Retire? How much do you need per month?

[jabir]

I plan to retire in Thailand in 2 years with 65k THB.

Borderline, assuming that's your monthlies and not life savings, but if the £ drops another baht you won't be able to meet visa requirements.

[fishlocker]

Still trying to figure out the dieing part of the equation. Hell, I figure I should have been retired by now. But I keep getting up..



fish

[bowie]

Still trying to figure out the dieing part of the equation. Hell, I figure I should have been retired by now. But I keep getting up..

Well FFS Stop Getting Up - problem solved - simple Innit

[bowie]

Retire? How much do you need per month?

Anyway - why not bump the thread - always interesting "How long is a piece of string?" query. But, I'll change it a bit.

Your Situation? How much do you spend per month?

Situation: American Husband, Thai Wife, retirees, own home in Nonthaburi - transferring USD $2,500/mo. to Thailand. Spending about $2k/month. Exempt from calc (annual expenditure of USD $5k for a USD $1M expat medical insurance policy covering the both of us).

Moo Baan Fee	$50
Electricity	$100
Water	$10
TV & Internet	$100
House Insurance	$50
Car insurance	$60
Transport & Auto	$50
Food	$750
Miscellaneous	$750
Legal	$60
TOTAL/MONTH	$1,980

How 'bout yourself?

[tomcat]

...Legal=USD60 monthly? why?...

[cyrille]

Last edited by bowie; Today at 12:17 PM. Reason: dress

Did you put that in miscellaneous?

Good to have a hobby, I guess.

[aging one]

Bowie, where is your health and perhaps life insurance. These are my two biggest costs.

[Mandaloopy]

So it looks like nearly 900kUSD would cover a decent retirement? That's a fairly large amount of cash to save over a lifetime. Can't see it happening tbh, I should be more worried about it than I am

[cisco999]

f you have worked for that many years, you could find it a bit of a shock to the system to stop and retire. You are used to being busy, your partner is used to you being out all day 5 days a week.
Not as easy as it seems in reality..

It took me about 30 seconds to "adjust" to retirement. Never looked back and have enjoyed the ride since.

[Bettyboo]

The problem is medical, unexpected costs and how long you live.

Just very hard to cost that out, imho...

[Mandaloopy]

I seriously need to start putting money into a pension scheme after this latest bout of studying. Would love to retire at 55, but that ain't gonna be happening.

[bowie]

Legal=USD60 monthly? why?...

Elder Law Firm watching over my mother in the USA (peace-of-mind)

[bowie]

Good to have a hobby, I guess.

hell yes, need a hobby, retiree, gotta keep myself occupied

[bowie]

health and perhaps life insurance. These are my two biggest costs.

Life insurance, whole life, universal life and term life plans (both of us) $1.5k/annum for @ 125k in coverage for both.

Health insurance, Cigna Expat Silver $5k/annum, has $5k deductible, USD $1M maximum per illness, covers both of us.

Both health and life I pay from the accounts in the USA and did not include in my Thai budget. But $6.5k/12 = adds about $550/mo so, my actual spending is on the order of $2,500/mo or about USD $30k/annum

Complexity of taxation = USA married couple deduction is $24.4k this year so, withdrawals from my IRA are $36k - $24k = my taxable income'll be on the order of $12k at 10% My (our) tax bill will be about $1,200 this year.

Could tap into my Roths, but, not yet. When I start with my Soc Sec distributions I'll set up my IRA distributions Regular and roth to provide a zero tax bill.

[bowie]

900kUSD would cover a decent retirement?

Everything depends on ROI. I have my "nest egg" in a managed investment portfolio with a major brokerage firm. They're charging 1.25% to manage my investments. Roth and traditional IRA's in @ 15 varied mutual funds. They are "historically" returning @ 10% per annum.

The 10% return is then diluted by their 1.25% fee and whatever the tax burden is. All in all I'm getting more than a positive 5% which more than covers what we are spending.

Long range - we are in very good shape and can handle what life throws at us. Big decision is when will the cost or our health insurance justify switching to "self-funded"? It'll happen eventually. Within a decade for certain.

[bowie]

nearly 900kUSD would cover a decent retirement?

To amplify @ 5% ROI spending use $30k = $600k

Now that's a Gross Generalization. For myself and wife. In a few years we'll be tapping our USA social security retirement benefits - at that point in time we may well not have to take any distributions from or accumulated "nest egg". We will see.

[bowie]

It took me about 30 seconds to "adjust" to retirement. Never looked back and have enjoyed the ride since.

Yup, living the life and loving it...

[bowie]

Just very hard to cost that out, imho...

Crystal Ball - for myself and my wife. I would like to think we will both just forget to wakeup one day.

If either gets a cancer - when does, or is, chemo justifed - had a friend with a bladder cancer - had a most horrible time with chemo over the course of a year, said he would refuse it is cancer reappeared. Wife says "no way", just let me die. Myself - well, my bucket list is empty, I'd like to think I would take the same attitude, but, unless you are in those shoes, you cannot answer the question.

I have no responsibilities - so, I am allowed to die without "grossly" impacting others. No one will be worse off when I kick the bucket. But, those deep philosophical questions - I can't answer.

[bowie]

putting money into a pension scheme

Yup, a difficult task to start, easy once you have started.

[Stumpy]

The problem is medical, unexpected costs and how long you live.

Just very hard to cost that out, imho...

You can't and shouldn't. People get all wrapped around the axle on med costs and insurance, especially Americans. They have been brow beat with a constant fear about it. The people then tend to be gripped by it. Now I think its prudent to have some reserves set aside but to have it be a deal breaker for places you want to live or just retire is a sad state. I know quite a few that will not retire because they do not want to be without a company med insurance.

[tomcat]

a difficult task to start, easy once you have started

...not so difficult to start (at least, not in the US)...and watching one's nest egg grow over the years towards a pre-determined financial goal allows for many restful nights...

[Stumpy]

@ Bowie. Your numbers are about the same as ours except our food bill is about $300 and Misc is probably $1000. That's primarily for garden and property upgrades and my motorcycle hobby.

[Stumpy]

...not so difficult to start (at least, not in the US)...and watching one's nest egg grow over the years towards a pre-determined financial goal allows for many restful nights...

I was able to retire because of my 401k return over the years.

[tomcat]

...I was able to retire because tax-free sand dollars were deposited into a tax-free (before withdrawals) retirement account: now, I edit PhD dissertations, master's theses and sundry other documents to pass the time...as well as contribute scintillating restaurant reviews to a local forum...

[Norton]

as well as contribute scintillating restaurant reviews to a local forum...

Big bucks doing it, I heard.