In her innovative book The Next Millionaire Next Door, Dr. Sarah Stanley Fallaw found that teachers were amongst the everyday working people who were most likely to become millionaires. How is it possible that the arguably most underpaid and overworked professionals have the most potential to gain financial freedom? Let’s lift the lid on millionaire teachers…

In 2018 over 10,000 millionaires were surveyed for the National Study of Millionaires (Ramsey Solutions). The study found that school teachers ranked in the top three professions of millionaires, following close behind accountants and engineers! Teachers have the training and expertise necessary to achieve millionaire status!

Here’s how three individuals used their passion for books, learning and teaching to earn the title of millionaire teachers!

Millionaire Teachers: Rob Percival

Rob Percival was a maths teacher at Perse Girls in Cambridge. He studied mathematics at Trinity Hall, Cambridge and went on to pursue a career in teaching maths for ten years before he fancied a change. Percival made his fortune by teaching coding online. He posted his first web development course called the “The Complete Web Developer Course” online in 2014. The course now has over 300,000 downloads and his next course called ‘The Complete iOS 9 Developer Course – Build 18 Apps’ has also seen massive success. He is now a “work-from-home-millionaire” and is living his best life everyday. 

When asked about his secrets for success he said: 

“I think people want a lot of value for their money when buying an online course,” he says. “Find something you can extend to something big to get people excited and change their lives a little bit, rather than learn a new skill. Anything that can help people start a new career or earn money is always good as well!”

He has taught over 500,000 students how to code through his online courses which have been translated into over five different languages. People all around the world have learned from him. 

Even with all his Financial success Percival hasn’t changed his lifestyle. 

Rob Percival:”We are carrying on with life as we know it. I’m aiming to buy myself future time, – I want to have the freedom to do what I want, and spend time with my kids, and have a choice about whether I want to work. That’s the position I’m almost in — not quite, but almost.”

Millionaire Teachers: Deanna Jump

Deanna Jump is a nursery teacher from Georgia. She became a self-made millionaire from selling her lessons online to teachers all over the world.

Though she is now an award-winning millionaire, Jump never expected to make such an astounding living through entrepreneurship. Before her success she and with her husband struggled to support their family of five. She was inspired to start sharing her teaching ideas when her colleague encouraged her to put her work on a popular teacher website.

She made $300 in her first year but she was not discouraged. As her lessons grew in popularity so did her bank account. She has sold over 161,000 copies of her 93 separate units. 

Deanna Jump: “I’ve always created my own activities and units, and I’ve always shared them with my fellow teachers. A few years ago, we were in our weekly team meeting, and one of my team members said, “Your stuff is so good. You’ve got to put it out”. I got started. That was 2009. The first year, my sales were really slow. I made about $300. At the time I thought that was great. I thought, Oh, wow, I made $300”.

Deanna Jump makes over $1 million from her passion each year, despite reportedly earning only $30,000 a year from teaching. Her work is being used by teachers all over the globe and she is considered a true inspiration to teachers worldwide! Jump doesn’t have to teach a second more if she doesn’t want to but she continues because she loves it. Teaching is her passion and she has found her purpose.

Millionaire Teachers: Cha Kil-yong

Cha Kil-yong is a highly esteemed maths teacher from South Korea. Aside from his mathematical ability he is well known for his bizarre clothing choices which he intentionally wears to engage the attention of his students. His flamboyant style and persona is strikingly similar to Korean celebrities like pop stars or actors. Kil-yong’s appearance is all part of his plan for success. He made his fortune from creating an online cram school that prepares students to take a university entrance exam in mathematics. 

When asked about his secret to becoming a millionaire he said:

Cha Kil-yong: “Suppose you give the same ingredients to 100 different chefs. They would make different dishes even though they’re working with the same ingredients. It’s the same with a maths class. Even though it’s all maths and all in Korean, you can use different ingredients to come up with different results. I’m madly in love with maths. You’re not only teaching a subject, you also have to be a multi-talented entertainer”.

In 2013 he earned $8 million and his success continues each year!

All the blood, sweat and tears we’ve poured into our profession gives us skills that just sets us apart. There’s just something special about us teachers!

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