Yes many people do it.
There are many fantastic international schools in Asia and I meet a lot of Expats with children going to school. Don't let children take away 20yrs of your life plus they will have a better education outside of Oz.
Early retirement without a fortune
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Yes many people do it.
There are many fantastic international schools in Asia and I meet a lot of Expats with children going to school. Don't let children take away 20yrs of your life plus they will have a better education outside of Oz.
Hi Ting Tong, can you qualify how it is that kids outside of Oz will have a better education, particularly in asian cultures, Thanks
Hi Trippy, generally speaking the education levels in Asia are a much higher standard than in Australia. I know some kindergartens in Hong Kong where the children must submit a CV and attend interviews when they are 3-4 years old.
I also think kids who are educated o'seas are more mature, well rounded, tolerent of others from different backgrounds and have higher social / emotional intelligence.
I also think kids who are educated o'seas are more mature, well rounded, tolerent of others from different backgrounds and have higher social / emotional intelligence.
I wonder who submits the CV - the children or the parents! What are the children being interviewed for?
As you mention that generally education levels in Asia are higher than Australia, do you have any examples of institutions here that may be of an equivalent of higher standing?
Do you have examples to substantiate these claims?
interview-and-assessment-preparation-courses-children-aged-2-5
- Give your child the best chance in their school interviews by preparing them with expertly designed preparation courses.
- Conducted in small groups, children get the opportunity to interact with their peers and converse with teachers as they will in real interviews, feedback will be relayed to parents.
- ITS consultants are familiar with the interview processes of all local and international schools across Hong Kong and can tailor the sessions to suit the needs of the children.
The interview practice lessons focus on communication and social skills, and helps students learn to introduce themselves and communicate their thoughts and ideas to others.
Through guided theme-based activities and group activities, children develop the skills looked for when attending interviews.
Basic concepts covered include colours, numbers, alphabet & phonics, sizes, and shapes. Children spend the lesson interacting with other students, conversing with teaches, playing puzzles, completing age-appropriate worksheets, reading books and listening to songs and stories.
Each program is for 6 hours (1 hour per session). Sessions are conducted twice per week over 3 weeks.
To ensure focus on your child, each session has a maximum of 8 children.
Parents do not need to accompany children in the class.
Classes are age-appropriate:
2-3 years old
3-4 years old
4-5 years old
This sounds absolutely insane.
Any parent who does this, IMO, needs their head examined.
...but then again, I'm against private schools and homeschooling.
Public schools are best.
Seems to me the education system is much worse in HK if you have to do all that nonsense to babies just to get enrollment into a school. I understand Switzerland is recognized as having the best education system and they dont start school until 7yrs old. In the phillipines kids learn read at 3yrs old but even after leaving uni still havent leant to think for themselves or have any intiative.
I think it is absolutely crazy. Doesn't make them any smarter either.
I am actually a contributer on some of these retire early websites
I semi-retired at 39 (2 years ago) and dropped my income from approx 250k per year to approx 80 k per year (combined) now.
We (myself, my wife and 2 kids) actually saved 20k last year (so spent only 60k)
Easy to do with no material change to our status if...
1. you have no mortgage
2. never a huge consumer anyways
3. live inner city (6km from cbd) so dont over use a car
4. Slightly bohemian outlook with friends who also dont mind a little wierdness (recycling, camping, vintage clothes).
5. when you were earning you were saving most of it (80 pct)
6. Good state school in the area
We went snow skiing last year, the family feels no different to when i was earning 4 times as much
I still earn money through investments, blogging, and part time tafe teaching...
We are about to embark on a renovation paying cash...
So it can be done!
I semi-retired at 39 (2 years ago) and dropped my income from approx 250k per year to approx 80 k per year (combined) now.
We (myself, my wife and 2 kids) actually saved 20k last year (so spent only 60k)
Easy to do with no material change to our status if...
1. you have no mortgage
2. never a huge consumer anyways
3. live inner city (6km from cbd) so dont over use a car
4. Slightly bohemian outlook with friends who also dont mind a little wierdness (recycling, camping, vintage clothes).
5. when you were earning you were saving most of it (80 pct)
6. Good state school in the area
We went snow skiing last year, the family feels no different to when i was earning 4 times as much
I still earn money through investments, blogging, and part time tafe teaching...
We are about to embark on a renovation paying cash...
So it can be done!
Just highlighted a few items:
- 250k pa would definitely helped have you become mortgage free (assuming you own your home and are not renting?) in a relatively short time. This is well out of reach of the majority of "average" families.
- 80k pa is still a decent takehome wage, IMO
- inner city living; one must enjoy this lifestyle, and you probably needed your 250k pa to afford to live/buy here in the first place
If I was mortgage free (which I'm seriously considering attempting by selling some IPs [but that's another story]) would also put me in a fantastic cashflow position! But getting there is a challenge!
Did you read another thread about why it is a good idea to keep the mortgage?
Let me rephrase "have no mortgage" to "owe bugger-all on our PPOR mortgage".
then maybe the moral of the story is to keep your mortgage owing at $1 (assuming there are no ongoing fees)
Posting to get updates so I can read later, thanks Peter
You need an expat package or other good income if you want to send your kids to an international school. Friends send their kids to Kellets in HK (primary level) where the debenture is AU$12,000 and annual fees are AU$14,000 per child per annum.
On the flip side I have friends working as dive masters on Ko Tao (Thailand) and earn combined annual income of AU$26,000 but they are richer in many other ways. Their 5yo daughter was born on Ko Samui and they send her to the local primary school which costs AU$30 per annum.
Retiring early is a lot easier if you don't have kids or aren't hung up on their place of education.
Why is it a challenge and are there ways you can speed it up?
I stopped working at 36yo but still had debt to service which ate into my cashflow and lifestyle so I made the decision to sell a flagship IP and pay off all my debt. This allowed me to live off the rent from the remaining 3 IP's. It's always tough to sell an IP but if it benefits you then you have to remind yourself this is the reason why you're investing. Remember the end game which will help you focus on where you want to go.
Hi Ting Tong, can you qualify how it is that kids outside of Oz will have a better education, particularly in asian cultures, Thanks
they don't have a better education - life of schooling in asia is just cramping loads of stuff without any focus. They don't focus on vocational studies and more on technical skills.
On the other side of the coin - asian schools workload is 10 times harder and more than australian schools. So majority of students who do come from asian schooling and spend their few years in high school and uni find it no issues to completing their studies unless you take into account other issues of alcohol and partying
Their australian mathematics in year 12 is year 10 maths in asia. I know a few people who just waltzed through year 12 scoring 97% and above in their tertiary entrance ranking in VCE without even trying that much.
Why do Malays dislike Indo's so much la
I've spent a lot of time in Malaysia and I think its a very "straight" and boring country outside of the underground scene in KL.
both are the same if you ask me. i spend a lot of time in both countries.... if you stay in bali it is far superior in terms of cost and a relaxed lifestyle to what they is in malaysia. Jakarta on the other hand is probably one of the more difficult cities to go to.
$50 a week to feed family of 4
I know, I know, everyone here (but me) hates Today Tonight
Since you probably didn't see it (or will own up to it)
you missed a great segment.
Feeding your family lots of great food...fruits and veggies ..etc
for about $50 week
Here's the link
http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/consumer/article/-/15541364/weeks-family-feed-for-50/
Here is a snippet: "The aim is to keep every family member happy and healthier for less.
Putting even the most basic of food items on the table has become a daily struggle for a growing number of families and it's often thought that to eat healthy food is more expensive.
But nutritionist Sally Boyer and her husband Derek - the world's strongest man over 40 and a former Gladiator - have come to the rescue with an e-book titled 'How to Feed a Family of Four on $50 a Week'.
"There is a misconception out there that it costs a lot to eat healthy, but we're proving that you can eat healthily on a budget," Sally said.
Sally and Derek's book was born out of concern for a client who had a dilemma.
"She was spending (money) on frozen meat pies and two minute noodles. I was really concerned but understood there were many families out there in the same situation, so I made a promise to her to come up with a solution," Sally said."
I know, I know, everyone here (but me) hates Today Tonight
Since you probably didn't see it (or will own up to it)
you missed a great segment.
Feeding your family lots of great food...fruits and veggies ..etc
for about $50 week
Here's the link
http://au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/consumer/article/-/15541364/weeks-family-feed-for-50/
Here is a snippet: "The aim is to keep every family member happy and healthier for less.
Putting even the most basic of food items on the table has become a daily struggle for a growing number of families and it's often thought that to eat healthy food is more expensive.
But nutritionist Sally Boyer and her husband Derek - the world's strongest man over 40 and a former Gladiator - have come to the rescue with an e-book titled 'How to Feed a Family of Four on $50 a Week'.
"There is a misconception out there that it costs a lot to eat healthy, but we're proving that you can eat healthily on a budget," Sally said.
Sally and Derek's book was born out of concern for a client who had a dilemma.
"She was spending (money) on frozen meat pies and two minute noodles. I was really concerned but understood there were many families out there in the same situation, so I made a promise to her to come up with a solution," Sally said."
They are similar in language and culture but not the same.
Overall I prefer Indo over Malaysia but agree Bali is best lifestyle.
I like the nightlife in Jakarta (Blok M
) and find it easy to get around but not keen on other parts of Java.
