acepredator

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A few people, who, seemingly, are not terribly articulate or knowledgeable about some current political issues are interviewed live without any opportunity to prepare a response. And you think that those few people represent all 346,000,000 Americans? Do you really think that their inability to answer more skillfully means that America is no longer a great country? What's shocking is that you are so ignorant that you think the greatness of a country can be determined by how a few of its citizens answer some questions, with no other factors taken into consideration. How about you? Do you represent every single citizen of your country of birth? How would you perform when asked questions on camera without any chance to prepare a response? You're so brilliant and articulate, please let us know.

I have a 30,000 baht fixed account with Bangkok Bank in Chiang Mai. Linked to this account is a Visa card. I can use this card to charge up to 30,000 baht, but no more. In this sense, it is actually more like a debit card than a credit card. In any event, it is there when I need it to charge up to 30,000 baht. I do not have to deposit twice the limit. So, my advice is to go to Bangkok Bank and get the same card. What could be simpler than that?

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You didn't mention where specifically in Thailand your friend goes. In Chiang Mai, in my experience, the best you can hope for at the massage shop is manual stimulation. If you want intercourse, you have to meet later at your place or a hotel. I've never heard of intercourse as a feature of the massage itself. Also, the price for the aforementioned manual stimulation is from 1,500 baht to 3,000 baht, including the price of the oil massage itself. Your friend is getting off incredibly inexpensively if he is paying only 1,000 baht for intercourse. Could you tell us where he goes so we might also enjoy such a great bargain price?

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Thanks for the information. I have a Schwab brokerage account, but I don't know what the difference is between it and a Schwab bank account. It will be necessary to contact Schwab and get the information I need. If I can start using their debit card, that would save me a little bit of money per ATM transaction.

I certainly would not voluntarily pay to access my own money, but I didn't realize until reading your post that I had any choice in the matter. Could you please let us know specifically which financial institutions don't charge ATM fees and that reimburse the 220 baht charge? Thanks very much in advance.

When you withdraw money at a Thai bank ATM, using either a debit or credit card, there is a standard 220 baht fee that you must pay. This fee is the same regardless of how much money you withdraw. So you must add that amount to the $3.12 charged by US Bank.

I don't think it is actually a routing number. Routing numbers, to the best of my knowledge, are only used by banks within the United States. To do international monetary transfers, you would need a SWIFT code. The SWIFT code for Bangkok Bank is: BKKBTHBK.

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As far as I know, there are no options to pay into the US Social Security system while working anywhere outside of the United States. It certainly was not possible while I was working in Korea or here in Thailand. Having said that, a quick Google search has revealed that people working for American owned companies must pay Social Security tax even while working in a foreign country. It wouldn't be a matter of choice. In my own case, I only worked for Korean or Thai universities or private language schools, so I did not have the option to pay into the American Social Security system.

Yes, I was just kidding around. I couldn't imagine meeting a 7 year old kid who was worried about his future Social Security benefits, or even a 12 year old kid for that matter. In fact, I wasn't even that worried when I was 36 years old. That was my age when I left America to go teach English in South Korea. I never worked in America again. I made a <deleted>load of money in Korea, but, much to my regret, none of my earnings went into the American Social Security system. I did pay into the Korean system, but I just got a lump sum payment when I left in 2010. That's when I moved here to Thailand. As I mentioned in my previous post, it's a precarious and dangerous world that we live in. I admire your optimism in planning on living into your 90s. I'm just hoping to make it to 70. Best of luck in what will be, I hope, your long, happy, and successful future. I'll send you a birthday card on your 90th birthday.🎂🙂

You're 57 years old and you've been listening to what's been said about Social Security for the last 50 years? That means you took an interest in Social Security policy when you were only 7 years old. You must have been an extremely precocious child. When I was 7 years old, I was only interested in riding my Schwinn bicycle and blowing the biggest bubbles with my bazooka bubblegum. I may have started to take notice of these strange creatures called "girls." Many decades later, I am still trying to figure them out. Say you were to take benefits in 5 years at age 62. You might get about 800 dollars a month, which is 9,600 dollars a year. If, instead, you waited 8 more years until age 70, you would have given up 76,800 dollars. That's a sizeable chunk of money to walk away from. At age 70 you'd get 2,300 a month, which means that it would take 33 months to make up for the 76,800 dollars you didn't take. Therefore, you'd only start making money from Social Security when you were nearly 73 years old. That's 11 years of lost benefits. It's a precarious world, especially if you ride a motorbike in Thailand, as I do. A lot of dangerous, and potentially lethal, things could happen to you in the next 16 years, resulting in you getting nothing from Social Security at all. The old expression says that "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." If I were you, I'd consider very carefully before deciding not to take that first Social Security payment the month of your 62 birthday.

It was certainly neither my intention nor my desire to be either insulting or offensive in any way. I merely wanted to make my points with clarity and elan. My statements were based on my experience with one of my adult students in South Korea from about 30 years ago. She was married to an older American who died. She asked me if I could help her investigate the possibility of collecting any or all of his Social Security benefits. This was decades before I started getting benefits myself, so I really knew very little about the system. In her case, she was not a U.S. citizen, not even a Green Card holder. She had never worked in America, and, in fact, had never left South Korea at all. So, of course, she had no Social Security number. My research revealed that she did not qualify for any of her late husband's benefits. Maybe my research was faulty, or maybe the rules have changed in the last 30 years. In any event, what I posted was clearly entirely erroneous. So, I stand corrected and am very appreciative of the opportunity to learn something new. I am the least dogmatic person you will ever meet and am readily willing to change my views when presented with superior knowledge and evidence. Thanks very much for setting me straight and for providing me with information that may prove to be valuable in the future.

Yes, you are correct. That person does, indeed, have to pay into the system for 40 quarters. Any money that she did pay into the system goes to help support me and other Social Security beneficiaries. Unfortunately for her, none of the money she paid will go to her in the future.

I was sent a letter to my home address from the Thai Revenue Department in Chiang Mai saying that I had to come to their office to first get a taxpayer ID number and then to file an income tax return. This was about three years ago. So, I have filed every year since then. If they were able to find me at my home address, then why wouldn't they be able to find all the other expats here, even if we number several hundred thousand and come from 50 different countries? The expats who think that the Thai government doesn't know who we are or where we live, I believe, are very naive. We are not invisible. The government is fully aware that we are visitors to their country. Also, not to be pedantic, but 60k + 190k + 150k equals 400,000, rather than 410,000 as you stated in your post.

Where did you get this ridiculous idea from? You cannot marry a woman, die, and then have your widow get 50% of your Social Security system benefits for the rest of her life. That's simply not how the system works. In order for the spouse of a deceased beneficiary to receive any benefits, the spouse must himself or herself be eligible to receive benefits on their own. This means that they must be at least 65 years old (spouses cannot take early retirement at 62), and they must have a social security number and have paid into the system for at least 40 quarters. Do you really think that I could marry a thirty year old woman, die a week from now, and then have her receive half of my benefits for the next fifty years? If you think the United States government is that generous, then you don't know much about how the government works. I suggest that you do a little research first before you submit such a ludicrous post as the one you submitted.

I also worked 10 years in America, and in return I receive the princely sum of 594 dollars a month. Maybe not fair, but, as you said, I'll take the money, which I do every month. The Social Security system is steadily going bankrupt. Within the next 13 years there will be massive changes in the form of reduced benefits. It seems extremely unlikely that you would get as much as 2300 dollars per month by then. You can still hope, but I certainly wouldn't count on it. My best advice is for you to take Social Security as soon as possible, at age 62, as I did. You won't receive as much, of course, but at least you'll get something. By age 70 there may be nothing left in the Social Security system at all.