Has anyone ever considered test prep tutoring (i.e. SAT, GMAT, LSAT) as a way to pay your expenses once you reach ERE, without having to touch your investment principal? Test prep usually pays in the neighborhood of $35-$80/hr, so I think it can be a great way to be a four hour work week (i.e. $50/hr X 4 hrs per week = $800/month) to pay all your expenses while your keeping your investment principal in tact. Even better, a lot of companies these days are doing online courses so you can work remotely without having to be tied down to a specific place.
It can also be a good side secondary income to add to your regular income to help you achieve ERE in the first place.
Test Prep
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George the original one
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And, you probably have to have done fairly well on the tests yourself (>90th percentile) in order to convince the helicopter parents that you are worthy to tutor their Johnny genius.
When I was much, much younger I tutored the daughter of a business associate of my father's in high school geometry. Let's just say she needed all the help she could get; and it was torture. If you hate a subject, and I hated geometry despite being quite good at it, the minutes seem like hours. Did anyone seriously enjoy taking the SAT, the LSAT, the GMAT, the MCAT or the GRE? I didn't think so.
When I was much, much younger I tutored the daughter of a business associate of my father's in high school geometry. Let's just say she needed all the help she could get; and it was torture. If you hate a subject, and I hated geometry despite being quite good at it, the minutes seem like hours. Did anyone seriously enjoy taking the SAT, the LSAT, the GMAT, the MCAT or the GRE? I didn't think so.
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Mr. Overlord
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@Maus - Yes, you can't teach the test unless you've done well on it; it's not for everyone. But if you can do well, then I think this is a good option that I haven't seen mentioned before. You have a skill that allows for great flexibility (can be done anywhere even online), pays very nicely, and only needs to be done four hours or less per week for an ERE income. I've also been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to use craigs list to get clients.
Obviously if you find tutoring "not fun" or "torture" then it's not for you. I personally enjoy teaching and perhaps strangely enough like the material on the LSAT for example. I also think it's fun helping people understand hard problems and it's intellectually challenging to do so. Even for people who wouldn't find this fun but only "tolerable", it could be a useful option because we're only talking about needing to do it four hours a week as a buffer along with investments to support an ERE lifestyle.
Obviously if you find tutoring "not fun" or "torture" then it's not for you. I personally enjoy teaching and perhaps strangely enough like the material on the LSAT for example. I also think it's fun helping people understand hard problems and it's intellectually challenging to do so. Even for people who wouldn't find this fun but only "tolerable", it could be a useful option because we're only talking about needing to do it four hours a week as a buffer along with investments to support an ERE lifestyle.
Mr Overlord, do you do the teaching online? The concept sounds good to me overall, but it seems like it might be a bit more difficult to pick up the desired hours online.
Tutoring, as a whole, is something I have enjoyed in the past. I haven't done any in several years, but my mom (a P. Chem professor) does a little bit on the side for select students-- no less than $50/hr, but there aren't a ton of hours.
Tutoring, as a whole, is something I have enjoyed in the past. I haven't done any in several years, but my mom (a P. Chem professor) does a little bit on the side for select students-- no less than $50/hr, but there aren't a ton of hours.
I've known people in the US to make $50 hour tutoring students. But you have to have a well off selection of parents who value education and you have to be fairly smart. (silicon valley is probably a great place for this)
My cousin in Korea made the hourly rate of roughly $100K/year USD tutoring (this was probably 10 years ago so that amount of money would be a lot more now). However, higher education is extremely valued and there are very competitive national exams. Some students even delay going to university for a year to retake these. It doesn't hurt that he got into the toughest science high school and EE in Seoul university.
My cousin in Korea made the hourly rate of roughly $100K/year USD tutoring (this was probably 10 years ago so that amount of money would be a lot more now). However, higher education is extremely valued and there are very competitive national exams. Some students even delay going to university for a year to retake these. It doesn't hurt that he got into the toughest science high school and EE in Seoul university.
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Mr. Overlord
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@Mo - I do both; I work part-time for a company that teaches students online and I also advertise for online and in-person tutoring on craigs list. I agree with you that although it pays well, there aren't always that many hours (and I think you're right that it's more challenging to pick up hours online). That's why I think it's a potential option once you reach ERE, rather than the exclusive way to get there, because you only need to find enough work for four hours a week, which means only needing to find four students (or only two students who want to be tutored twice a week). A lot of test prep companies today are moving their lectures online so you could also work for one of them if you didn't want to go at it on your own.
@photoguy - very interesting about your cousin in Korea. I think parents do make a big difference if you're tutoring people in high school; that's why I prefer to tutor college students or people who are already working
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@photoguy - very interesting about your cousin in Korea. I think parents do make a big difference if you're tutoring people in high school; that's why I prefer to tutor college students or people who are already working
.A friend of mine tutors people for the GRE. She just published her score on a site (I don't know which one) and people have called her.
You actually have to:
* know the material
* know many ways to explain it and to work from a student's point of understanding
* know ways a student can learn and practice on their own between sessions with you
* know about test anxiety, learned helplessness, and fear of math/reading/big words sorts of issues
* create payment and cancellation policies
* find a location
I used to tutor college stats courses at a tutoring place and they found the students who called me; we set up the times, and we did the tutoring at the tutoring place. Then I did it on my own for a while, and tried to find library space or a study lounge on campus. My friend does tutoring at a bookstore.
You actually have to:
* know the material
* know many ways to explain it and to work from a student's point of understanding
* know ways a student can learn and practice on their own between sessions with you
* know about test anxiety, learned helplessness, and fear of math/reading/big words sorts of issues
* create payment and cancellation policies
* find a location
I used to tutor college stats courses at a tutoring place and they found the students who called me; we set up the times, and we did the tutoring at the tutoring place. Then I did it on my own for a while, and tried to find library space or a study lounge on campus. My friend does tutoring at a bookstore.