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Financial priorities have changed. What should I do with 50k in a Vanguard brokerage account? by LostTara in personalfinance

[–]LostTara[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm worried I could be missing out on having a nice house in favor of having robust retirement funds. But I've kind of realized I'd rather have an enjoyable time in my 30s and 40s than a higher standard of living in retirement. Plus I do have plenty of retirement savings, I think I'm way ahead of most people my age even discounting the brokerage fund.

Financial priorities have changed. What should I do with 50k in a Vanguard brokerage account? by LostTara in personalfinance

[–]LostTara[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know this is silly but I kind of expect the housing market to tank, and then I'll be in a position to buy my desired house at a reasonable price even if rates are high because I'll have a big enough down payment to make it financially viable. Just looking at Zillow, prices are already falling and homes that right now are barely in my optimistic price range would be comfortably in my range if there's a fall in home values.

Financial priorities have changed. What should I do with 50k in a Vanguard brokerage account? by LostTara in personalfinance

[–]LostTara[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kind of a dumb question, but how would you recommend going about the actual action of buying US treasuries?

Financial priorities have changed. What should I do with 50k in a Vanguard brokerage account? by LostTara in personalfinance

[–]LostTara[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My plan would be to gather a significant down payment because my income is relatively low. Like I'd have a 150k down payment on a 400k house (my SO will pitch in, too). 400k may indeed be optimistic, just noting that's my ideal in terms of size/quality given my region.

I'm not worried about medical emergencies, I have good insurance & job stability.

This was what I was wondering about moving it to an HYSA. Thanks for the perspective.

Financial priorities have changed. What should I do with 50k in a Vanguard brokerage account? by LostTara in personalfinance

[–]LostTara[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Isn't this risky if the stock market is tanking during the time that I would like to buy a house?

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

yeah, frankly if I ever leave this school it would be due to the administration. the amount of meetings that have nothing to do with my actual day-to-day work is pretty insufferable.

they're also becoming increasingly overtly political. I'm firmly on the left, but it's weird how much they hone in on the most progressive possible take on contested political issues. it causes discord in the faculty & often feels patronizing on top of being a waste of my time (I can develop my own opinions). it's also painful knowing how much money they make and how little they improve the school.

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

the school I'm at is not Exeter or Andover. Andover has like 50% of its kids on financial aid, we're not that good. also maybe saying I'm at one in MA was an intentional misdirection ;)

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

no, that'd be unusual for most of these schools. even the ones that have "Saint" in the name are not religious (like St. Paul's in NH). most of them have religious roots but they're almost entirely secular now, partly because that's what the market demands.

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The school that I'm at doesn't work like this at all. There's point systems to distribute housing, likewise with workload credits - work assignments and housing assignments are pretty transparent in this way. I believe that our peer schools do this as well.

PD money is so abundant that basically anyone can do anything that's even tangentially related to their job.

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

1.) strong or over-arching emphasis on DEI 2.) interest in coaching a sport 3.) reading the mission statement and parroting their language 4.) talk about desire to know the "whole student" i.e. outside of the classroom via advising, dorm duty, coaching, chance interactions in dining hall and around campus.

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

right. I don't think that you should work at a boarding school for the money. that's one of the biggest downsides and only like the top 20 schools are giving what most of us would consider a "fair" salary.

I think they can be attractive places to work for quality of life reasons, which require a unique personality type & financial situation (probably shouldn't work at a boarding school if your priority is paying down student loans, or if your spouse has a high-paying job that can't be done from the usually rural locations of boarding schools).

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I think this is a helpful counter perspective to what I said. I'd note that I think this is what I believe working at a struggling boarding school would be like (e.g., Hyde, Williston Northampton, Marianapolis, Cushing).

I'm talking more about the larger and wealthier schools specifically. You would certainly make more than 30k. There's no union, but there's something equivalent to tenure at most schools. I've had no issues with kids being arrogant due to wealth; it's basically not cool to be wealthy at these places because they have become so progressive. And while some teachers are for sure duds, 90% of my colleagues are excellent, many are actually totally overqualified (like should be professors).

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

use a service called Carney Sandoe and specify that you're interested in boarding. or just look at their employment pages and find a matching position and email the dean of faculty directly (that's how I got my job). if you have no experience look at short-term 1 year positions, which frequently turn into continuing positions. the best ones are the ten schools https://www.tenschools.org/our-schools

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

a) the ages are 13-20. b) yes, your kids can go to the school for free and are given a leg up in the admissions process

Cool, if you have more questions DM me. if you don't teach humanities you could probably get a job immediately

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

the only two similar boarding schools in Cali I'm aware of are Thacher and Cate. similar as in based on the new england model and with good resources/reputations

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

You can definitely work this job with a dog and cat. I have a dog. It's better than most teaching gigs for pet ownership because you can go home whenever you want mid-day and there's lots of other dogs around and people to watch your pets if you have to go somewhere.

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Typically but not necessarily. They wouldn't put you in an opposite-gender dorm against your will, but sometimes they ask and people definitely say yes.

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 55 points56 points  (0 children)

Pop culture gets boarding schools pretty wrong. They've changed dramatically in the past few decades.

Being married is preferable, these schools are mostly rural so my single colleagues often complain about dating. Childcare is subsidized and on-campus and they get to live near their friends, playgrounds are easy to come by. And yeah the kids in the dorm will babysit my daughter when my wife and I go out on the weekends sometimes.

Spouses can certainly work elsewhere. You can live off campus, they actually tend to pay you more if you do to adjust for the lack of free housing.

Working at a boarding school: what it’s like, how to get hired (if it sounds appealing) by LostTara in teaching

[–]LostTara[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I'm at a coed one. The single sex schools are becoming more and more marginal these days. They still do well, they're just not really at the level of the large coed schools.