Mike Teavee

Double Post... @OrinocoI don't want to get into a willie waving contest so let's just leave it at I spend my money how I choose to & you spend yours how you choose to... We're both right ????

BT BTW I retired for the 1st time at 40, 2nd time at 47 & 3rd (Final) time at 53... I'm 56 now... time for a nap...

Nothing to do with laziness, simply have better things to do with my time... I.e. enjoying my hard earned retirement. One day you'll (hopefully) get there, in the mean time, that hedge could do with a bit of a trim & make sure you bone up on the latest EPC reqs...

And personally I have the correct funds but use an agent to do all the paperwork for me (Hence it only costs me 8K) so can you please tell me what's wrong with doing that? I use an estate agent in the UK to manage my property I use an accountant in the UK to file my Tax Returns I use a gardener in the UK to mow my lawns... What is having money for if not to make your life easier...

"Up Country Boonie Rates"? I'm quoting Bangkok Rates (Sorry exaggerated a little it's 7,900 THB in Bangkok, 8,000 now I've moved to Wong Amat) Up to you what you do but personally I have more respect for guys who are honest & admit they can't afford to leave 800K in the bank than I do for people who claim to be able to but choose not to...

22K a year, you're overpaying by approx 9.5K (Unless you're on a Non Imm OA & also object to having Health Insurance in which case you're only overpaying by 7K). I pay my agent 8K pa (includes the 1,900 THB immigration fee) to do my extension... Well worth it to me but then again I don't care about leaving 800K in the bank as I believe in keeping 2 years spending money at hand to ride out dips in the stock market / exchange rates...

I think it's been recommended on here before but just wanted to say that I'm 1/2 way through "The Man Who Fell to Earth" & it's excellent... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10758074/ Also thanks to the guys who recommended I stick with Blacklist Season 9 - Another excellent series which I ended up binge watching over a couple of days, much better than Season 8 & seems to be teeing up for a Season 10.

yes, definitely need to take inflation into consideration so would need to drawdown a lot less than 4% during periods of high inflation. I was a saver since getting out of debt at 29 & retired for the 1st time at 40 (2nd time at 48 & 3rd/final time at 53) & agree with previous comments that it’s hard to break the cycle to become a net spender but you can’t take it with you so might as well enjoy at least some of it whilst you can (NB I don’t have kids so am not worried about leaving a legacy but can see how some guys would want to pass on as much as they can to help with their kids lives).

It’s also true that the backtesting on the 4% model was only done on US Markets & assumed a 30 year draw down period… Funny enough I watched a YT video yesterday that covered this…

Nothing wrong with living off of savings as long as you know that you have enough to live on & wont run out. I’m 56 & my pensions don’t kick in until I’m 60 but I didn’t want to wait so retired at 53 & have more than enough savings to tide me over until I’m 60 even if I didn’t receive income from UK property/stock market which I treat as “Bonuses” rather than relying on them as income as a tenant could leave & rental income dries up or a stock might not pay a dividend (in 2020 Barclays cancelled its dividend the day before it was due to be paid). So far this year these “Bonuses” have paid me 35K THB more than the approx 690K THB Ive spent but am expecting that I’ll end the year with around 200-250k THB less in my bank accounts than I started with which is approx 1/6th of what I budgeted to spend so don’t believe I have a problem.

Can’t seem to pay at all using Bangkok Bank, the only PEA I can find is… And the PEA site won’t accept my MasterCard (I don’t know my online banking details as I only ever use the mobile app). Oh well, at least with the PEA app I can see how much the bill is & get the GF to pay it if I’m travelling.

Doesn’t seem to work with the Bangkok Bank mobile app (Barcode & QR code come back as invalid) so I get the GF to pay & xfer the money. She uses the customer number (QR/Barcode don’t work for her bank either) but I tried that with the 1st bill we got when we moved in (I think it was only something like a 40thb) & the payment seemed to be taken but not registered on my next bill so haven’t tried again. Can you confirm that your able to pay your PEA bill using the QR/Barcode & if so what bank do you use? NB I never had a problem with my Electric bill in Bangkok & have no problem paying the Condo Water bill it’s only the PEA bill that I’m having this problem with. Edit: tried using the QR/Barcode from the PEA app & both come back on the Bangkok Bank app with…

Bonifacio Global City (Taguig) - I looked at moving there for work about 4 years ago & the condos were comparable in terms of quality & price to Singapore. Very clean/livable area unlike the majority of the rest of Metro Manila (Though Makati isn't too bad). I ended up not making the move as it was overall more expensive for me to live/work there than Singapore due to lower salaries (based on grade maximums working for a US Bank) + higher taxation... Bangkok was exactly the same which is why I laugh when people say it's more expensive to live in Singapore than Bangkok... It's not if you're working.

Blacklist Season 9 (Netflix), have watched the 1st episode & on the fence a little but will give it a couple more.

My mate was introduced to his wife by the families but free to decide whether to marry her or not (she’s lovely & a fabulous cook so he did very well for himself). His 2 sons met their spouses at Uni so no influence from the families..

I doubt it + the GF is telling me you have to have an account with Krung Thai bank to use it.

Get it on the day at the branch in the basement at CW (they will know exactly what you need as they do 100s per day). Use Wise to do the transfer & select “Funds for Longterm Living in Thailand” as the reason for the transfer. NB I’m assuming your with Bangkok Bank, if not then please advise which Bank you’re with so can confirm 1) That they have a branch at CW & 2) you’re not limited to 50,000 THB per transfer with Wise (only to Bangkok Bank & 2 others are you able to send more than 50,000…). Edit to add pic…

I caught up with my mate & his wife (both British by birth of Indian Heritage) on my last UK trip & the wife was saying how bad she felt because they could only have 150 guests at their youngest sons wedding, there were >400 guests at the elder son’s wedding pre-Covid. It was eye watering how much he spent on them, Indian Weddings really are big business if you can get them.

Last August (Thread about it here unfortunately the official announcement quoted in the thread is no longer available... My post was in reply to the sub-topic that had developed about people using agents & relevant to the post that I quoted & several others prior to that... If it was OT then simply report it to a Mod & ask for it to be removed. Sorry it wasn't in direct response to the OPs query but I figured he'd been given all the information that he needed so no need for me to repeat it. Now can you enlighten me as to how your post relates to the OP & when you got granted the power to decide who can post what....

Nam's taxi service https://www.namstaxiladydrivers.com/ nice cars, good/safe drivers & the 1,000 THB includes the expressway tolls To book email them at [email protected] - Very efficient service & good communication.

I also use an Agent for convenience (use the 800K in the Bank method) and it should be obvious which office they're doing the extension at as you have to be present when it's being done.... I wouldn't go near an Agent that told me I didn't have to turn up at Immigration on the day. For Bangkok I used to use Asia Visa Tour (Suk Soi24) & they were very clear that they couldn't/wouldn't help me unless I could meet the financial requirements for the extension - cost was 7.900 THB (included the 1,900 THB fee), last time I was in & out of CW within 30 minutes (including getting the letter from the Bank) & was able to do the extension 44 days in advance despite CW only seeing people whos extension was due within 3 days at that time.

555 I saw that YT Video & thought <deleted>! Has he never heard of Wongamat?!!? Joking aside Last month I did a 5 day stay in Pratumnak to see if I could live there & all of the Condos that I was interested in (I need 2br 2bth) were on the other side of Kasetsin Road from the places that I might hang out (Soi 5 / Dongtan Beach etc...) & to get between the 2 you seem to have to go all the way up to the foot of Buddha Hill & back down Soi 5 & much though I love to walk, I would get bored with doing that pretty quickly. Must admit that I don't have my own transport & have no plans to get any, guys that do have are very happy living around there & I can see the attraction.

With Bangkok Bank all reports I have seen say that you need to go to your original branch to get a new/replacement debit card so might be easier to open a new account in Phuket.

A lot of Condos have a management office where you can just turn up & ask what available units they have but some (e.g. the Rhythm Condos in Bangkok) insist you make an appointment to view via an agent. Having an agent costs you nothing & you're free to switch to a different agent if you see a unit you like with them or if you like your Agent they can act as co-agent with the other agent (This is what mine did for me, in fact she was the one who actually found the unit once we'd narrowed down the building we wanted to be in & the unit type, prior to this she'd showed us around units in every building we were interested in within the 1st 2 days). I find... https://www.thailand-property.com/ to be the best overall site for searching for condos (I think it's the same site as https://www.dotproperty.co.th/en/condos-for-rent ) https://www.fazwaz.com/ has the best pictures/video tours but their prices typically higher (for the same unit) than other sites https://www.hipflat.com/ the best site when searching for a unit in a particular condo building ... you're free to offer whatever you think is a good price on any of the sites or via an agent. Choice of internet is typically limited to the ISP(s) that provide a service to that condo block but if you're favorite ISP provides a service to the block then you're free to use them). A good agent can really help you find the right place so if you can share the area(s) you're looking for you might get recommendations for local agents (I'm in Wongamat & mine is Som from Ocean Properties https://pattaya-ocean-properties.com/ highly recommended). Edit: Sorry forgot to add, also check on Facebook marketplace for condos as they're are sometimes some great deals on there.

NI contributions have nothing to do with the NHS (They do affect your state pension which is why I pay NI AVCs). After a period (IIRC 3 months) of being not "Ordinarily Resident" in the UK you're not entitled to free treatment unless you are returning to be "Ordinary Resident" in which case you're entitled to treatment on the NHS even if you've spent decades living abroad and paid no NI/Tax. https://www.expatnetwork.com/uk-citizen-living-abroad-can-i-get-free-nhs-healthcare-when-visiting-the-uk/#:~:text=When you move abroad on,ordinarily resident in the UK. When you move abroad on a permanent basis, you are no longer automatically entitled to medical treatment under normal NHS rules. This is because the NHS is a residence-based healthcare system. Hospital treatment in England is free to people classed as ordinarily resident in the UK. Thus it not dependent on nationality, payment of UK taxes, National Insurance (NI) contributions, being registered with a GP, having an NHS Number or owning property in the UK.