Is teaching a “hobby” job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of my parents’ retired friends, those who are in the best financial position are almost all retired teachers. But sure it was a hobby.

Why? The pension? Feds have pensions. What about teachers has made them in the best position in retirement ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of my parents’ retired friends, those who are in the best financial position are almost all retired teachers. But sure it was a hobby.

Why?

[Anonymous]

I know someone who was a SAHM for 20 yrs. Her husband made a really good living. She didn’t need to work but wanted some independence while staying married. She became a teacher but it is absolutely a hobby job because it’s a fraction of what the husband makes, she doesn’t need the job, she likes getting out of the house and working after 20 yrs, she uses the salary to shop and go to the spa in weekends.

Totally different question: do summers off make up for all the rest? I’ve always worked in the corporate world and would love to have the long vacations. My teacher friend says they’re still always working but I don’t see that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all know teachers don’t make much, so between the low pay and summers off, is that enough to constitute a “hobby” job?

Absolutely not -- hobby jobs are ones that don't actually contribute that much to society (like... making jewelry or something).

Ok, no - and no need to denigrate the arts.

A hobby is something you do for fun, not money that you need to live. You can make jewelry as a job or as a hobby. You can be a trash collector as a job or you can pick up litter as a hobby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who was a SAHM for 20 yrs. Her husband made a really good living. She didn’t need to work but wanted some independence while staying married. She became a teacher but it is absolutely a hobby job because it’s a fraction of what the husband makes, she doesn’t need the job, she likes getting out of the house and working after 20 yrs, she uses the salary to shop and go to the spa in weekends.

Totally different question: do summers off make up for all the rest? I’ve always worked in the corporate world and would love to have the long vacations. My teacher friend says they’re still always working but I don’t see that.

I’m a teacher on summer break. No, summers off aren’t worth it. I don’t have money to go anywhere and I work my summer job and my second job (tutoring which I do all year).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of my parents’ retired friends, those who are in the best financial position are almost all retired teachers. But sure it was a hobby.

Why? The pension? Feds have pensions. What about teachers has made them in the best position in retirement ?

Probably because the teaching job was the low paying job of the couple, but it provided access to health insurance and the possibility of a pension.

[Anonymous]

Most teachers I know who are working to support themselves have multiple jobs on top of teaching, and are barely making ends meet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this post real? I think teachers make more than you think, OP.

Starting salaries are $50k and max out around $100 after a lot of years. Full time retail is really not any better compared to the low end of the teacher scale.

Eh, depends where you are. Teachers at my tippy top small public, most of whom had PhDs, were making 125+ up to around 180 in the early aughts. I recognize that is not the norm but there are some outliers there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this post real? I think teachers make more than you think, OP.

Starting salaries are $50k and max out around $100 after a lot of years. Full time retail is really not any better compared to the low end of the teacher scale.

Eh, depends where you are. Teachers at my tippy top small public, most of whom had PhDs, were making 125+ up to around 180 in the early aughts. I recognize that is not the norm but there are some outliers there.

And no, regardless of pay, teaching full time is not a hobby job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all know teachers don’t make much, so between the low pay and summers off, is that enough to constitute a “hobby” job?

What an extremely offensive question.

This. and this is why teachers are done.

It’s a troll post that no one agrees with so teachers should take nothing from it.

It's constant so stop....it's not one troll it's many rude people. I appreciate you seeing it as ridiculous but you are sadly not the norm.

I disagree that it has been characterized as such by the majority of posters. One rando? Maybe. Actual people, no.

You are entitled to your opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of my parents’ retired friends, those who are in the best financial position are almost all retired teachers. But sure it was a hobby.

Why?

It provided a solid middle class income with good benefits. They didn’t make biglaw money but that also meant that they didn’t spend like biglaw partners. My parents’ best friends — both retired teachers — have a big pension, long-since paid off home, and at least $5 million saved (the beauty of compound interest). They are in their early 70s and take at two Nat Geo cruises each year and spoil their grandkids. My inlaws, on the other hand, worked fairly high paying corporate jobs but spent money like it was going out of style. They have nothing but social security now and we subsidize them. But I’m not bitter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all know teachers don’t make much, so between the low pay and summers off, is that enough to constitute a “hobby” job?

Absolutely not -- hobby jobs are ones that don't actually contribute that much to society (like... making jewelry or something).

Ok, no - and no need to denigrate the arts.

A hobby is something you do for fun, not money that you need to live. You can make jewelry as a job or as a hobby. You can be a trash collector as a job or you can pick up litter as a hobby.

Both trash collection and teaching are essential jobs for our society to properly function.

There are many, many, many well paying jobs that people do in DC that, if they disappeared, would have no impact on society. These are also called "bullshit jobs," which i prefer to "hobby jobs" as a category for identifying.

I thought this all became clear during covid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this post real? I think teachers make more than you think, OP.

Starting salaries are $50k and max out around $100 after a lot of years. Full time retail is really not any better compared to the low end of the teacher scale.

Eh, depends where you are. Teachers at my tippy top small public, most of whom had PhDs, were making 125+ up to around 180 in the early aughts. I recognize that is not the norm but there are some outliers there.

Baloney. Name the public school where most teachers have PhDs and earn that kind of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all know teachers don’t make much, so between the low pay and summers off, is that enough to constitute a “hobby” job?

Absolutely not -- hobby jobs are ones that don't actually contribute that much to society (like... making jewelry or something).

Ok, no - and no need to denigrate the arts.

A hobby is something you do for fun, not money that you need to live. You can make jewelry as a job or as a hobby. You can be a trash collector as a job or you can pick up litter as a hobby.

Both trash collection and teaching are essential jobs for our society to properly function.

There are many, many, many well paying jobs that people do in DC that, if they disappeared, would have no impact on society. These are also called "bullshit jobs," which i prefer to "hobby jobs" as a category for identifying.

I thought this all became clear during covid?

Most people can distinguish between a hobby and bullshit, two separate ideas represented by different words. A hobby job and a bullshit job are not synonymous.

Your impact on society has nothing to do with whether your job is a hobby job. One could argue that being president is a hobby job, since most presidents don't need the money.

[Anonymous]

Hobby job? No.
Are the summers worth it? Not exactly (though they are amazing). I'd much prefer a 4 week summer with the other weeks spread out over the year.

As for pay, I make 95k at a private school after leaving two decades in public schools. I'll get a small pension from public when I retire, social security, and my private offers a nice matching option on our 403b accounts or whatever they're called, on top of the IRA I have. My husband has 2 masters and makes 125k in his public school. He still has at least ten more years, so that'll increase at least another 25k by then, along with a significant pension, social security and his IRA. And we both will have retired teachers health care subsidized health insurance. We didn't make a lot starting out, but finally we feel good about where we are financially. We do still both work extra duties for additional pay and that helps paying for college. All that said, my husband's job is a lot easier than mine. I've had a lot of really awful years where I have regretted my career choice, stopped sleeping due to anxiety, etc. So, hobby job, no.