Finances & Insurance / Retirement Planning / Retirement for Teachers

Being a teacher in the state of Texas, I do not have the option of paying into social security. In exchange, we have the Texas Teacher's Retirement System (TRS) that we are supposed to depend on; however, it doesn't take much analyzing to know that living off of TRS will mean some steep downgrades in the way I live and is most certainly not the wise way to go.

So two years ago, I contacted T Rowe Price to set up a 403(b). This is basically the same thing as a 401k, but it's for educators. I have been very satisfied with their services. First and foremost, I know very little when it comes to this sort of thing (investing, retirement, etc), but they are so patient and explain it to me very slowly and simply (in layman's terms) so that I do understand.

I feel so much better knowing that I am investing in my future every month with the automatic withdrawals that are taken out of my check and invested through TRowe.  I recommend everyone try to find this comfort and find something besides social security (or in teachers' cases TRS) to depend on during your retirement years.