TroubleandGrumpy

Hopefully the airfares will soon start to drop - way too high all across SEAsia.

Yep - OAP is a right - and only an idiot would think more of their country than their own retirement.

Getting more and more work every year. Now the VIC Govt has a Minister for 'Men's Behaviour'. Yep - check it out.

Too many immigrants equals higher rents and prices. Simple economics.

Vietnam was number one - but I heard Myanmar is now number 1

Yes it is - you cannot get a $1m payout from Super and still get the DSP.

Now 60 days automatic entry no visa - as of 1 June.

Getting better and better - 24.5 at the moment - back to 30 one day??

Seems they are going to make it harder and harder - the limit is now 3 million - soon it will be 2 then 1

Dont miss the beer or the costs - or all the other khrapp

I agree - USA is great - but not if you are not willing to work hard and look after yourself (unless in California).

These days it is wise to make it look like you intend to stay. Portability can be denied if they have good reason to think that you never intended to stay in Aust and that the moment you serve the 2 years that you will leave the country.

Nah - I am grumpy and the wife is trouble - but we never complain 🙂

I have hard that etax.com.au are OK.

Aldi mobile

Yes - but with an Aust based company.

Still lucky - got things that others need - food, coal, iron ore, aluminum, uranium, etc.

Aldi mobile is best.

But you die alone with no one to look after you.

Interesting - still going on about tax residency. The OAP has had some developments. Article on the upcoming indexing changes - July indexation rates to boost some social security payments from July 1 | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site Pensioner organisation pushing to remove the income limit restrictions on Pensioners - Let’s change the pension rules - National Seniors Australia Thoughts??

There are 2 'phases' in Super in Aust. Accumulation and Pension. During 'accumulation' the Fund is paying 15% tax on all earnings across all funds in accumulation phase. During 'pension' the Fund is not paying that 15% tax. If you switch to 'pension phase' the money is not taxed and is therefore technically taxable if you are a tax resident of another country. But it is not taxable in Australia whether you are in accumulation or pension phase, or whether you are a tax resident or not. You cannot stay in accumulation phase when you turn 75 - not sure the exact rules and limits etc. Many many complications - such as proving how much tax you paid on the Super earnings (less fees and costs), because the Funds do not report on an account basis. Likewise, they will not report on any date period other than July to June. The same thing applies to ATO - and yes I have approached and formally requested both of them - denied. Under DTAs etc., the tax paid on Super earnings is deductible here - but the proving of that will be extremely hard if not impossible. IMO best to say nothing and hope that Thailand will exclude earnings that have been subjected to the taxation system of another country with which it has a DTA. After all, the rule was changed by TRD because of Thais investing overseas and not paying taxes there (not tax residents there), and then bringing it back tax free into Thailand.

Interesting times - watching Thailand as it 'adjusts' to a post-Junta Government with the massively wealthy and influential playing their power games. Add to that an economy that is sinking fast while all around it grows (excluding the other still 'Junta-occupied' Myanmar), and it is indeed an entertaining time. While those married Expats in the villages and those single one in the 'entertainment' areas dont give a rat's rear, many of us are wondering where this country is headed. I can see massive changes coming ahead - especially around the reasons for these lese-majeste laws, and I hope it happens peacefully, but it worries me that it might not go that way.

Seems to me that many Expats here dont think hard enough about what they will do when they are in their 80s. Whilst I sympathise with the Lady and understand those who support her, it does seem clear that she has not planned ahead - and now reality has hit home hard. Whatever you think of the UK Pension arrangements (and I agree they are harsh), they have been that way for a long time and she did not plan ahead. I have met many Expats here in the same position - mid-late 70s and still not planning ahead. IMO health insurance here in Thailand is a scam - at best a massive waste of money - when you make it into the 80s and are still here. While insurance is AOK in your 50s/60s, once you get to 70/75 things change - premiums skyrocket and payouts decline - because you will need more and more medical services. IMO those Expats who have the money to pay for decent health insurance, would be better off if they started in 50s or 60s to put the equivalent of an annual premium in a separate bank account - and let that build up over the years. If you think an insurance company is going to pay out 500K to 1million baht a year in your 80s, you are being delusional. Health insurance is for when you are under 70/75 and you get a sudden unexpected illness or injury. Your own savings is what you will need once you get over 70/75. Sure some claim they will continue to cover you, but the exclusions will be much greater and so will the premiums. I knew a bloke that was 80 and his annual premium quote was almost 200K - if he made 90 I reckon it would have been close to 500K.

I think I can sum up what all the woke liberals are saying :- "If we can get Trump jailed, get MAGA banned, end the electoral system, stack the SCOTUS, open the borders, ban voter IDs, censor free speech and allow all refugees to vote - then we can save Democracy."

Clinton (both), Obama, Bush (both), Biden were/are consummate experienced lying politicians with personality. Trump is an arrogant abrasive billionaire businessman with a personality that most people do not like, but who did as a POTUS (or tried to do), what he said he was going to do when campaigning (unlike all the others). The system//swamp/MSM saw him as an outsider and they attacked him relentlessly - and/or they allowed and helped the attacks to take affect (RINOs etc.) Those personal attacks caused many people to dislike him and even drove many into TDS mode. Trump is not a politician and has no idea how to lie with fake sincerity - in fact he is the opposite - a brutally honest person who says it like it is - warts and all. That approach does not endear yourself to many people, and in fact makes many people either dislike or hate you. If you want to see/learn the truth about Trump you don't listen to The View. Likewise you don't listen to Jessie Walters etc. Listen to Bill Maher - he calls it like he sees it - and being a liberal at heart, that is not an easy thing to do. When you are a conservative, you like success and understand what it takes - that is why many righties like me will actually like Obama and Clinton personally, and yet we hate their politics. Lefties are driven by their peers to both personally and politically hate conservatives - they lose their rational thinking when they do that - it is hard to think clearly and rationally about someone that you have been driven to hate does or says something.