On the other hand, in a few years when my kids are on their own, I might head back to teaching just because I liked it so much. At that point, I might have enough savings to afford it.
Joanna
My expectations about the nature of academic work, reinforced by graduate education, were pretty much 19th century. I imagined it was about advancement of learning & knowledge, and honing my research and paper writing skills (stressed in the graduate school) were essential for a successful academic career. It turns out, however, that my expectations were wrong and that I should have learned a different set of skills.
Most of the latter day academe is not about producing knowledge, but about selling intellectual commodity - just like Hollywood and TV. The ability to sell that commodity is written into academic job descriptions. Most academic position announcement mention bringing outside funding as an important job qualification. The faculty is divided into two echelons. The upper echelons are those who bring outside funding, the lower echelons are those who do not. The former are demi-gods in the academic pantheon, the latter are just a tiny notch above teaching or research assistants. That is particularly true about private institutions, but I suspect that public colleges follow the suit.