Hi,
I want to be an English teacher in Taiwan, and after graduating, I’ll have 30,000 in student loans. At first I planned on working the the US for a number of years to save up money and pay off loans. After reading numerous posts here, people apparently go to Taiwan to pay off student debts? How does that work? Am I missing something here?
Thanks
Forgive me, but unless I’m missing something here (or my mind is addled with cognac and moonshine)the answer to this can only be, “You get a job here and pay off your student loan”.
[quote=“swang717”]Hi,
I want to be an English teacher in Taiwan, and after graduating, I’ll have 30,000 in student loans. At first I planned on working the the US for a number of years to save up money and pay off loans. After reading numerous posts here, people apparently go to Taiwan to pay off student debts? How does that work? Am I missing something here?
Thanks[/quote]
The poster above was correct. Come here and get a job. Like the United States, they give you money for working here. When you pay off your student loans, you do so with money. But I am sure that’s what you were asking 
Really, the cost of living here is a lot less - especially if you live in some of the smaller towns. You can get a 3 bedroom apartment here for about $350 USD a month. Food is a lot cheaper also if you like Taiwanese food.
Matt
Op should also be clued into the fact that it takes a few months to be able to start saving money to send home to pay off those student loans.
I don’t know what your monthly payments are but a bit of money needs to go out before it starts coming in in Taiwan. You’ll have to pay 2 months deposit on an apt., and if you live in Taipei on your own this can be a chunk of change. Sometimes schools offer to pay for accomodation, esp. in smaller towns, but don’t expect anything too nice. Best to live with roommates at first so your rent is lower. You can check out Taiwanted.com or tealit.com to get an idea of what you’d pay for a shared place.
Keep in mind this:
If you come at the beginning of the month you’ll probably be sorted with a job by the middle of the month. You might not have something full time so it might take until the end of the month to get all the hours you want (this could mean working at 2 different schools). You’ll also be taxed at 20% for your first 183 days. These are things to keep in mind. Money doesn’t fall from the sky right away.
If you start working in the middle of the month, you won’t get paid until the 5th or 10th of the next month and only for the time worked in the previous month. You won’t really see a full pay check until the 3rd month. you’ll need money to tide you over for rent, living expenses etc… until then. In my experience, it takes about 4 months until you start making enough money to start sending lots home to pay off something like loans.
[quote=“bushibanned”]
If you come at the beginning of the month you’ll probably be sorted with a job by the middle of the month. You might not have something full time so it might take until the end of the month to get all the hours you want (this could mean working at 2 different schools). You’ll also be taxed at 20% for your first 183 days. These are things to keep in mind. Money doesn’t fall from the sky right away.
If you start working in the middle of the month, you won’t get paid until the 5th or 10th of the next month and only for the time worked in the previous month. You won’t really see a full pay check until the 3rd month. you’ll need money to tide you over for rent, living expenses etc… until then. In my experience, it takes about 4 months until you start making enough money to start sending lots home to pay off something like loans.[/quote]
You make a lot of good points. I just took a lot of this stuff for granted and didn’t think about it in my post. I sold stuff I knew I wouldn’t take with me (not everything, but quite a bit) so that blow was softened a lot.
But I do think once you get settled and things turn normal around here, it’s a lot easier to save and pay off loans. It may be a rough couple of months, but think it’s been easier to pay off debts teaching here than it was when I was teaching in the States.
Matt
for sure. But it takes awhile and there are so many factors to deal with… culture shock, new food, new everything. Thinking in a new currency and trying to budget can be tough at first… ideally, if OP can come with a few thousand to ease the stress of getting settled, finding work he/she likes, then the whole exp. will be a lot better.
I was just thinking about this and am wondering if right after graduation is the ideal time to come rather than staying in the US and waiting. The reason I say that is because of the grace period you have before you have to start paying back your student loans.
Don’t remember what that grace period is, but don’t you have 3 months? 6 months? Before you have to start paying on them? Or am I not remembering since it’s been a while?
Matt
If your overall plan is to spend the rest of your days teaching English here, by all means come pretty much right away. Just make sure you have about $1000US seed money (more is better) to tide you over until you start getting paid.
However, if your main goal is to pay off student loans, you might want to think about just going out and getting a job in whatever field your degree is in. Paying off a US $30,000 debt will take a number of years-- think 3-5 years depending on your lifestyle here.
Now, that might seem like a good option, especially if you can’t save that much working an entry level position back home, but you should also keep in mind that you’ll be trading paying off your debt for that same amount of time of getting more relevant working experience and qualifying for an even higher paying job. Average earnings for English teachers is only about US $30,000 a year (I’m assuming monthly income of US$2000- some make less, some make more). Many jobs back in your home country could be much higher with experience.
You’ll also want to keep in mind that Taiwan’s job market is not the best. There’s an upcoming drop in student enrollment because of a period of low numbers of children born a couple decades ago. It’ll affect the market for years.
So, just be sure that this is the best choice for you. If you’re coming for exposure to another culture, to meet hot Asians for romantic purposes, to learn Chinese, or something else, then by all means come. You can pay off your loans here. But if you are looking for the most economical solution to your debt, you should consider the opportunity cost very carefully.
Just remember to:
a) Get an online bank account before you leave the US. It is harder to apply once you’ve left
b) Sign up for all of those on-line payment systems with yoru bank. It makes paying off the loans much, much easier
[quote=“bushibanned”]Keep in mind this:
If you come at the beginning of the month you’ll probably be sorted with a job by the middle of the month. You might not have something full time so it might take until the end of the month to get all the hours you want (this could mean working at 2 different schools). You’ll also be taxed at 20% for your first 183 days. These are things to keep in mind. Money doesn’t fall from the sky right away.[/quote]
Watch this one. If you arrive after a certain date you won’t get that tax back either. Is it perchance June 2nd?
my understanding is the cut-off date is the end of the year. i got screwed my first year because my ARC wasn’t processed until november.
If you spend 183 days in the country you get your excess tax back, if you don’t you don’t. That’s the way it used to be anyway.
Thanks for all the info
What I was forgetting was that if I go to Taiwan, I’d be paid as a foreigner. When I thought about living in Taiwan, I was thinking I’d be living off $US 1000/month…
So yeah, I definitely understand now, with the high wages and low living expenses that it would be possible to pay off my debt in Taiwan. To clear things up, yes, I do see the possibility of living in Taiwan long-term, probably in an aborigine township. However, with what I’ve been told, I could work in the city for a few years then move.
Thanks again!