Thread: Retirement.

Originally Posted by OhOh

Not sure where you found the #9 score but here is one list of the "cheapest" countries:

The article in the thread the OP ref: “Thailand named in top ten in the world for retirees - TAT says accolade is richly deserved”
An index published in an annual report by International Living magazine. The 2019 Annual Global Retirement Index
https://internationalliving.com/the-...ces-to-retire/

The Retirement Index is still the most comprehensive and in-depth survey of its kind. A vast amount of hard data goes into the Index. It’s a distillation of every pertinent and measurable fact our scouts and experts can lay their hands on.

From their charts (Showing 1 to 10 of 25 entries). Categories rated include; financial, health, visa & residence, healthcare, climate, cost-of-living, buying & investing, renting, benefits & discounts, healthy lifestyle, development, governance, opportunity.

Crunching the numbers gave these results:

Country	Development	Governance	Opportunity	FINAL SCORES
Panama	94	98	90	88.9
Costa Rica	86	98	84	87.8
Mexico	90	95	86	87.4
Ecuador	84	97	94	87.0
Malaysia	88	92	73	86.0
Colombia	92	85	79	85.4
Portugal	92	96	96	85.2
Peru	86	88	88	84.0
Thailand	90	87	75	83.5
Spain	82	82	79	82.2

And, Ref: buriramboy’s “How much do you need to retire in Thailand?”
“I was just being facetious due to the question having been asked a million times.”
'tis on target;

Rating retirement “locations” ain’t only about being arguably the “cheapest”country.

To expand on “cost-of-living” you, I, and the other guy can live very cheaply “anywhere” just don’t spend money; eat rice & beans, dress in rags, sleep in a box, walk everywhere, hell, we certainly won’t enjoy the lifestyle, but, we will save our money, ‘course can become habit forming, wanna die a rich and miserable miser?, can be in the cards. A matter of personal choice.

when the wife decided she wanted to try the uk.the move was made 1988.
she got a good job so i never thought about retierment as i didnt know what was around the corner.
thailand was always in our minds that one day we would move back as long as we could find the right place.
the wife was building a good career and was quite happy as she had made a lot of freinds in the uk.[non thai]
as time went on my health was getting worse[self abuse] so major surgery was on the cards so me retirering was also on hold.
by the mid 2000's the wife had bought a property and she was happy to stay put in the uk.
2007 i had a full service,new heart valve and a double by-pass,5months later i was like a new man.
so thats when we decided to plan for my retirement.my wife was a rock as tight as a ducks arse,she knew how to save.
after a few trips to korat it was here where we would finaly call it a day.
it took us 2yrs.to find my dream home,yes that's what it was,without the wife I would still be in that shit hole[uk].
the past 10yrs. has been heaven,but having our loving dog taken away from us,brought our life back down to earth.
now we find this country is not what it should be but we are surrounded by thieves and VERY nasty people,who only think of theirselves,and don't care how they achieve their goals in life.
being 74 I am not going anywhere,now that there are many obstacles that are being placed in our way,although I shouldn't worry about anything that is thrown at me.you
do have to wonder WHATS NEXT.i do know that the wife would be happy if she moved back to the uk.although its getting a BIGER shithole but still behind here.
so anyone thinking about retireing to Thailand,if you don't have a thai wife,THINK AGAIN.
T.I.T.TAFFY IN THAILAND.

Originally Posted by headhunter

i do know that the wife would be happy if she moved back to the uk.

HH, I do let the social director make my decisions for me. In your shoes I'd put the decision into the wife's hand. Home is where you make it.

The loss of your puppy weighs heavily on you. They cannot be replaced, lost mine after 17 years, held her in my arms as the Vet administered the shots. The pooch passed with a slight wag of tail and a smile. Poor thing couldn't walk anymore and had trouble raising her head, last week she was spoon fed by wife. Sad, can't be described. Time passes, pain subsides, remembrance is always there, our "shrine" to our pup, her ashes, lots of pix, and her favorite toys, is displayed prominently in our living room for all to see. Daily reminder of the good times. Pain subsides as time passes.

With the loss of your pup and all the Thailand requisites, present and future, it may well be in the cards to head back to the UK. Big decision but, if you dwell only on the "con side" of Thailand it'll eat you up. Don't suffer slowly. Have a deep heart-to-heart with the missus, and really explore your options and your desires. Big decisions require time and detailed investigations.

Good Luck to you and the missus. May the future bring you peace.

Originally Posted by bowie

HH, I do let the social director make my decisions for me. In your shoes I'd put the decision into the wife's hand. Home is where you make it.

The loss of your puppy weighs heavily on you. They cannot be replaced, lost mine after 17 years, held her in my arms as the Vet administered the shots. The pooch passed with a slight wag of tail and a smile. Poor thing couldn't walk anymore and had trouble raising her head, last week she was spoon fed by wife. Sad, can't be described. Time passes, pain subsides, remembrance is always there, our "shrine" to our pup, her ashes, lots of pix, and her favorite toys, is displayed prominently in our living room for all to see. Daily reminder of the good times. Pain subsides as time passes.

With the loss of your pup and all the Thailand requisites, present and future, it may well be in the cards to head back to the UK. Big decision but, if you dwell only on the "con side" of Thailand it'll eat you up. Don't suffer slowly. Have a deep heart-to-heart with the missus, and really explore your options and your desires. Big decisions require time and detailed investigations.

Good Luck to you and the missus. May the future bring you peace.

thank you from the bottom of my heart,i wont make any decisions,those days are over,i only care about what the future holds for the wife.i only hope this so called mandatory ins.scam doesn't affect what I call the wife's pot of gold.if they except my self cover which is more than enough in fact 10times more,in 10yrs.not once have I had an issue with immigration so I am hopeing along with many others that will be the case.
as for our beloved we did have him for 6yrs.the wifes only child.so if all goes well I will be happy for her.i can do without any more grief.
so come on B.J.keep up the GOOD WORK.

Originally Posted by fishlocker

Looking around I guess I should be content.

No mozzies or bugs?


Or are you the bait used to catch dinner?

Retirement always struck me as a funny term. We are fed this "Retirement" goal from about mid 20's on and then you get to some magic age and you are there. Unfortunately many die before they reach it. I never really thought of it as retirement, I thought of it more being in a financial position to do what one wants, when they want on their terms. I never looked at one place or another as a "retirement" location.

For some, not working is far more stressful than working. when one decides to get off the work hamster wheel it takes a flexible plan, some reasonable forward thinking and in most cases some sort of transition period. Determining ones expectations (no matter where one lives) will drive the decision about how much money they will want or need keeping in mind that this will most likely change. I find that as we get older our hobbies change and we require less cash then more. I know a few that chased money and more money for retirement but they could never tell me what they had planned or what they wanted. Seems silly as they feel "You can never have enough" mentality. Lots of people never make it. They die chasing it.

I think moving abroad later in life is an interesting dynamic. I know if I had stayed in the states I would have likely never stopped working because I would have gotten bored. You know the SOS life. Get into a rigid routine and then become a grumpy old Fuk if someone changes it. Moving abroad sort of pushes you out of your comfort zone forcing you to remain flexible. It also challenges you and keeps you spry as you learn a new language, culture, adjust your expectations and adapt.

I had read endless "How much do you need in retirement" articles in my 40's and found that answer is solely up to the individual even though they try and sell you a huge amount. There is no magic number for all. Some are chasing the money carrot that they will never reach as they feel they do not have enough. They will die and pass it on to someone else through inheritance and those people will spend it doing what the other person should have done..

For me, Thailand was a nice option to call it a career and have some fun no matter where it sits on some list. I am in no way living some hardcore all Thai lifestyle here. I fused as much western into it as I needed which makes it perfect for me. Do I have a path back to the states, sure. However I am not sure I would go back. I am not saying Thailand or any surrounding SEAsia country is better however for me its the "Been there and done that" in the states. Its a great place to visit now.

Plenty of interesting input to the thread. I was fortunate to have a career, and it included a modest, index linked pension. The second pension also helps.
Became a bit disenchanted with Thailand over the last few years, but having de-cluttered my life a few years earlier, I found it easier to move on.
Explored other parts of Asia last year and did a few months consulting work in the sandpit in 2017.

I am now in the process of fixing up along term visa for Indonesia. I’m based in Sumatra at 1500 ft above sea level, so while still in the tropics, the climate is more temperate. All living costs are much cheaper here, except for those western luxuries like decent steak, or a bottle or two of wine. Other than that, the daily routine is a little more bearable.

No major health concerns and topping up health and life insurance will ease most fears on that score. Financially much easier to have a reasonable standard of living here, with the added bonus of my UK state pension coming online in September. (More access to those little western luxuries).

Fall back plan would be a return to Europe, on my terms, not theirs. A UK passport holder, citizen and tax payer, so if needs must I can reluctantly return to the cesspit.

Im off to the gym. Enjoy your Saturday wherever you are.

Originally Posted by Simon43

I'm not yet retired (60 years old), and can't afford to retire because I have few savings and expect a dismal UK pension when I hit 65 or 66 (because I worked as a contractor for many years and left the UK at the age of 43). Lucky that I actually enjoy working, would be bored walking the dog, playing golf etc.

But in preparation for having a more flexible lifestyle, I resigned my teaching job at an international school in Burma a few months ago, moved back to Thailand and started teaching English and Science 'online'.

It's taken a few months to build up student numbers, and I work for various different online teaching companies and private contracts. But now I'm earning more than I was paid at the international school (I had a good salary there). I'm in demand not only to teach English and Science to Chinese and Burmese kids and adults - I also teach English to Thai kids using Thai as the language of instruction/explanation, ('cos their English abilities are so piss-poor that using only English has us running around in circles for the whole lesson...)

The bottom line is that my income comes from an online business, which means I'm now free to relocate anywhere in the world that has an internet connection and where I'm allowed a visa etc.

My needs are simple in life nowadays, and I'm spending less than 20,000 baht each month on house rent, car, food and drink. My private medical insurance is about 3,000 baht a month.

The only thing missing in my life is some sort of nymphomaniac Asian young wench, but past experiences suggests that always comes with a request to build a hotel....

Simon, I have always enjoyed the straightforward honesty, and the humour of your posts. Thanks for sharing on this thread too.
I agree with your work ethic and I would be happy to work under my own auspices, but that ain’t going to happen now.
Part of the problem has been the fact that I don’t actually need to work, and also that I’m probably too choosy, and employers can get someone much cheaper and younger than me.
Agree on the golf. Churchill was right.

As I enjoy retirement, I like good food, a drink and company, my main interests are cycling, gym and swimming. Just so I can live long enough to spend that state pension.
I enjoy reading and study so an OU Masters is probably a good incentive to keep the grey matter healthy too.

Enjoy you new found freedoms and I hope you find an amenable intelligent woman in LOS.

only thing missing say's simon 43,is a nymphomaniac young wenchi could think a young[ mans best friend would be more appropriate]
just look at the stats.can go out and get pissed every night,and he/she will be there to greet you when you fall through the door,with big kisses.
he wont argue or ask you for money.
his family will never come to visit you.
you can leave your dirty socks all over the floor,he wont mind.
he will protect you and more than likely wont snore so that you get a good nights sleep.
he will be much cheaper to keep than some 20yr.old wench who he will be jelious of.
and when you do take him for walks he will protect you with his life against anyone who wants to take whats yours.
so simon 43 the only planning you need to do till you retire is,what kind of friend you want and with a whore house nearby.

Retire to Thailand? I asked the same question 14 years ago and I am still here. My original retirement plan was Mexico since I had spent a lot of time there from the age of 18. A few years before retirement, Mexico began increasing its cost of living. This was not why I chose not to retire in Mexico, but it was the safety factor with the drug cartels and the difference in attitude of the police and people toward foreigners. I used to sleep free on the Mexican beaches camping in the sand dunes, but I would not attemp that now. Mexico used to be a great place during the 60s to the 80s, but that all changed.

After giving up on Mexico as a place to retire, I began to search for a country that had a resonable cost of living and had what I personally needed to satisfy my living requirements. Among those countries were Costa Rica, Belize, Ecuador, Panama and Brazil. These and several other Latin American countries were considered by me, but none seemed to foot the bill. Then I thought back to 1985 and 86 when I was working in Saudi Arabia and passed through Thailand several times. It seemed like a country I could retire in. Good food, nice beaches, low cost of living, beautiful women all ticked the boxes and I made the decision to retire in Thailand. It is not perfect and yes it has changed over the past 14 years and not always for the better, but I am unable to name a better place to meet my needs given my income and life requirements.

Didn't Camel Toe (was it that Jonny Danger) went off in a huff to retire in Latin America? Honduras? Anyone ever hear from him?

...yes, he was posting on Big Mango until they forcibly retired his cantankerous butt...

Originally Posted by Luigi

Didn't Camel Toe (was it that Jonny Danger) went off in a huff to retire in Latin America? Honduras? Anyone ever hear from him?

I thought he had mentioned Mexico...back at the other now defunct forum.

Originally Posted by tomcat

....when the onus of forced labor is removed, possibilities for positive life changes are limited only by the breadth of one's imagination...

I find a little cash helps smooth the changes too....

Originally Posted by SKkin

I thought he had mentioned Mexico...back at the other now defunct forum.

Camel Toe took off to Mexico and I chatted a bit with him on TD about it. As usual, he was his typical dickhead self. :-)