4MyEgo

From my understanding of reading the legislation, it is not cut and dry, however states that short trip overseas are allowed and the pension could be stopped while absent, and the time away doesn't stop the clock on the 2 years. The above said, I would say 4 weeks, similar to annual leave should be ok. I intend to do it once a year at the moment and have the family come over once a year (6 months intervals) because getting them here with the kids means they can spend say 8 weeks during the long school holidays (March) vs me only allowed to go over for short breaks (work & Centrelink), so I would go over in October when they have the smaller school holiday break of I believe it's 10 days. But always clear it with Centrelink before going so as to clear up any potential problems as they can put it in their system, e.g. Brian called and advised going overseas for a holiday on such and such a date and will be returning on such and such a date. Payment may be suspended for short overseas absences during the 2-year period and does not have to be reclaimed on return to Australia. A short absence from Australia (as long as the person is still classed as an Australian resident) will not impact on the end date of the 2-year period (i.e. the absence still counts towards the person's 2-year period). https://guides.dss.gov.au/social-security-guide/7/1/4

I would have thought by providing them both, e.g. so they could see that you transferred 800,000 from your account to the fixed account and had a good balance in the everyday one which is accessible is enough. The above said, I will just transfer 800,000 out of my account and put it in a fixed term account for 12 months and earn the interest, immigration can see my other account with the 800,000 in it and use that one for their purposes. It's just stupid in my opinion, because all fixed term accounts are accessible, you just lose the interest if you pull the money out before maturity.

What I was referring to is a fixed term deposit with 800,000 baht in it that is not accessible until the 12 month term has matured, therefore rendering one the say 2% interest less tax upon maturity. The above said, also having an account with another bank for day to day living expenses, accessible everyday of an equal or close enough amount. The term deposit would be to earn the interest whilst the other earns basically nothing because it's not a term deposit, it's an everyday account earning a pittance, whilst you use it for your daily living expenses.

What if you have one account with the fixed 800,000 baht with one bank earning interest and another account with say an equal amount accessible daily ?

Tax free, I don't think so, as I just did a calculation on their website and that means the bank pays the tax on the interest you earned taking out of the money your earned. I don't know where you obtained the rate of 2.75% for the 2 years, but if they were paying that, it would go like this, e.g. 6,600 baht on your 800,000 x 2.75% = 22,000 baht per year x 2 years = 44,000, take away the tax of 6,600 and your left with 37,400 baht net to you. The real rate would therefore be 2.35%. I don't know how that stacks up to other banks, but perhaps others here who have term deposits can further explain what they are achieving and if the tax is taken out upon maturity. It's still better than a kick in the teeth, might do one myself, however I can only see Kasikorn Bank offering 2% for that amount of baht.

That's hilarious, wouldn't be a bad idea for a certain airline, no names mentioned (AA) to refund me my money for 4 tickets from a year ago after cancelling my flight.

I live about 20 minutes from the local town which has basically everything one needs, i.e. Lotus and Big C, hardware stores, motor registry, schools and public hospitals etc etc, the later not for me. Udon is an hours drive, Makro, Central and private hospitals that I would visit when need be. I make it a day out, first to Central for lunch in the food court, a short walk around and then onto Makro once a month.

It's form 22 on the immigration's website, page 3, you can download it from there. There is no TM number. https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?page_id=3202

In short no, however the onus is on you to prove to them that you are separated, a statutory declaration can be proof as its a true declaration ???? Yep, they would currently get $802 per fortnight in Oz currently, all up vs $971.50 currently, all up, pension as you would be aware goes up on 20th September and then in March of every year, so declaring your single and don't have a partner is key to get the single rate.

All you have to do is the 2 years then you qualify providing you meet the assets and income test. Olan before hand with your story, e.g. if married, I came back to Australia 2 years ago after I separated with my wife, that's why I transferred from the Marriage extension to the Retirement extension as you can't remain on the marriage extension or you will be making a false declaration and be deported. I am on still good terms with my separated partner as we have kids, I provided her the opportunity to return to Oz for the kids, but she wouldn't have it, so I left, but will see my kids when I go over for a holiday, that said, I have worked for the past 2 years because I need to survive and also provide for my kids yiatta yiatta yiatta, and if they ask why don't you divorce, well, it costs $1,000 and that money can be used on the kids. If your not married, don't mention it, if you are, you will have an issue, so best to say your separated.

I am advised by friends to get it paid into an Aussie account and transfer it when required or when the rate is up, that way you control things and Wise is the cheapest by far and offers a good rate.

I believe the jail term for most would be expressed in the COST factor to remain there for that period. I agree with your post in every aspect, that said, I will fly in my family in March of both years for 8 weeks during school holidays in Thailand and I will return to Thailand for 2 weeks in October. The change will be pleasant as long as I keep busy, go for my beach walks, weekend trips around the harbour and foreshore areas, catching up with mates etc. Working to survive there won't bother me as I was a mule once upon a time.

You only lose any rental assistance and the Energy allowance, the annual Supplement of $707.20 remains. As of two days ago it was $998.70 paid into a mates Australian Bank account who resides here in Thailand. It is going up on the 20th this month, as it goes up every March and September, you can work out the conversion rate, suffice to say if you used today's wise rate @ You send exactly AUD 0 AUD PayID fee 7.47 AUDOur fee – 7.47 AUDTotal fees = 991.23 AUDTotal amount we’ll convert × 22.9694Guaranteed rate (33h) Recipient gets THB You could save up to 18.94 AUD Should arrive in seconds x that x 2 and you have 45,535.92 THB

What are you on about sunshine.

Cheap Charlie indeed, you see some 17 years back over dinner one night at a restaurant in my home country, I said to my Thai girlfriend at the time who was from Issan, now my wife, who was holidaying with me at the time. How much do you want for Sin Sot, she said, oh, you know about Thai culture, I said a little, she said; up to you, I said no, come on, how much, she said ok, a million baht, I said, no way, too much, she said with a smile on her face, ok, up to you then, I said 200k baht, she said, up to you, ok, I said hang on, 200k will be for your parents and 300k will be for your twins who were 2 at the time. She had that dumb Thai look on her face, and I swear if she wasn't as pretty as she was, I would have slapped her. I repeated, 200k is for mum and dad, 300k baht is for the boys education, it will go in your bank account and no one will touch it, not even you without me knowing, she was starting to chock up and I told her to cut it out and of course the 500k could be shown at the wedding for face. She still has at least 150k baht of that money in the bank. Her parents have not asked me for one baht all these years and they are poor. My sister in law asked my wife if she could loan her 300k baht for her Sin Sot because her husband, now X only gave 200k baht and she wanted to match her sisters Sin Sot, so I accommodated her request and got the 300k baht back straight after the wedding. At the end of the day, it all boils down to ones financial position and how much they are prepared to put forward or lose as others would say. Since then she's had a big house built on her land, a nice car and all the other things that go in a marriage, that said, she's still a plain village girl who counts every baht and doesn't break my balls asking me for money, and of course takes real good care of me, so there are some real gems out there that are worth their weight in gold, just have to filter through them and their families, too bad there are a lot of Cheap Charlie's about, not being one to judge of course

I also don't have to go back, but the thought of 50k baht a month from the government vs out of my pocket for the next 10 years, i.e. say 6,000,000 baht or $270,000 sounds better to me, besides that will be more money for the family when I depart. I don't mind returning to work for 2 years to qualify for the pension, I would look at it as a working holiday, besides been sitting on my rear for 8 years here living off of my investments and looking for opportunities at the same time, all tax free of course. Weekends would do things that I never could before because I was working 6/7th's of my life, sometimes 7 days a week. To not work for those 2 years would not be feasible as it would take at least 4 years to re-coupe the outlay, but the bike with panniers sounds great.

That would be 40c more than I would have had. You worry to much, no one can predict things that far in advance, so why worry, the aim is to get to the finish line, and what comes in, comes in. A top investment strategist has predicted the Australian dollar will drop to a record-low of US 40 cents in as soon as five years, as the world begins to enter a global recession.

Money/assets stay in Oz. Assets one could say could be transferred to family members with caveats ????

It was originally for the less fortunate, the ones who ended up with pretty much nothing, then they brought in super to take the burden off the government, but it is still welfare, and if you qualify under the assets and income test, then as you say, complete those applications, and are approved, your all and good. I have a mate who is spewing that his 82 year old dad isn't getting it. I said, his principal place of residence i.e. exempt (worth about 2 mil), his investment property is over the single pensioners asset threshold of about $308,000 as it's worth around $800,000 and his income is about $800 per week which is over the income threshold of $204 per fortnight, so he misses out. He could sell his house and move into his investment property I said, i.e. if he is struggling to survive on say $500 from his investment property after say $300 in deductions, (being overly generous). In this scenario I would say the government got it right, there has to be thresholds on assets and income, and if your smart enough and play the game right, you can qualify, which to me suggests he wasn't smart enough to unload his property (worth 2 mil) to his kids with a caveat equal to that value and move into his investment property, or the other way around, meaning he doesn't own an investment, the kids collect the rent for him, and if the kids tried to sell it, he would get his money paid to him via the caveat. Just saying.

This won't change unfortunately because the savings to the government is a lot. If they do change anything, it might be portability, so careful what you wish for, hopefully not before our time. It is, what it is and those of us with families will suffer equally, perhaps even more than the single lads here. At the end of the day, yes it sucks, but it is what it is, so we take it on the chin, plan it out well and get it over and done with. The way I look at it is, it's on the table vs it's not, so let's do this, time flies anyways and I will have the family come over once a year during school holidays for 8 weeks and I will come to Thailand for 2-4 weeks (annual leave, working it out to be 6 months apart at each point for those 2 years, if work permits it and it's within my budget, I could also come back after 3 months for a week or two. Just got to get over the line, that said, I am better off than most, but that 50k baht a month is something of a sweetener to be had.

I don't believe so as I have 2 degrees and the industry I was in was always on the look out for people with my experience, e.g. I was constantly head hunted. The above said, I wouldn't want, let me rephrase that, I won't be going back into it as I will be looking for a stress free job, afternoon or graveyard shift would suit me, although mornings don't bother me as I am a early riser. Who knows, packing shelves for Woolworth's or Coles might be the go, or even a driver of some kind, not taxi's, been there, done that while I was doing my degrees. Naturally I will secure something before I return.

I moved here in my mid 50's eight years ago, I split my money into 3 banks as the government guarantee is limited to $250k per bank. I am a non resident for tax purposes and have the 10% withholding tax paid by the banks on interest earned paid direct to the taxman. I have a stack of shares and do not pay tax on dividends as the tax is already paid on them and some shares that I do sell, do not pay any capital gains tax on. Make sure you move the bulk of your money if you are going to claim the pension (outside of your super) as there is an asset threshold, a Deeming Rate and a 2 year jail term. The above has worked for me the past 8 years, e.g. has cost me nothing to live here, and I live a good quality life, as for capital appreciation, well, I be telling lies if I said it was good, but I am content with what I have, it's more so lifestyle and a stress free life that I was looking for and obtained, earning a decent tax free life. The above said, my assets remain in Oz, period !

Are you serious, those were the best years of my life ???? You should be dancing.....LOL

I thought about it at age 63, then the cost outweighed the thought. Dentures would be the way to go, i.e. unless your looking to impress the ladies ????

Governments reneging on promises, who would have thought ?