JB300

Dude, every single damn thing is expensive in Singapore. Just choose Thailand and you will be much happier.

As Braddockrd as said, it all depends on how much you earn & how much tax you pay, for me the difference in tax I was paying in Singapore vs Tax (& NI) in UK paid for the rent on my condo (& much more, the savings in not having to run a car covered everything else).

Was paying around 11% income tax there (that's it, no other tax to pay, not even tax on overseas income), don't know what the equivalent would be in Thailand...

It's been a long time since I looked into this, but here's a couple of links that may help...

- http://www.internations.org/singapore-expats/guide/16088-visa-administration/passes-and-permits-for-expat-families-in-singapore-16096

- http://therealsingapore.com/content/mom-simplifies-employment-pass-singapore

Nb the visa for your Fiancé would now be a Long Term Visitors pass which (as far as I can tell) doesn't allow her to work unless she finds a job with a work/employment pass.

Without getting into the precise detail -- It would appear that there's very little advantage in cashing in a pension pot, unless you have some capacity in your personal allowances. But if you have a a pension pot worth talking about - maybe giving £4k per year - that's your allowances used. So if you cash in 15% of the pot -- say £5k - you'll get taxed on the £5k payout, and then the pension will pay less as well -- sounds like a lose-lose situation ?

Or am I not reading this correctly?

I thought 25% could be taken Tax Free or would this be added to your other income & so effectively taxed (if that takes you over the Personal Allowance).

Right vertically, but it's about 1 inch to your left as you look at the picture...

<<<SPOILER post deleted>>>

But once you've seen the cat, you can't un-see it

What are the long(ish) Visa options like for Vietnam?

Wasn't a lot of homelessness caused by the so called "Care in the Community" for people with mental issues

Outside of rent, Singapore is not that expensive & I'm sure your Filipina would prefer it there (I know mine does).

With an Employment Pass (NB not Work Permit/S Pass), she can get a Dependents Visa even if you're not married as long as you can show evidence of cohabiting.

Have you calculated the difference in take-home pay (Tax is very low in Singapore, check out http://www.iras.gov.sg) to see if the difference is really as much as you think it might be.

I know you'll need (more accurately better to have) a Thai bank account for day-2-day use, but couldn't you use evidence of funds in your own country for your marriage extension?

Investment Visa 10Million THB, might sound like a lot but the money can be used to purchase a Condo & remains yours should you wish to leave Thailand or use in your retirement (after converting to a retirement visa obviously)

I actually found Boracay to be cheaper than Manila & Cebu and had no problem with noise from bars despite staying meters away from the beach at Station 1 (stayed here http://www.agoda.com/the-sun-villa-resort-and-spa-beachfront/hotel/boracay-island-ph.html, was around £60/$90 US per night).

Samal Island (Davao) is nice but no nightlife outside of the resorts & pretty basic accommodation will set you back at least 2-2,500PHP per night, Palawan is next on my list (grateful for any tips on where to stay), though Phatbeets pics of Bantayan & Siquijor are making me rethink that [emoji106])

Edit: If you do go to Boracay, try to get a flight into Caticlan as its a 2 hour transfer from Kalibo (recommend http://www.southwesttoursboracay.com/ for transfers)

So if I've read the above document correctly (many thanks for the link), I could use the "value" of my Stocks & Shares ISA as "Savings", but could not use the "Value" of my other portfolio despite them both being with the same company (Barclays), both containing the same mix of stocks & both having the same liquidity (if anything I could maybe get the money faster out of my MarketMaster account & would look to take it out of there 1st for tax reasons).

Crazy [emoji15]

^^^ from the reviews, it seems "Run all night" is even better so I will be adding to Liam's pension fund this weekend & going to the cinema to see it [emoji106]

^^^ I think you'll see the difference between the predominately Hindu/Tourist nature of Bali coming to the fore more when you see how things like the clampdown on 7/11s selling alcohol is (not) enforced there.

Indonesia feels like Malaysia to me, yes it is 1 country but each state/sultan has their own interpretations of the "Rules" (Damn, that sounds a lot like the US )

^^^ Bali & Jakarta are two completely different places, not least because of the completely different religious & economic (Business Vs Tourist) influences

Edit:Worked in Jakarta for 6 months & loved it, visit Bali a couple of times a year & love it more [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

^^^ Mr WW... Fwiw, I thought your 1st post was spot on & this one even more so [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

A forty something year old lawyer working across the Atlantic on $75/pa? Our senior paralegal get that sort of of money. A qualified lawyer (average one ) is around 180-200k p/a. Since when $75k is classified as "high income"? For a lawyer is the bare bottom. Me thinks he's a daydreamer. After a holiday here he maybe thinking I can do this for good. On that note not worth giving advice. ps at 26 I was earning that kind of money. By the time u factor house payment etc I hardly had anything left and never considered myself as a big shot high earner. I still don't.

If you took the time to read his post you'll see that $75k pa is what he has available for his early retirement, nowhere does it say that it's his salary

Oh & at 26 (23 years ago) I was earning £50,000 (approx $80,000) & just retired (at 49 in case the maths hurt) from a salary 2 1/2 times that & can "only" manage a monthly budget of 1/2 that amount so I'm guessing his salary must have been a damn sight more impressive than mine.

righto...... Sorry what was your point?

No "Point" fella, you acknowledged you'd misinterpreted the OPs position & I for one admire that (probably because I've done it dozens of times myself).

All posts & viewpoints are welcome (that's how we learn) unless they're just spiteful (which, for the avoidance of doubt, yours was not).

Cheers

JB

A forty something year old lawyer working across the Atlantic on $75/pa? Our senior paralegal get that sort of of money. A qualified lawyer (average one ) is around 180-200k p/a. Since when $75k is classified as "high income"? For a lawyer is the bare bottom. Me thinks he's a daydreamer. After a holiday here he maybe thinking I can do this for good. On that note not worth giving advice. ps at 26 I was earning that kind of money. By the time u factor house payment etc I hardly had anything left and never considered myself as a big shot high earner. I still don't.

If you took the time to read his post you'll see that $75k pa is what he has available for his early retirement, nowhere does it say that it's his salary

Oh & at 26 (23 years ago) I was earning £50,000 (approx $80,000) & just retired (at 49 in case the maths hurt) from a salary 2 1/2 times that & can "only" manage a monthly budget of 1/2 that amount so I'm guessing his salary must have been a damn sight more impressive than mine.

Apologies, I must have missed that & would mention that I'm no expert but learnt this fact from another thread on this site so had that link saved away should a miracle happen & my UK stocks start returning anywhere near putting me in the upper tax bracket.

(I'm one of those "Fortunate" souls who's had to do a Tax Return since he was 18 (31 years ago), I put it down to my 1st serious girlfriend being a Tax Inspectors daughter )

Withholding tax in UK is 10% & this cannot be claimed back irrespective of your Tax status or whether you're below the Personal Allowance.

However the good new is that this is all you have to pay irrespective of whether the income from dividends takes you above the higher rate thresholds.

That 10% tax isnt really a withholding tax at all, which is why it cant be reclaimed.

But you are wrong about the liability for higher rate tax payers:

https://www.gov.uk/tax-on-dividends/overview

Not if you're a non-UK resident for Tax purposes http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/saimmanual/saim1170.htm

"The effect is that the liability of a non-UK resident in respect of savings and investment income is limited to the income tax deducted from it or treated as deducted or paid in respect of it (at the savings rate, dividend rate, or basic rate, as appropriate - SAIM1080), or the tax credit it carries".

All my UK interest is paid gross.

UK dividends are taxed at source (though it isn't income tax) but this tax can never be reclaimed. What the concession avoids is the possibility of being liable to more tax at a higher marginal rate.

What did you have to do to not have anything withheld on your interest? Also, what's the withholding rate on your dividends.

Thanx.

Withholding tax in UK is 10% & this cannot be claimed back irrespective of your Tax status or whether you're below the Personal Allowance.

However the good new is that this is all you have to pay irrespective of whether the income from dividends takes you above the higher rate thresholds.

For anybody interested in a trip to Bali, it looks like they're going to extend the Visa waiver to many (30) more countries soon http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/03/17/new-visa-policy-aid-rupiah.html (notably Australia isn't one of them).

It's not so much the $35USD I mind, it's more the queues & the fact that it takes up 1/2 (used to be a full) page in your passport.

In my experience It does give a sense of how "Experienced" the girl is in any country, but ymmv.

Hmmm. I'm at Thai lounge in Changi heading to BKK. I go about once a month myself for last three years and have been questioned only once at BKK. I normally stay for 4 to 5 days and two weeks maximum. The time I was questioned, I had to show my Singapore employment pass and that was that.

If I have issue today, I will report back. I carry USA passport and have APEC card for fast track.

Can an American get an APEC card? (Genuine question, I looked into it as a Brit & from what I could tell it was limited to APEC citizens, being a Singaporean EP/PR holder didn't qualify).

As others have said, as things stand, she's the one that's out of pocket so if your Friend was to go there & give it a whirl then he's got nothing to lose financially outside of 1/2 of the 6 months rent (cheaper than staying in a hotel for 6 months) & 6 car payments (cheaper than the 250k he was planning to spend).

Few things that might help get a sense of the girl:-

- How did they meet?

- How much time have they spent together

- How long was it before they slept together