freejack

Actually, BOEING did have an upgrade, optional, that allows the plane to be continually tracked by BOEING but MAS declined due to,the cost. Many,other airlines do use this service. This was stated on TELEVISION. A number of times at the beginning.

This dumb corrupt moron is just a coffin dodger expelling his last breath

Marcusd. Via tapatalk

and the cost is $10 a month

Love this Anthony Piece on Morocco:

http://www.cnn.com/video/shows/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown/episode5/index.html

really, do you love it here or not?

Depends on our personality.

P

There seems sometimes a total obsession with money on many posts- the price of a beer - how much to give the gf/ bf / family etc.

Surely all you need to do is balance money in and money out, from the outset make it very clear that you will not fork out for new cars, houses,family etc etc.

My bf fully understands he has to go out to work to provide himself money to spend- I will pay for everything else- so has a nice condo, car and a house ( for the dog)

I intend to depart this mortal coil totally broke after whizzing around the world a few times and feel no obligation to leave anything.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Sometimes you have to use your gut, penny pincher or not, and make an assessment of situation.

Some people just spend too much with no regard to the future.

You never know. I have three half Asian kids. One of them looks white and a lot like me but all of the mother's facial expressions. Another daughter looks very Asian. Even I wonder, but she has more of my nose and the smile and eyebrows. My other daughter looks half and half. With mixed racial background you never know how they will turn out.

Someone had responded to me about waiting a few years, due to costs going up and being at a fixed $2000 a month to spend.

Here's pretty much my response:

• Reply

I have heard:

"Hope you are funny"

Means:

"I hope you have fun."

Last week I got 850 from Seattle to BKK for about $865 or so. Via Travelocity.

Apologies for the belated replies. I thought I'd get a notification if anyone responded to my question. Lo and behold, there are many replies.

The idea of time vs. money is a very interesting one. How much do you trade off one for the other?

By the way, I was speaking hypothetically about my age. I am almost 50 (January) and I have been planning to retire at 56.

However, in reading these posts, I'm going to aim for my 55th birthday, provided my financial projections turn out as expected. Once the house is paid, I'm out of here. Based on my projections, living a disciplined financial life, I can do it. Funny, my separate projections: paying down house estimates vs. my ability to pay down came down to about a $15 difference. Not likely to happen, but funny how that turned out when recalculating this weekend.

I live on very little. Most of my entertainment is low-cost or free: watching Netflix ($8 a month or so), reading eBooks (from library or public domain or low-cost) or even real books. Photography, walking, day hiking, cooking...

I do want to spend time in "retirement" volunteering, reading, watching movies, some travel...while living in a SE Asian country.

I will be in Thailand in January for two weeks. I would like to visit Cha Am, Chiang Rai, and Chiang Mai. I've already been to BKK, Chonburi/Pattaya area and a lot of the northeast.

The comments here were very interesting, but most, along the bell curve, were relatively similar. I'm not sure if you can exhaust this topic, because it is one of interest to most people in their decision to stop their career and move on to something else.

What about if your are lucky and live to be 96? Can you afford to provide yourself and your significant other with a good life for forty more years? That's a long time. Or maybe you're not as lucky and live to 86. That's still thirty years of supporting yourself without a job..

And don't forget the the two things that most people either don't think about ... or don't give realistic attention to:

1- You are most likely going to lose or have to spend significant money along the way that you did not plan on ... and there are dozens of possible scenarios of how that can happen.

2- As the years roll by ... ten years ... and esp. twenty years ... and esp. esp. thirty years from now ... you money will absolutely not have as much buying power as it does today. Think about bread costing $12 or $15 a loaf. Don't believe it? Then spend some time in Goole and see what bread, or milk, or gasoline, etc. cost thirty years ago.

So when you sit down and plan how much money you'll need in the years ahead ... do so with the value of your money in the future and not just with today's money.

When it comes to retirement remember one of Murphy's Laws: It's going to require money than you think it will.

And my advice ... FWIW ... is if you don't hate your job, hang in there for a few more years. Or figure out how to semi-retire and still make some money. And if you're an American, don't take your social security until you're 70 so that you get 100% of what your qualified for.

Very good points.

Wealth plans to be tied up in low-risk funds that should keep up or outperform inflation.

Good point: Yes, there are those expenses that pop up that were not planned. Need to buffer in maybe 20%, above and beyond, added to planned expenses.

Work is fine, but kind of bored with it all. It's interesting each day, and I keep myself busy as much as possible, but hard to imaging slogging here forever.

I retired here in Thailand at 55. I'm divorced, my "kids" are all grown up with their own careers and family. In my case, I have a pension from military service. It's not really enough to live well in the US with the high cost of living there, but here in Thailand it's fine for me. I found myself with the decision of stay in the US and have to work, or retire in Thailand. I decided to retire in Thailand. So far, I'm liking it! Later, when I have access to my IRAs, and Social Security, I may move back to the US. Closer to the "kids" and grandchildren and such. We shall see!

As others here have mentioned; Money isn't the only thing for you to consider. For some people the adjustment from full work to full retirement can be hard to handle.

Myself, I enjoy having a nice quiet and slow life. I like to read a lot, watch some movies (now on my Nook!), long walks around town for my exercise and to learn what's where, learn some Thai language, and do some traveling around Thailand. You have got to adjust and get some activities that will suit you. Others have trouble adapting. Some end up with their "retirement" centered around bars and drinking and then drinking and bars, etc. IMO, not good for them or their livers!

You sound exactly like me. Not retired military, but lifestyle-wise.

I love to read on my eReader and I like movies and I want the quiet, slow life. I'm learning Thai now.

I'm 46 and I don't intend to retire at all - not because I'm a workaholic but because I really can't imagine doing less than I already do.

I work from home for a few hours each day Monday to Friday so if I had more free time than I already do, I'd probably go insane.

Many of use want to keep busy doing something.

Retirement to me means doing what I want on my time each day. Whether leisure or volunteering or whatnot.

Of course, for some people, myself included, I'd be a mess if I wasn't keeping busy each day (and it's not hard for me to keep busy).

I retired at 55 the reason being both my parents had passed in their early 40s and early 50s as did one of my brothers I decided that I was not going to be working up until my dying breath and so I had promised myself that I would stop working when I hit 55 . I knew that to achieve this I could no longer live in the UK so at the age of 50 I and my wife traveled extensively both in Europe and India before deciding that Thailand is where we wanted to live. I had put the " FOR SALE " up on my business 6 months before my birthday and managed to complete the sale 8 months later, on top of this I sold my house and cars. After 4 years of renting in Thailand and having decided that this is where we would live we purchased a property the rest is history have now been here for just over 8 years with no regrets. How much we spend is nowhere like what we used to spend in the UK gone are the expensive clothes, expensive restaurants and visits to the theatre instead we live a chilled out life and spend when we need and not just for the sake of it would we go back to our old life the answer is a big fat NO !!!!!

Very interesting that your spending habits can change a lot when you move to a different country.

For me, in particular, is to see people with little, living simple and relatively or basically happy, and seeing all the stuff I own doesn't make me happy.

In fact, I own little beyond the house I have equity in. I've gotten rid of almost everything I have not used in 3 years and I'm happy to be clutter free. As an example, instead of having an extensive collection of knives, I use a Chinese cleaver to cut 95% of my vegetables and meats. It does the job and happy not to have so many extras. No electric can opener. Just a manual one. I get exercise and it works and it probably won't break down.

Yes, a chilled out life sounds really good.

And no one knows when their number comes up. No idea. Got to live life to the fullest.

Some of us feel it is time to move on to a new journey in life. (and some want to stay put).

You only live once so I think you need to make the best of it. There is a balance that has to be found. If you love your work and it is part of your happiness why stop. If you are just buying time until you retire but already have enough cash then I think it is time to stop working and enjoy your life. Money is very important however and you don't want to later look back with regret wishing you were still working, so plan plan plan.

My idea .... Think of a yearly budget based on your lifestyle and multiply it by say 25 ( you would be 81 but think of that number on how old you will live to be based on family history ???) . This is how much money i think you should have with your current investments and pension. Think of inflation and interest as offsetting each other. As long as you have insurance to cover anything major happening with your health and you not give it to some Thai bird you should be fine. If coming to Thailand always keep a plan in mind for going back to you home country in case you need to. That's my thinking ....

It is nice to enjoy your life when you are young and your health is good. When you get old you have limits and it takes away some of the pleasure. I would hate to die knowing I never lived !!!

Apologies for the belated reply:

Your comment is a very succinct way to put it.

That's also a pretty nice, and simple, wealth calculator: multiply years by income and see where you are for wealth.

I tried the multiplier and it certainly put me at ease for early retirement!

I plan to volunteer for awhile to keep busy. I can live cheap. I do leave cheap. All I need (and have) is a basic wardrobe, sturdy shoes, a laptop, smartphone and internet connection. Three squares a day and a cot and I'm good.

For the record, my own plan is to ease back rather than retire fully, I enjoy my work and I enjoy the chance to take part in helping young people develop themselves and their careers. I'm back at school studying again, chasing the cobwebs out and getting qualifications which will help me leverage my experience in different directions as I get older.

I see retirement less as a destination and more of a journey, health permitting I plan to enjoy the trip.

I'd like to do volunteer work. My passion is to give back, since I have been relatively fortunate in life.

My draw to retire earlier, than later, is to do this volunteer work and help others.

Good point in another post, that once you have everything paid off, start to build up some wealth to live on in order to put off use of pension. That's the goal I've been looking at as I see my spreadsheet projections.

A day will come, though, when it is time to make the change. I suspect the decision will be less financial and more emotional (taking into consideration there is some wealth built).

Think about your happiness.

Are you just bored of working at your present position, or is your goal to be happier in your life?

If you retire, what is it that will make you happy?

Can you do what you really want and reach happiness with your revenues once you retire?

I "retired" rather young with a substantial revenue.

But I keep my life busy and full of activities that make me (and others) happy.

These activities enrich my life a lot but some are also much more expensive than to stay on a balcony and look at the mountains or visit beer bars till death comes....

If retiring can make you happier, do it!

Life is short. We better live it while we can.

But do not miscalculate... Some people can be happy with very little, but personally I do not think you can be happy if your finances can't cover what you really want... And the amount varies a lot from person to person.

I have my comfort level as I review my financial plans. A point will come when it's determined to take the plunge.

Money is only important to a certain point, of course.

I personally have a lot of activities that are low cost and keep me busy: reading, running, hiking, photography, gardening and cooking. That eats up most of the free time and things I have always liked to do.

Seems not possible to edit posts once someone as viewed?

Anyway, should have kept the topic more high-level.

I've always wondered why people decide to retire when they do.

I knew coworkers at work who got disgruntled or tired of everything and decided they had enough with the job. Some of them left not so happy and left the company on a sour note after so many years, or decades even, of work.

The decision to retire often seems to come at the crossroads of being tired of it all and feeling they have enough money (or not) to give it up and be done with their careers.

If you live in Nakhon Sawan, Mai Sot is the closest border crossing. It's about a 3 to 3.5 hour drive, the last 70 kilometers single lane over the mountains. There is no place closer. It costs 500 baht to enter Myanmar and the crossing and return is painless as there are very few "farangs" there and you just go to the front of the line. If you have to take a bus I think that you can leave NS early inb the morning and get back around midnight the same day. I did it many years ago but not since 2004.

That's good to know. Still considering where to move when I go to Thailand and border runs may be a necessity for awhile. Hopefully no border runs, but depends on how things go down the road.

Does anyone do 90 day visa runs to Burma? Or some other country? Seems like a long way to go.

P

Seems Andrew Hicks has fallen off the grid in Thailand?

He hasn't been online since May of 2012 or so.

Anyone know what's up?

I'd like to see a follow-up book to "My Thai Girl and I."

Patrick

Agree with KuhnPaen above. I too once thought of the possibility of marrying a nice Thai gal, but after reading so many of these stories, I just cant see myself doing it now under any circumstances.

Good news is that this means I can retire a lot earlier as I dont need to have a sizeable nest egg to support a future Thai wife and her family, I need just enough for me to rent everything in retirement.

Same for me as well. Almost married a Thai girl, but backed out after finding out she has sizable debt and still spends way beyond her means, and I saw her wanting me to live in Thailand to take care of her family. The risk isn't worth it, unfortunately. Not a lot of gain, but a whole lot of risk.

There is no economic boom in Thailand. Just a hyperbolic expansion in the availability of debt. In a decade or so most Thai will dream of having a small rice farm, some chickens and a sustainable agricultural lifestyle...instead of the debt laden urban prison they find themselves in.

Met a lady online in Thailand, gov't job, new car, two houses. Thought she was doing well. Car is 2x annual salary and owes a lot on houses. Had a big debt problem recently, was going to ask me to help, needed 2x annual salary suddenly. Suddenly, again, her friends step in to help, she's doing fine (not sure how), and now she's just bought a new iPhone. I don't know how people can live like that.

In Thai School a few years ago,

I asked the teacher what "nymphomaniac"

was in Thai. After some explanation, she

arrived at the translation "sex-jot." She asked,

"What do you call a man that is a "nymphomaniac?"

A fellow classmate chuckled and said,

"That's just a normal man."

After living in the "Land of Smiles," for some

period of time, I became convinced that all

Thais simply know that "farangs are rich,"

and that entrapping one of them is akin to

hitting the lottery jackpot. Therefore, farangs

are almost exclusively relegated to the fringes

of Thai female society - i.e. gold-diggers, bargirls

and lonely, tired, divorced single-mothers.

It is still "unacceptable" for a good Thai girl to

associate in anyway with a farang- or even to

look at them and smile on the skytrain!

When I met a divorced single-mother online, I felt treated as if I was rich. She asked me to buy her father a watch when I visited. Also, our first meal together there was paid by her, but then I was instructed that I had to payback and that meant buying a dinner for 15 of her friends. I didn't understand this until it was my time to pay the bill. If we traveled somewhere, I paid for gas in her friend's car.

Well, it wasn't all about money, but I just felt the two times I visited last year (2 weeks each time), that Thai people I met are a bit wasteful and don't know frugal. They thought nothing of spending money.

The Thai lady has big money problems (2 x annual income), but still went out and bought an iPhone. Oh well.

I'm wary of any long term relationship with someone far away, particularly if they are from a poor region of a country like Thailand and spend money like no tomorrow. I have heard, that when you don't have a lot of money or don't make a lot, you tend to spend it all.