A well written personal life essay can inspire readers to act (for example, to change something in their lives). It can be defined as a nonfiction narrative story in which authors share their personal experiences, incidents, insightful information or lessons learned from finding themselves in a predicament. In order to write a compelling piece, the first step is to understand the personal essay format and its implicit structure. Then, it is best to explore multiple personal essay topics by coming up with basic outlines allowing one to examine which one would be the most compelling.
Part 1: Life at Retirement
Professional Information
Occupation: Bilingual Elementary School Teacher
Length of time in this Occupation: Approximately 32 years of service.
Approximate salary: A cumulative of $ 30125 per year.
Previous jobs: An entry-level job which was an internship within the same job description for a period of six months where I was paid the same amount of salary that I earn now.
Do you have out of pocket expenses associated with the job? Yes, there are a number of expenses including; dressing, transport to work, telephone bills, printing fees, and class foundation amongst other miscellaneous expenses met out of the pocket.
Do you have employer-sponsored benefits? Yes, Wuhan Foreign Language Elementary School sponsors some benefits to its employees as; medical, unemployment and endowment insurances, public house funding, and for women, maternity insurance. Apart from these, there are perks associated with this job including; overtime allowance, night differential, high-temperature subsidy, birth subsidy and old-age allowance.
How far from the job do you live? What is the commute like (driving? Public transportation? How far? What are the costs?
I live in a locality of approximately 5.7 km from the school and it usually takes about 35 minutes to get there. I commute by use of public transport means such as bus, taxi services, metro services or light rail. The average transport cost per year is $ 1092.
Will you receive a pension at retirement?
No, the school does not provide pensions to its employees therefore I have to organize my own retirement plans.
Educational Information
Did you complete some degree or certification in order to be qualified for this job? Describe the amount of schooling required, list the school attended (as applicable), and the types of degree(s) earned.
The minimum qualification for this job is the attainment of polytechnic school certification. The specialized training for this job comprises; Mandarin Certificate II, a Test of education theory in particular psychology and pedagogy, and National English Public CET level 6. However, I also deemed it fit to obtain a college degree to supplement my qualifications for the job.
How did you pay for the education or certifications required?
Student loans and family backings aided in meeting my education payments. I later augmented the aforementioned channels with the money I got from my paid entry-level job in an internship.
Personal Information
Residence: I live in the suburbs of Wuhan city.
Family description: Yes, I am married with two kids. The two kids are now grown teenagers and are studying in one of the public universities. They are 2 years apart both in age and school differences. My spouse is the manager to my designer clothes business located about 5 kilometres within our residential stretch. However, all the family members sometimes after work and after school, chip in to help her, but in the evening we all head back to our homestead. My nuclear family lives with me while the extended family particularly my parents live upcountry.
Home: We live in a rented apartment in a gated estate where together with the neighbors with whom we share social amenities provided by the housing corporation management of the estate. We share swimming pool, yard, and playgrounds. It covers an area of 50 acres, the apartments and parking yards included.
Vehicles: We have two vehicles, I purchased both of them. I use one for personal business and the other one for family traveling and businesses.
If you have kids, did you create a college fund? What sum did you save?
I embraced a rule to save enough to meet my two kids’ college fee, where I multiplied their age by $ 2,000. When they were 18 of age as they joined college, the fund had $ 36,000 for each.
Do you own any vacation property? A timeshare? A boat?
I co-own a vacation van with some of my colleagues from work with whom we usually go for excursions and vacations together during holidays, and sometimes I make apt arrangements to have it for my family road trips.
What is your attitude toward investing (level of risk)?
I believe investments are a very important economic aspect of any individual and I place due prominence in it, the risks notwithstanding because minimum risks beget minimum income while maximum risks beget huge incomes.
Retirement Information
While it is the wish of many people to retire and engage in recreation, I deem that age as a ripe age to manage my investments and bolster my financial capabilities. I will also do domestic tourism to appreciate our rich culture. I will also volunteer to educate youths in the community.
Part 2: Recommendations
My existing assets and financial capability are not enough to finance my retirement goals. Therefore, it is imperative that I have an investment plan. Amongst my investment goals include; ability to provide for my family at all times, enable my kids acquire a good education, building a home for my parents and my nuclear family, special vacation holidays with my family and also colleagues from work and engage in a benevolent charity plan. My investment vehicle apart from my partner-managed business, I plan to venture in real estate business, stocks and government bonds.
Final Project 2
The following list is an analysis of major costs incurred over the financial timeline.
Major Purchases: Vehicles – $ 20000, Business building – $2000, Timeshare contribution – $ 500, Subtotal = $ 22,500
Personal Development: Education/Training – $ 36000, Investments – $ 10000, Savings – $ 4,000, Loans $20,000. Subtotal = $70,000
Family Development: Children’s education – $100,000, Vehicle – $ 5000, Family expenses (utilities, food, transport/gas, clothing) $50,000, Medical and Insurance – $ 10,000, Other miscellaneous – $10,000. Subtotal = $ 175,000
Retirements Plans: Business ventures – $50,000, Parent’s house – $ 300000, Vacations and Tourism – $ 10000, Benevolent Charity – $ 100,000. Subtotal = $460,000
Approximate Lifetime Expenses Total = $ 1,127,000.
Final Project 3
My estimated lifetime expenses lie at a whole $1,127,000 while my estimated earnings from my salary are $964,000 not estimating my business investment, which apparently caters for familial gas, electricity, clothing, and recreation among other family expenses. This is an apparent disparity between my desiderata for lifestyle and the expenses generally. It is only prudent for me to reconsider my lifetime financial goals to a more realistic perspective. To prioritize them, I will analyze their feasibility and importance vis-a-vis what income I am able to generate over a probable time. In essence, I have to place prominence on my nuclear family’s needs and well-being resulting from income, and since my parents already have a big house, I would consider renovating it instead of building a new. My focus on tourism and vacations needs a sagacious reconsideration since it is a luxurious venture which has no economic importance per se. Equally, the importance of benevolent charity notwithstanding, the well-being of myself and my family is a priority, and I would have to cut on it, even if it would not be in its entirety.
My investment objectives are to maintain a steady income during my career time from my income from the career, ensure I save enough for my retirement, at least have some capital gains during the early years of my career and accrue some money to invest during my later years. The motivation is servicing my loans, sustaining my family all-around in any aspect, educating my children and also being able to find income to meet my entertainment and recreational needs. However, as one ages, certain humanistic approaches start chipping in as charity and fear of inability to sustain oneself in old age including supporting old parents.
The apt and requisite investments which would meet my needs in the initial stages of my career include savings in fixed accounts as a compound interest financial institution so as to accrue interest, investing in real estate, buying a home, stocks and government bonds. I would also engage in mutual family funds and make lifetime insurance on medicine, life and property. When making consideration for the kind of business to engage in, it is imperative that one gets informed financial advice from specialists in the field such as financial consultants and brokers.
It is also important that employers think of a way to secure the financial capability of their employees in after career years. They should consider enacting pension schemes and programs which will enable them live smoothly after career lives and be able to sustain their families with much strain. In conjunction with governments, proper training of employees both in public and private sector should be conducted to boost national economy. These kinds of investments portend big incomes even though the risks are high too, but nevertheless, they are the only vehicle to meet my retirement lifestyle.