Book Review: TEACH and Retire RICH
By Daniel Otter, Ph.D.**
Review by Steve Schullo
I’ve known Dan Otter—the author of TEACH and Retire RICH—for 25 years. I picked him to be one of my best men at my wedding. I’ve watched him speak to rooms full of teachers, fight for transparency in the 403(b) world, and build a national community of educators who finally understand their retirement options. His newly updated seventh edition is the most straightforward and most practical guidebook any public school employee can own.
And yes—I said every public-school employee—teachers, substitutes, custodians, classroom aides, office staff, and administrators. If you work in a school, this book belongs on your shelf.
In just 150 jargon-free pages, Dan explains the otherwise intimidating world of 403(b) and 457(b) plans. If you’ve ever felt confused, overwhelmed, or pressured by a salesperson, this book is the antidote.
My review is long. And personal.
Because my story is precisely the one Dan is trying to prevent from happening to another generation of PreK-12 public educators.
Rethinking “RICH”
When teachers first hear the title TEACH and Retire RICH, many laugh. “Rich?” Teachers? The word conjures images of mansions, limos, and gated Beverly Hills estates.
Dan uses “rich” in a more accurate, more meaningful way.
To be “rich” is to have:
- Financial peace of mind
- No debt
- A home you love
- Freedom to travel
- The ability to give generously
- And the option to retire early—yes, early.
My late husband Dan and I lived that definition. He retired at 59. I at 61. We walked away from teaching with no fear, only gratitude. And we did it not because of luck—but because we learned what Dan Otter now teaches so clearly in this book.
Why Educators Need More Than a Pension
A question I hear all the time:
“Why save more if we already have a pension?”
Pensions are wonderful—but rarely enough on their own. Most educators don’t work long enough to receive 100% of their final salary. I spent 24 years in the classroom and received only 49% of my teaching salary. And remember, teacher salaries are typically one-third to one-half of those for administrators.
If we wanted to retire early, we had to save additional money. TEACH and Retire RICH explains how every educator can do the same.
The Difference Between Objective Information and a Sales Pitch
One of Dan’s central themes is simple:
Objective information helps the teacher.
A sales pitch helps the agent.
Yet for decades, educators have received only one source of information: insurance salespeople entering campuses, lounges, union halls, and—even now—classrooms.
Why?
Because federal law does not protect K–12 403(b) participants the way it protects private-sector 401(k) participants. No ERISA oversight. No fiduciary requirement. No enforcement mechanism to keep sales agents off campus.
The result is a perfect storm:
- Biased “advice”
- Sky-high fees
- Products you can’t exit
- Hidden commissions
- Long surrender periods
- And zero transparency
Dan’s book is the first stop for teachers who want to break free from this outdated system.
Salespeople in Nice Suits Are Not Your Financial Planners
Many of the salespeople who roam school campuses are former teachers—nice people, well-dressed, and highly trained in persuasion. They are experts at hiding fees and wrapping toxic products in warm, friendly language.
Dan’s book includes a list of questions to ask a financial planner, but as someone who has been through the fire, let me emphasize this:
Salespeople can answer those questions with polished, evasive perfection.
They’ve had decades of practice.
I once asked an agent, “What is your investment philosophy?”
He stared at me blankly. He didn’t know what the phrase meant—and he was the “professional.”
This is why you must know the answers before you ask the questions. And this is exactly why Dan wrote this book.
The Heart of the Book: Low-Cost Mutual Funds and Indexing
If you read only one section of TEACH and Retire RICH, make it:
- Chapter 5 (the annuity trap)
- Page 88 (low-cost mutual funds and index funds)
Index-fund investing is the strategy used by:
- Pensions
- Foundations
- Endowments
- University trust funds
- And virtually every serious long-term investor
It’s simple, cost-effective, and backed by decades of data.
Annuities?
Not one credible pension plan—mine included, CalSTRS—uses them. Why should we?
If the biggest, most sophisticated institutions avoid annuities, teachers should too.
DIY or Fee-Only? Dan Shows Both Options
Dan devotes an entire section to finding a true fee-only fiduciary advisor—someone you pay directly, who must legally act in your best interest. He also shows how to become a DIY investor with the help of communities like:
403bwise.com
This site alone is worth the price of the book. It contains:
- Free lessons
- Sample portfolios
- Pathfinder tools
- Stories from real teachers
- A vibrant discussion forum
- A list of pre-screened fiduciary advisors
It’s a lifeline in a broken system.
A Broken System Still Hurting Teachers
Dan doesn’t dwell on the politics behind the 403(b) mess—but I will.
Since the 1960s, insurance companies have dominated the K-12 retirement landscape. Districts and unions, often overwhelmed or under-informed, have not provided the objective information teachers desperately need.
Even today, in Los Angeles Unified—the second-largest district in the country—403(b) salespeople routinely roam hallways and classrooms despite district policy forbidding it. And nobody can stop them.
Not yet.
But books like Dan’s move us closer.
A Call to Action: Help Dan Help Teachers
Dan published this book in 2005.
It has 15 Amazon reviews, and one of them is mine.
Only fifteen? That’s terrible!
Meanwhile, a relatively unknown author, J.L. Collins, published his book, The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Roadmap to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life, in 2016. It has garnered over 15,000 reviews and sold more than a million copies. Notice that Collins also has RICH in his title.
The difference?
Millennials review everything. They understand that “rich” means a meaningful retirement life. Let me repeat, as this is crucial for my teacher colleagues (and everyone), the new meaning of RICH (thanks to the Millennials).
-
Financial peace of mind
-
No debt
-
A home you love
-
Freedom to travel
-
The ability to give generously
-
And the option to retire early—yes, early.
On the other hand, educators rarely review anything, and far too many are rightfully turned off by the old image of RICH. I would be too. I hope my colleagues see what many of the younger generations long for.
If this book taught you something—if it protected you—if it opened your eyes—please post a review on Amazon. Encourage colleagues to buy it. Make noise. The education world needs it.
Final Thoughts
TEACH and Retire RICH is not just a book. It’s a flashlight in a dark room. It arms educators with exactly what the sales force does not want you to know.
Dan Otter gives you the roadmap.
All you have to do is follow it.
About the Book’s Author: Daniel Otter, Ph.D.
Dan Otter is a teacher, father, husband, author, and nationally recognized advocate for transparent, low-cost retirement plans. In 2012, Money magazine named him a “Money Hero” for improving the financial lives of educators. He co-hosts the Teach and Retire Rich podcast and is the creator of 403bwise.com, the largest online community dedicated to empowering 403(b) and 457(b) investors.
Steve’s Bio
Stephen A. Schullo, Ph.D. didn’t set out to become a retirement-plan advocate. He was just trying to be a good teacher.
Steve taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 24 years and, like so many educators, he trusted that the retirement plans offered at work were designed to help him retire with dignity. Instead, he discovered something very different: layers of high fees, sales commissions, confusing products, and a system that seemed to benefit everyone except the teachers it was supposed to serve.
That discovery changed the direction of his professional life.
Working in the classroom by day, Steve began learning everything he could about investing at night, eventually earning a Ph.D. from UCLA in 1996. He started writing retirement articles for the United Teacher newspaper, helping colleagues untangle the maze of Tax-Sheltered Annuities and 403(b) vendors. Over 13 years, his writing reached tens of thousands of educators across the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Along the way, he co-founded 403bAware, a teacher self-help group where colleagues met after school, asked questions, compared statements, and learned how to recognize high-cost products. He became part of an online community of thoughtful investors, contributing more than 7,500 posts since 1997. His advocacy has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, and he has testified at California legislative hearings. His union honored him with its “Unsung Hero” award for retirement-plan advocacy.
Steve’s personal financial journey is also a love story. Together with his late spouse, Dan Robertson, they wrote the book Late Bloomer Millionaires, a candid account of how two ordinary public educators, after years of being sold high-cost annuities, finally discovered low-cost index investing and built financial independence later in life. The book is part memoir, part roadmap, and fully a testament to partnership, perseverance, learning, and grace. Dan’s optimism, wit, and steady presence remain at the heart of Steve’s work today.
For 19 years, Steve has served as a volunteer “Member-at-Large” (and former co-chair) on LAUSD’s Investment Advisory Committee, which oversees the district’s 403(b) and 457(b) plans for more than 55,000 current and former employees. Today, those plans hold over $3.8 billion in assets, and the committee continues to push for transparency, responsible stewardship, and low-cost investment access for all employees.
Steve launched this blog in 2012 to share what he learned the hard way:
• Teachers are not “bad with money.”
• The system was built to confuse us.
• When educators help educators, we change the outcome.
He is part of a small but spirited national network of teacher advocates who gather at 403bwise.org, where we support one another, share resources, and work toward reform.
Because every educator deserves a retirement plan that honors the work of a lifetime.
