for overseas work or you can search the Internet if you prefer to find a teaching position yourself.

Any of these options would afford you the opportunity to use your skills and to work with different types of students, and would be an invigorating change.

Question
Is there such a thing as a retirement planning team? I’m retiring next year but I want to get an overall picture of what my future looks like.

Answer
There is plenty of information available to those considering retirement, but it takes some effort to pull it all together. Pension Plan seminars through your school district provide a very thorough overview of the ins and outs of the pension plans for which you may be eligible, and how they mesh together, and what options are available. You may want to engage the services of a financial planner who has knowledge of the options available in your particular district or provincial pension plan to help figure out the best option for you. Checking with your provincial teachers’ organization will likely provide you with the names of people who specialize and have knowledge in this area.

But to answer your specific question about a planning team: more and more financial and lifestyle professionals are becoming aware of requests from today’s retirees for an all-round perspective, not just financial. The Canadian Association of Pre-retirement Planners (CAPP) is a national organization with chapters in each province. One of the key objectives of CAPP is “to promote a comprehensive approach to retirement planning which addresses lifestyle and financial components.” Members are listed on the CAPP website (www.retirementplanners.ca) and there are links to the provincial chapters. Listed too are those CAPP members who have the Professional Retirement Planner (PRP) designation which indicates that they have undertaken considerable training in the area of providing insightful service to clients and have a high level of professional and educational experience.

When considering a professional to assist you in your retirement planning, you may wish to use the services of Certified Senior Advisor who “is a professional dedicated to providing the highest quality of service possible to the Boomer and Senior Clients.” The Canadian Academy of Senior Advisors website is www.canadacsa.com.

While a vast amount of information is available as you make your retirement plans, bear in mind it is essential that you have a very good and realistic idea of what you’d like your life to look like after you leave your job, because no matter how good your retirement planning team might be—they are not mind readers!

Carol and Enise are the creators of a series of pre-retirement and post-retirement planning workshops: Transition to Retirement: The Uncharted Course©, Recently Retired: Charting a New Course© and Ideas ... Enhanced and Advanced©, and authors of Transition to Retirement: The Uncharted Course (see: www.PacificEdgePublishing.com), Previous articles on retirement may be viewed in back issues at www.CanadianTeacherMagazine.com.