Gang violence had been rampant at the inner city school I taught at, so I feared the worst when I heard Ms. White's scream.
I rushed into her room. She sat, arms crossed, head down, sobbing uncontrollably. “What’s wrong?” I asked. Without speaking she motioned to the paper on top of her desk.
It was her paycheck.
I reassured her that it would be OK. All she had to do was follow some basic financial success principles and she could become a wealthy teacher.
INTRODUCTION
This is the introduction to a six part Teacher's Guide to Building Wealth.
For years educators have clamored for more money, yet have only enjoyed slight pay increases. “As long as we depend on others to raise our financial status, we will continue to be disappointed,” claims long time educator and popular freelance writer Trent Lorcher, “It’s time to create the amount of financial success we desire.”
In the following article series we will look at the fundamental mindset and actions of the wealthy and then explore specific strategies for teachers:
ADOPT A WEALTHY MINDSET
One’s financial success can be traced ultimately to his or her financial blueprint. In other words, your beliefs about money determine your actions toward money, which determines your amount of money. We will explore philosophies on the mind-money connection as well as an easy money management system that will help even the most destitute educator increase wealth.
EDUCATE YOURSELF
It’s time we practice what we preach. We’ll discuss the importance of education as it applies to personal finance.
FINANCIAL RESOURCES
We review websites and books that teach the basics of financial success. We also take a look at some materials you can use in your classroom to teach financial literacy.
WORK THE SYSTEM
We’ve already tried to change the system. It’s a lot easier to work with it. Get to the top of the pay scale at your school before you take on any extra responsibilities. We also talk about becoming a better teacher, which ultimately gives you leverage, individually and collectively.
WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS, OPEN THE DOOR
Very few enjoy the quality of life a teacher enjoys. We have more free time and get more vacations than any other profession. It’s time to leverage that time and turn it into money
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A SYMPATHETIC PUBLIC
People are always giving me free stuff or huge discounts just because I’m a teacher. In the past month, I’ve received a discount at Barnes and Noble and a thousand dollar teacher discount on a trip to the Dominican Republic. We’ll look at some ways to get free stuff.