biervoormij

I do not expect all the factors to work in my favor but this is a Thailand forum so the decrease in the value of the dollar is not something that should be skipped over. A lot of the gains in 2025 were due to the decreased value of the dollar. If you only talk about the positives and not the negatives you are only looking at half the picture. I personally don't know what will happen in 2026 but am sure of one thing. The right will ignore the negatives and only talk about the positives while the left will do just the opposite.

This is true but retired Americans living in Thailand may be severely impacted by the lower dollar and unless they are invested in the stock market may not see any benefit from a economic boom. I think I was about even for 2025. The stock market went up and the dollar went down. I just hope the dollar does not keep going down in 2026.

I believe that was a proposal but has not yet been passed. I can't anything on my searches that says it was passed.

What ID is accepted other than a Real ID and a Passport. My father does not have valid ID any longer. He does not drink so does not buy booze He does not travel He does not drive He already has bank accounts and can deposit checks without an ID. His doctor calls in his meds and I have picked them up without an ID.

As pointed out before non-citizens can get drivers license so does not resolve the issue in the US. A free national ID would fix the problem but it is a bit silly when no one seems to be able to prove massive abuse currently. Also the following webpage says "According to Analysis from the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland, nearly 21 million adult U.S. citizens do not have a current, non-expired driver's license. That’s just under 9% of the U.S. citizen adult population." https://mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2024/06/27/living-without-an-id--overcoming-barriers-

Green card was an example but this would also include anyone that has legal status in the US. People under refugee status are legal and can get a Real ID. People under student visas can get real IDs. People under temporary protected status (TPS) like all the Haitian in the US can get Real IDs. I think all US citizens should be allowed to vote but if there is an issue with non-citizens voting Real ID does not resolve the problem. If you want to stop non-productive people from voting that is another issue. I would not not mind giving up my vote since I have been non-productive since I retired.

Real ID does not address the issue. It does not prove citizenship only legal status in the US. Most green card holders have a Real ID. If people are really voting without citizenship creating a free citizenship card and that would solve the problem.

All citizens should be provided a free ID that does not require multiple hour waiting in a line that is only available during working hours first.

The man is insane. Each time he goes to Pattaya he writes about hating it but a few month later he returns. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

I was in a bar yesterday about 4 in the afternoon and there was a very confused tourist. One of the ladies tried to tell the guy that the bar would be closing at 6. I asked the guy a little later if he understood about the election and he said the reason he was so confused was because the girl had told him the the bar would be closing because of the injections.

Don't think you will get close to them from your work camp in the outback.

Doesn't work the Danes are in the west and part of Nato. You better learn to say nǐ hǎo to your new overlords.

Sounds fair. The US gets Venezuela in the western hemisphere and in exchange China gets Oz in the eastern hemisphere. China is the biggest importer from Oz so they should have it.

I think it depends on the camera setup. I went to Bangkok's Vijit Chao Phraya Light Festival and Drone Shows and think it may be the same show that was done in Pattaya. I found the drone show bright and clear but did not turn out that way on any of my pictures. I was also very disappointed with the show. I went to Bangkok specifically to see the show and did not feel it was worth the trip. I watched both the 500 drones on Friday and the 1000 drones on Saturday. If I had been in Bangkok for something else my opinion may have been different. I also saw the show when they were not doing the fireworks due to the passing of the Queen but started the fireworks again in the following weeks. I have attached one of my better pictures.

I missed your post so was surprised to see a report on YouTube today that MTV is finished.

The following report on YouTube may answer some of your questions. It says the 103 frequency was not even up for bidding.

I hope this does not happen for a few years. I have to pay taxes in my home country but the Thai tax brackets are much more aggressive. I am currently in the 10% bracket in my home country but currently would be in the 25% or 30% bracket within Thailand. If this happens I will move or start traveling for 7 months of the year outside Thailand at about the same cost as paying the Thai tax.

I agree and the idea that the TRD in 5 years may decide to go back and review my transfers is something that I find very irritating and scary, I thought after 2 years of this tax change being in place the TRD would have made things clearer but that is not the case. I am only transferring savings that was earned prior to 2024 and also prior to moving to Thailand so should not owe any tax and currently do not file a tax return. I think I can prove this but you never know in Thailand what prof they will accept.

I think you may have stopped reading after the quoted section? It goes on to blame The State of Texas for the problems. Republicans have been in control in Texas for a long time. Lefties could be destroying the electric supplies but it Texas's case it is not the lefties that are in control. Texas was just to cheap to pay for the cold weather equipment. " While some in Austin blame this problem on federal subsidies tilting the playing field towards renewable energy, the facts tell a different story. First, years before wind and solar farms proliferated in Texas, the ERCOT market design did not reward capital investment by power plant operators. Second, ERCOT is “an arm of the state,” according to the state’s highest court. ERCOT, not the federal government, controls entry to its grid. So, if wind and solar farms are a problem, they are a problem because the state let them become a problem. Finally, the state of Texas rewards gaming by allowing extreme price gouging, which has cost Texans billions of dollars." Texas is on its own grid and not a part of the national grid so is under the control of state government. From Googles AI "Texas has its own independent power grid, known as the Texas Interconnection, primarily to avoid federal oversight and regulations that apply to interstate power, a decision made in the 1930s when the Federal Power Act was passed, allowing utilities to stay within state borders to remain independent. Managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and covering most of the state, this setup allows Texas to manage its own energy market but also creates challenges during extreme weather, as it has limited ability to import significant power from other grids"

You should have received an email after you submitted it and then you will get should get another when it is approved. You can also always login again and check the status.

I agree with what you decided to do and miss paying the taxes. I think I may go a little bit less than you on the mutual funds/stock etfs and aim for 50%. I just don't want to stick a large amount of money back in the market all at once. I invested in mutual funds over a long time doing monthly dollar cost averaging so am a bit scared to make big moves. I have been doing some gain harvesting over the past few years to take some of the profits out of my mutual funds but over did it a bit this year so need to sell something or pay some tax. I don't think there is a 12% and 22% bracket for long term capital gains. I think you may be thinking about normal income tax brackets. You can take over $48,000 in long term capital gains with no taxes. Thanks for the recommendation.

Thanks for the recommendation. I think I will keep about 50% stock since I am getting older but think a lot of people that give advice would recommend that split. I have not seen any 10% CDs but would love to do that.

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't have Thai children either so that would not work for me. I would not want to be a landlord even if it is a good investment and I do not really want to bring more money into Thailand than a bit over what I need live.

Thanks for the suggestion. I am not sure that US Manufacturing is really a good investment just yet but you could be correct. I have missed other things that have soared in the past so I may just miss the boat. Do you have investments in European weapons? I would be interesting in hearing more.

How would suggest investing in gold? I do not want a physical asset and have never looked at a gold fund and know nothing about commodity trading. Thanks for the suggestion.