4MyEgo

Yes, you pay an input tax when paying into a super fund, about 15% if memory serves me. Once you turn 60 years of age you can take your super out, tax free, you can also take out up to a set amount, if memory serves me was or is up to $195k without paying tax, once you hit preservation age, about 57-58 years of age depending on what year you were born, then the balance can be taken out at age 60 with no tax payable. You mention it attracts interest, if you are a non resident, a withholding tax of 10% is payable on any interest earned in Australia. Just be careful as your super (asset) can have a Deeming Rate applied to it when you apply for the age pension, there is a threshold if you are non home owner, which is about $543,500. The Deeming Rate is 0.25% on the 1st $60,400 and then 2.25% thereafter, however you might be able to offset this as they allow you up to $204 per fortnight as an income free area. If you don't do a tax return as stated, you are a non resident for tax purposes, so won't pay any tax, that said, the age pension is taxable income, however no one seems to pay tax on it (rightfully so), and I believe the government turns a blind eye to this because it suits them to have pensioners living abroad as it's cheaper for them, as they don't have to pay for rental assistance, Medicare, Energy Allowance and the Supplement, plus the Concession card for meds and travel, that said, as long as you know, if they come knocking, you will be up for 32c off the bat, no threshold, plus the Deeming Rate on your super, compliments Services Australia. The above said, don't want to be wishing to burst anyone's bubble, but it's good to know, if it ever raises it's ugly head, you were prewarned. If you can set you super up as an income stream, it might be better for you, however you would need to speak to someone in that area of expertise and ask how that would affect your age pension, if it would at all ? As far as Thailand and taxes, wouldn't worry about it, if anyone ever asks, you tell them it's your pension from your super, or something like that.

Exactly to the point ????

I don't believe it will be that hard finding a job at 65, SEEK and ye shall find. It just depends on the type of existence you want to have during those 2 years, the country life can be boring for some, especially if your not used to it, that said, I live in the bush here and love it, but have all the things I need to keep me comfortable and a local community of expats which I enjoy. When and if I go back I would have to be in the same area as I lived as it's within walking distance of shopping centres, hospitals, bay, train and bus stations and I love to walk, can't do that here, too hot. I looked at campervans and campervan sites, you can rent a cabin in places not to far out of Sydney for about $250 a week, but I couldn't do that, need my comforts and am prepared to work for them, but each to there own, besides working will make the time go quicker.

@lelapin I have had back pain for years, after seeing everyone there was possible in my life time and spending heaps of $'s, I saw a video on YouTube and this Physiotherapist said this; If your having pain down your back (lower) or down your leg (Sciatica), just remember this, your back is like a river and water travels downstream, as does pain, so your pain is more than likely being caused from somewhere upstream. I went to a Clinic and asked for an x-ray on my neck and back and it was shown that 2 vertebrae's in my neck had worn badly, hence the reasons for my neck issues, but what about my lower back pain ? They gave me 20 minutes of PMS Peripheral Magnetic Stimulation on my neck, shoulder and lower back, a hand full of tablets and said come back next week, that was a month ago, I didn't go back, my lower back pain of 6 months was gone, I didn't take any of the tablets and am still good as I type. I rest my neck throughout the day when I feel it is getting a bit sore, and or take a couple of Sara, and watch my posture and don't lift things of weight anymore. I would recommend PMS and some lower back exercises which you can find on YouTube. Cost was 800 baht for the PMS treatment, avoid the big privates as they will charge more than that. Here is a video in Thai, just move it forward to 50 seconds and you will see the machine in action, it stimulates the nerves and muscles and is painless. Good luck.

I suppose if your that way inclined, you won't mind if you drop the soap in the shower ????

Vitamin D combined with Magnesium daily along with & C should keep your immune system good against most viruses, also try to get a little sunshine.

There are plenty of Thai ladies out there, and is you speak Thai, your miles ahead of the rest. I too am married and have an understanding wife, that said, nothing wrong with chatting up a bar girl, or going to a Karaoke place to obtain what your looking for, that said, from my experience, any woman, if told up front that your married and you want a side dish will understand. I have at least 3 that I can send a text to when I am looking for something to sooth my sweet teeth, usual place, usual rate, as for having one call me, text me, they know it's not on, there are rules to follow, f up and game over, so far in 8 years, so good. Personally I wouldn't want another woman all the time, as I like to try different sweets. But then again, that's jut me.

LMAO

I know of an Expat who went back just before Covid and returned mid year after doing his time, he did live in a caravan park for that time, said he paid about $200-$230 per week, however there was a waiting list of about 1,000 people today. I don't believe it would be feasible for someone who is looking at returning to do the "2 year ail term" at age 65 to live off of the Job Seeker Allowance or at 67 to live off of the Age Pension for those two years. That could be an option, but what would the fuel costs be, I suppose you could make it feasible, if you know where your going and able to stop at places that accommodate caravans, e.g. somewhere near beaches, because I am sure you would have to hook up stuff to make it comfortable, like running water, electricity etc, and then you have maintenance, registration and repairs (if any). I like this idea, maybe worth looking into. I have mentioned in another post that I intend on returning in a couple of years when I turn 65 to do the 2 year jail term, however, having done the feasibility on it, I would need to work and earn $62,000 per year, after taking tax and Medicare cost out, a rental figure of $600 per week for something decent for a single guy about 15km out of Sydney, that would leave me with about $400 a week to live on, which I can top up with savings if required, that said, it would be public transport, no car as the costs associated with one wouldn't be worth it. Would have to either walk to work or public transport, and whenever I require a car, just hire one for the day, free 100km usually comes with it. Furniture would have to be from various places like a garage sale (moving interstate or going overseas, electricals would have to be new for warranty purposes, or I could just rent it all, haven't looked into that part of it yet. If you can't or don't want to work, then perhaps renting a room in a shared accommodation situation, e.g. unit, house with strangers, not for me. But like I said, Job Seeker and or the Age Pension in Oz would be a struggle, last I heard a single lime cost $1.80, a 1/4 of a watermelon cost $16, forget eating out or living off of pies if you value your health, as I am and always have been a healthy eater. Be interested to know what you come up with, if anything.

Nothings for FREE if you read what is on their site, as opposed to what the original poster posted on here, please do correct me if I am wrong. https://wise.com/gb/pricing/card-fees?sourceAmount=1000&sourceCcy=GBP&targetCcy=EUR

Check points here don't save lives, they are there to raise money for the corrupt cops, if you don't know that, you are naïve, to say the least. When I get pulled over with wife in car, she will get out, serve them a mouth full, walk up to the cops table on the side of the road, throw 200 baht at them and get back in the car. She has told me if I am ever out at night in the big city about an hours drive out, to watch out as they close the highway down in both direction and everyone cops it, if your a farang, they will try you for 20,000 baht for DUI, which you can either try to argue, jail overnight and judge decide your fate in the morning or pay 10,000 baht as one farang who is married to a friend of hers did, and he wasn't drink, albeit they said he was 0.53, over by 0.3, funny thing is he only had 2 drinks, but was scared to argue with them any further as they kept saying ok, you go with this policeman, he take you to jail tonight. Cops here are not cops, they don't care about anyone except themselves and their pockets, time to wake up.

Because no one confronts them, however No: 7 happened to me when I was on an airplane and I got up and asked the guy sitting behind me if he wouldn't mind pressing his feet up against my seat as I have a bad back and his feet pressed against my seat was causing me discomfort. He apologised which I accepted and that was the end of it, when we were disembarking, I did want to go up to him and say I didn't have a bad back, but then said to self STFU. With regard to the rest, ear pods with music and not looking at what other do, does help, suffice to say, live and let live, we cannot change the society that it has become.

The 1st 7 years of my job (career) was great, I would start at 8am and be at the beach by 12pm summer time. After 7 years they got rid of the secretaries and then we had to do our work online, i.e. use computers, then there was compliance, that was (anal) because you had juniors as compliance officers checking your work and trying to tell you that this or that was wrong based on their interpretation (thick as bricks). I lasted another 8 years but not before changing companies 3 times, head hunted every 2-3 years and ended up tripling my salary as skilled guys were leaving in their droves due to the changes, longer working hours and loss of love for the job. So after two degrees which took 6 years to complete, I started a job that I loved for 7 years, after the changes, I hated it, but the $'s were good and paying my mortgage, investment properties and paid for my holidays to Thailand, now retired 8 years, pay no taxes and live off my investments. So in the end, if you can find a job you love and it pays very well, then all and good, that's probably 10% of the workforce, if you can't, then your in the 90% who work to survive, unless you hate your job as I did, but get paid very well and use that money to invest so that you can self retire early as I did at 55 as opposed to being part of the slave trade till you reach 67 to get the age pension and live a miserable existence back home. The above said, I do know some guys that work 6 days a week and make great coins being self employed and have investments, am I jealous, NO, why, because I am living, they are not, but each to their own, no judgement here.

was today (Oct. 12) sentenced to a maximum of 50 years in jail

Back in the day, a group of about 10 of us with big bikes, 1,000cc and upwards during winter, would ride for an hour and a half, 1st through the National Park then back onto the freeway to a place called Robertson on the south coast, just for a pie and a sausage roll. If we got there past 10am, the lines would be 6 deep and 4 wide.

1st thing you have to ask yourself is; will I become a non resident for tax purposes, or will I remain a resident for tax purposes, the latter means that you are taxed on your worldwide income. Buying property in a foreign country such as Thailand is always a risk, different structures and laws vs those in Australia, so your risk will be much higher. If you did have that kind of money, then you would be best off spending some on seeking the advice of a financial planner or watching a lot of YouTube videos, because you need to set yourself up before you make the move, whether it be an income stream, you MUST watch out for the tax complications that will follow, suffice to say any income made in Australia is taxable if you are a resident for tax purposes. On the other hand, you might buy some dividend paying shares as a non resident and as the tax is paid on them, you don't have to pay any tax, the bonus with that is there is no capital gains tax payable on any actual gains if you're lucky enough to buy stocks that do increase over time. Then you have to think about the age pension, i.e. if your sitting around for it, there is an asset threshold and as a non home owner you would just make it, i.e. you would be eligible, however on the other hand Services Australia will apply a Deeming Rate to you're assets, which would mean that your age pension will be reduced and will stay that way even when you move over here. Currently it's 0.25% on the first $60,400.00 for a single block and then it jumps to 2.25% on the balance, so if you have 10 million baht, then your pension will be reduced by $8,575.00 per year, so if the pension is $26,000 per year, you will receive $17,425.00 but there are offsets that might be able to minimise that to about $100.00 a fortnight, e.g. $2,600.00 per year less as opposed to $8,575.00 per year. You really need to seek professional advice, it will cost, or start educating yourself on the above, because without a strategy, on making an income, a tax free income, your money will just dwindle downwards. In the 8 years that I have been here, I have managed to earn about 7.65% per annum tax free on my worst year (this year), but like I said, you have to educate yourself or get a professional to provide you advice on how to receive an income stream, preferably a tax free one, but any professional advice will cost you. As the Thai's say, "up to you" ????

All I can say is that this mechanic came highly recommended, having previously worked for a large new car dealership as their head mechanic for over a decade and now has had his own very busy workshop for the last 5 years. The above said, the car dealer that I purchased the car off new wanted to replace the cylinder head, along with just about everything else, which as you know, wouldn't be required, but would cover their a$$es at my cost so to speak.

Wise words. Before going all in, you have to call their bluff, suffice to say, set up traps, bait them as the relationship is moving forward, and at any time you see red flags, then you know it's time to stop, re-evaluate, make sure it wasn't a mistake or taken the wrong way, and then move forward or get out before it's too late. I always keep my Lioness full and at the same time keep ALL of my assets/incomes separate, others say but that's not love, to which I reply, is it love when she takes everything that is yours, suffice to say, love can be an expensive loss for some. When this Lion departs, his Lioness of 16 plus very happy years will continue to have a full stomach till then end of her time and then the Lion cubs. Family, outsiders have never been an issue for us as she knows, what "we" have was built on my back and if it is to last for many decades to come, one must keep the wolves at bay, help were help is needed, lending money is only for the weak because you will never get it back, so if you're going to loan out money, make it a charity, that way you won't be let down when they don't repay you, or simply say NO, it's ok to say NO, if people talk, which they will, that's ok, as it's better than being laughed at when you loan them the money you won't ever get back.

There is a slight warp, hence the reason it has been sent off to get shaved/skimmed at a large factory that does this kind of work vs replacing the cylinder head with a new one, e.g. 30,000 baht, not that the price was an issue, it's just that the mechanic said that it wasn't bad enough to warrant a replacement. Diesel it is, hopefully all works out, I was just looking at a rough gauge in price so as to know what expect, just on the shaving/skimming of the cylinder head as I already know what a new one costs.

Would that be 1K baht ?

My bad, dyslexic, thanks for your input, but I did ask if anyone had any recent experiences with costs, guess there are too many keyboard, or should that read key bored warriors here wanting to answer everything except what one is asking.

Tell that to the ones that create wars, there is huge amounts of money in it. Not worth it to you or me because of the costs of lives, misery, heartache, devastation etc, but to others, the $'s is the only thing that matters to them, unfortunately.

Cylinder head

Anyone have any recent experiences as to the cost to shave the Cylinder Head of an engine ?

3.81% return on investment gross, less tax, outgoings, vacancy factor, agents fees, etc, etc, I would say that would bring that down to say 2.0% nett. I agree on the 2nd part of your comment. Having had over 3 decades in the coal face of property, in all facets, I wouldn't invest my money in property here, been here 8 years and from what I have seen, analysed, it's not a good investment, regardless is you live in it or lease it. While rents are a cheaper alternative, the money you money you would have laid out on your 'investment', say 22,000,000 could have been invested in other vehicles, for example; I have been earning 7.65% tax free from my investments this year, which is considered one of the worst in the 8 years that I have been investing, but am grateful, as it is a good return on money invested by me. Capital appreciation on property here is not good in my opinion, so other investments which also have no outgoings are a sound bet as far as I'm concerned.