Source: Education Week
Teachers who plan to stay in the classroom and work in the same state for their entire career will have a steady stream of income for the rest of their life. But those who leave the profession sometime before the 30-year mark, or even change states, won’t have enough saved to retire comfortably. That’s according to a new study from the Bellwether Education Partners, an education nonprofit group. The study estimates that 81 percent of teachers who start working at age 25 will fail to qualify for adequate retirement benefits under a typical defined-benefit pension plan. Chad Aldeman, a principal at Bellwether Education Partners and an author of this study, said even after teachers are vested, “it can take 25 years before the pension is worth more than the teacher’s contribution.”