Oct 31, 2020

NGPF Podcast: Mark Schug and Dan Otter (403bwise.org) discuss financial fitness for teachers

This podcast was produced from an NGPF Speaker series event held in October of 2020 with guests Dan Otter of 403bwise.org and Mark Schug, President of Mark Schug Consulting Services and Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

Details:

  • 0:00~1:42 Introduction
  • 1:42~13:00 Dr. Mark Schug and Dr. Dan Otter introduce themselves
  • 13:00~16:26 On writing books for teachers
  • 16:26~18:18 Dr. Schug’s book structure: case studies
  • 18:18~20:09 Teachers can be rich too
  • 20:09~26:17 On buying cars
  • 26:17~28:48 What makes a good investment management firm?
  • 28:48~34:14 Real-life examples
  • 34:14~37:39 Target-date funds
  • 37:39~42:21 403(b) versus 457(b) 
  • 42:21~47:02 Opportunities for teachers to accumulate wealth
  • 47:02~54:19 The current environment of 403(b)s 
  • 54:19~56:15 Resources for teachers 
  • 56:15~58:32 How economists look at personal finance
  • 58:32~59:30 Conclusion 

Resources:

Quotes:

  • “When I got into teaching and began to self-educate myself and understand the different retirement plans available to me, I realized that you can save a significant amount of money in teaching. You’ve got this pension, plus you have the 403(b) and you also have a 457(b). So in fact, you have two 401(k) type retirement accounts.” -Dan 

  • “The working title of when we were working on the book before we found a publisher was Teachers Can Be Millionaires Too. But the publisher didn’t like it. So we had to change course but we were going against that stereotyped image that teachers often have.” -Mark

About the Authors

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

Ren Makino

Ren started interning at NGPF in 2014, and worked part-time through high school and college. With his knowledge growing alongside NGPF, he joined the team to work full-time after graduating from college in 2020. He is also the producer of the NGPF podcast. During his free time, he likes to try out coffees from different roasters across the world.

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