"Peter Millard" wrote
Is is possible to make a living instructing without taking an oath of
poverty?

Yes, several ways. You can be a check airman at an airline. Of
course this requires you to become an airline pilot.

You can do insurance-mandated training in aircraft with a hull value
in excess of half a million dollars. Of course this requires you to
first accumulate plenty of time in aircraft with a hull value in
excess of half a million dollars.

You can own and operate a flight school, but really you make your
money running a business, not instructing.

You can become a full time designated examiner. The minimum
experience requirements are surprisingly low (I believe in some cases
you can be a DE with as little as 1500 hours) but you need to be
politically connected with the local FSDO to get designated.

You can become nationally known for something (aerobatics, for
example) and charge a lot of money to teach it. No CFI ticket
required.

But if you're talking about instruction done in airplanes that don't
cost six figures or more, and without running your own business - then
no. There's no way to make a living wage doing that.

Michael