Just because you’re a teacher and don’t make a lot of money doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be investing it. Hopefully, you have retirement investments and the correct insurance for you and your family.
Beyond that, you want the rest of your money to work for you, even if it’s not a lot! You’d like to see it start to grow and increase.
But it’s hard to get good investments as a teacher. You don’t have a lot of money, so the risk feels greater. You want a good return, without exposing yourself to a lot of risk.
Warren Buffett’s Investments
Warren Buffett, one of the 5 wealthiest people in the world, made much of his income through investing. He made his first million dollars by running a hedge fund, and then began investing in banks and insurance companies. He’s a brilliant investor.
He purchased Berkshire Hathaway for $12 a share in 1965. In 50 years, he has made almost 2 million percent on his investment! In the early 2000’s he purchased a Chinese oil company that he sold in 5 years making him several billion dollars (Billion with a “B”).
So what does Warren Buffett say the best investment you can make is?
Many of Warran Buffett’s investments aren’t deals that the rest of us could purchase. Most teachers probably didn’t have $230 Million to purchase BYD (an electric car battery company from China) in 2008. If we did, we too could have made $1.8 Billion!
We also don’t have the international name recognition to purchase Bank of America at a steep discount with guaranteed buy back options – which instantly spiked the value of the company just because it was tied to the financial genius.
However, the BEST financial investment we can make, according to Warren Buffett, doesn’t require his deep pockets nor his notoriety.
According to Warrant Buffett, the investment you can make is in yourself.
How to Take His Advice
To invest in yourself, you need to do things that will increase your value; make yourself worth more to your company or increase your earning potential in other arenas.
The Mistake Most Teachers Make
Most teachers make the mistake of getting a master’s degree, thinking this will generate them more income. In my district, a Master’s Degree will earn you $3,000 more per year (provided its in the subject area that you teach). So if you have to spend $15,000 to get your degree, it will take 5 years for you to actually increase your overall value. (Of course, if you teach for 20 more years, then it was a worthy investment, but it will take many years to start to be an overall gain).
Another mistake teachers make is to NOT invest this money. $10,000 in a savings account will earn between $200 and $2,000 in that same twenty years (assuming an interest rate between 1 and 0.1%) – which after inflation will actually be a net loss.
Success Stories
Bill is a Biology teacher. He makes a normal teacher’s wage. Wanting to increase his income, he began learning how to code on Khan Academy (which is free). After several months he had learned enough to start picking up side work on the internet. These jobs could be done after school hours or on the internet, and remotely – so people in other states or countries could hire him. As his skills increased, he was able to accept more difficult, and thus higher paying jobs. He then setup a website where people could hire him directly, allowing him to keep more of his revenue as well as set his own prices (previously he’d been finding clients through websites that got you gigs and charged a fee). Within a few years Bill was making more on nights and weekends as a coder then he was as a coder.
Stephanie signed up for a class on Skillshare learning digital photography and editing. The class cost a few hundred dollars and allowed her to start her own business. She makes several thousand dollars each year during non-school hours doing something she enjoys.
Jasmine took the resources she was making for her class and begun selling them on Teachers Pay Teachers. This cost $60 a year. She also took an online course to teach her how to create resources, upload them to TpT, and get customers. She makes around $500 a month selling lesson plans and worksheets online.
What about you?
Are you interested in making an investment that could increase your earning potential by hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month?
What are you passionate about? What skill do you have that you could start using to make some extra money, or what skill would you like to learn?
Skillshare has hundreds of classes online for you to choose that could help increase your skillset and earning potential. You can get 2 months of SkillShare for free by clicking here.
Or, perhaps you’re interested in starting your own store on Teachers Pay Teachers using some of the great things you’re already doing in your class. In that case, you should take Warren Buffett’s advice and invest in yourself. You can download my free ebook to help you get started, or enroll in my online course where I will walk you through the steps of starting your own TpT business. Click here to learn more.
Start a Blog
A blog is a great way to start making a side income, especially if you already have a Teachers Pay Teachers store. You read above that you can start one for as little as $4 with BlueHost. But I have a free online course to walk you through the steps of starting a blog. Click here to enroll in my video-based, online course to start a blog.
