acepredator

On 10/25/2024 at 9:44 AM, brewsterbudgen said:

 

Shocking.  And many really do seem to believe it's the greatest country in the world!

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.  

On 10/17/2024 at 12:22 PM, connda said:

Look like I may have to walk around to all the banks at the local Big C and have my wife ask. 
So nobody has a credit card out there who actually knows this information? 

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?

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?  

2 minutes ago, gamb00ler said:

I have two US debit cards that don't add foreign transaction fees to ATM withdrawal, retail purchases or cash advances at a bank teller.  Schwab and Capital One 360 Savings don't add the any fees.  Of those two, only Schwab also refunds the 220 ฿ ATM fee.

 

In the Fidelity Terms and Conditions they say that certain account types are eligible to have all ATM fees refunded.  Also, Fidelity does not add foreign transaction fees.

 

I found the Fidelity details by googling for fidelity "debit card" terms conditions.

 

 

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. 

24 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Or OP / @OneManShow can use a financial institution that doesn't charge to use ATMs and, reimburses the Thai bank's 220 baht charge.

 

Why would you pay to access your own money ?

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.

On 9/2/2024 at 10:51 AM, edwardflory said:

I do it the simple way.  I use my US BANK MC DEBIT to make deposits into my Thai bank account, ONE trip to the bank, make deposit from US card, withdraw THB at Thai bank  ATM.

On 30,000THB, my TOTAL CHARGES from US Bank last week was $3.12, exchange included ( based on XE exchange rate )

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.

On 9/2/2024 at 11:26 AM, KhunLA said:

Open a TH bank account, I use BBL (BkkBank).  They give you as slip of paper with routing # to your account.   Contact SS via Manila and provide info.  It's that simple.

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. 

16 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Asking purely out of curiosity... Are there any options to pay into US Social Security when you're working overseas?

 

In the UK we can pay into the State Pension at reduced rates (Something like 1/6th) if we're working fulltime overseas.

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.

3 hours ago, atpeace said:

OK, how about 45 years? Wow, that first paragraph above  was weird 🙂  I know you were just having fun so all is good 🙂  

 

Can't argue with your rationality for taking benefits early but we are different.  I don't need the money at 63(when I can take early benefits).  Your numbers above are off substantially but no big deal.  I would be getting around $1,400 at 63 and I think around $2,200 in todays dollars at 70.  Average age of death is 85 if you reach 65.  It is much better to wait if you can so you receive more money in total and also it is a great insurance if you get into your 90s.  Sucks to be old and broke.

 

 

 

 

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.🎂🙂

16 hours ago, atpeace said:

Been hearing that for 50 years now. Your the guy that thinks wife's don't get social security benefits if they haven't worked.  Been posting this nonsense repeatedly on this thread.   Hard to take you serious. 

 

So many fixes and most probably wouldn't impact my benefit much. Simply trimming benefits for high earners or increasing the SS tax cap on  high earners for example would probably extend the program out another 25 years. Literally millions of fixes that in the end won't be too painful.  I can't wait for you to call me a foo which seems to be a habit of yours.

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.

16 hours ago, atpeace said:

Wow. You have no idea how social security works and you are collecting from the system.  Simply amazing and not only that you are insulting others in previous posts that do understand the system.  His wife does not and let me emphasize "does not" HAVE TO PAY INTO THE SYSTEM FOR 40 QUARTERS.   He has to pay into the system for 40 quarters and his wife will receive up to 50 percent of his benefit.  There are restrictions but in most cases she will receive around 50%.  

 

 

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.

On 9/2/2024 at 9:15 AM, statman78 said:

I haven’t checked into the requirements but my wife lived in the US for 9 years and became a US citizen.  Unfortunately she did not work long enough to qualify for her own benefits even though she paid into the system.  I believe that a person needs to pay into the system for 40 quarters.

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.

On 9/1/2024 at 5:01 PM, BKKKevin said:

I have applied to the SSA to have my social security direct deposited to my Bangkok Bank account thru the IID system… This gives me a clean easily provable stream of incoming cash that I can say is not taxable due to treaty obligations… 

Then it’s my understanding that one get a 60k personal deduction, a 190k 65yo+ deduction and the first 150k has a tax rate of zero… That’s 410,000 I can transfer from my personal US account with no tax due… Anything above that I plan on transferring to my Thai partners bank account as Thai tax law allows for a lifetime 10 million baht gift tax exemption…

 

As to whether I will be required to file a tax return here… I don’t see this happening any time soon… NO Thai government entity is capable of administering the setup of a tax ID and processing a tax return for several hundred thousand expats from 50 different countries…

 

Just look at how well the administrate the online 90 day reporting… 

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.

On 9/2/2024 at 9:45 AM, atpeace said:

She doesn't have to work to receive spousal benefits that will be 50% of yours.

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.

On 9/2/2024 at 9:45 AM, atpeace said:

She doesn't have to work to receive spousal benefits that will be 50% of yours.

On 9/2/2024 at 2:35 PM, atpeace said:

I have some years to go before SS.  I'm 57 and was thinking of not collecting until 70.  I have only worked for 10 years so my benefit isn't big but with that said the social security system benefits those with shorter working years ( not fare IMO but I'll take the money 🙂 ).  I think my check would be around 2,300 at 70 in todays dollars.  

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.