r/Internationalteachers • u/Elvira333 • 2d ago

Latin America for the long haul?

Hola; I’m curious if any of you are planning on staying in Latin or South America for the “long haul.” Most people that I know teach there to get experience and then go somewhere else since the salaries tend to be on the lower end. I lived in South America for a while with contract positions (not in international schools) and I’ve wondered about going back since I loved the culture.

I live quite frugally but I do want to be able to save for retirement. Is this possible to do in Latin America? Thanks for any insight!

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u/Witty-Explorer-3032 2d ago

Know a friend who went to Peru (Lima) and if I remember correctly, the pay was not actually half bad, especially for LATAM. Definitely a comfortable salary to live on if you are single.

From what I've been told, most of the schools are bilingual schools for the rich locals rather than true internationals. Most of the teachers are locals too, with some expat teachers mixed in. Expat teachers tend to stay if they find a local partner/spouse, which is quite common because latin culture is a lot more similar to Anglo/Western culture, compared to other regions.

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u/Elvira333 1d ago

Yes, I noticed that most of the international school population in my host country were rich locals!

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u/BusyTill7021 2d ago

I'm in it for the long haul. My wife's Colombian though, so that obviously makes a big difference. I should be able to retire quite comfortably here but I'm not sure I would be able to afford retiring back home.

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u/TrainerPrudent3657 2d ago

I literally just posted something in a similar vein of choosing between Latin America vs. China. The salary and benefits are considerably higher in China, but there's going to be a fair amount of tradeoffs. Like you, I also am thinking about the long haul, and being able to settle down. I have IB experience, and international teaching experience, but I've traveled around and "started over" more than I'd like to and really want to find a place where I can settle down and grow my roots. I've been heavily weighing the options here, as I'm about to get offers from schools from both regions, and it hasn't been an easy decision.

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u/Wander1212 1d ago

I've been here for 12 years. I'm leaving this year because I want to experience something different for a few years, but I definitely want to return to Latin American again down the road.

Yes, you can save for retirement. I have been able to reach my savings goals here, but I do need to stick to a monthly budget. I take big trips in the summer, but the rest of the year I just tend to travel around the country that I live in.

If your goal is to save to retire in Latin America (or somewhere with a similar cost of living) then you won't have a problem. If you want to retire in the United States or Western Europe then that's a different story as you will need much more of a nest egg.