Do I have enough money?

[MyFriend You]

1 hour ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

You guys talk about investing, but I know that in Canada, if you are a non resident, you are absolutely not allowed to open or keep any investment accounts.

 

Is it really different in UK?

Nothing could be further from the truth.............I have many acquaintances across the border that have investment accounts in Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver.........so there must be a way around what you posted.  

[MaeJoMTB]

1 hour ago, tingtongtourist said:

do yourself a favour and listen to these guys.many them been burnt so they know.

 

my best tip:

-forget the lady and 2 kids (are you mad?)

you will forget her in 2 weeks and can afford to hire a new gf every week anyways.

Yeah, when I first came her (age 52) I thought hooking up with a 40 year old woman was a great idea.

Then I realized the 25 year old women didn't cost any more, had a lot less mileage on the clock, and came with way less baggage.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

20 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

Nothing could be further from the truth.............I have many acquaintances across the border that have investment accounts in Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver.........so there must be a way around what you posted.  

 

But are they Canadian residents?

[MyFriend You]

1 minute ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

But are they Canadian residents?

Negative they are US Citizens, the accounts have been opened for a number of years when they were temporarily posted to Canada at the US Embassies/Consulates - not resident but living in hotels.  Maybe that qualified them??  Dunno but they transfer in USD and it gets exchanged to CAN D.  I also know two families that bought apartments in Ottawa and are renting them out - they are also US Citizens. 

[dotpoom]

More than enough.

[watcharacters]

On 1/28/2018 at 8:58 PM, nopsled said:

I will inherit at some point, as things stand @£200k but that could be a while yet.  Parent age 76 in good health.  Hopefully will stay that way for many years.  I think I'm getting the picture.

 

 

 

Sorry but I can't help but feel a troll reading on my detector.

 

However,  in case I'm wrong I'd say at the age of 54 with  a potential nest egg of 360K  GBP you are cutting it short.

 

 

 

 

 

[nopsled]

10 hours ago, toughlove said:

All wasted advice. OP will still come to Thailand and donate a house to his lady that he probably met on the internet

2 years later he will be back home stacking shelves in a supermarket. Some people need to learn the hard way

No he won't.

[ericthai]

OP if I were you I would look at investing the money you have now in your home country, maybe buy a house or condo and rent it out so you have income, then move to Thailand.  I lived and worked in Thailand over 20 yrs and I've seen allot of guys come to Thailand and then have no skills to find work other than teaching English. English teachers are getting paid better than in the past but still not as good as other counties pay.  

 

Over the years I have seen many guys fall in love with Thailand want to live here but then end up broke after 1 or 2 years and end up living as cheap as possible.

 

In Thailand you as a foreigner are not allowed to own land so it would be in your GF/Wifes name and she could go to the bank and get loan on it anytime she wants. If I were you I would re-think your plans, create a good financial plan and then go from there. I wish you all the best!!

[DUS]

1 hour ago, watcharacters said:

 

However,  in case I'm wrong I'd say at the age of 54 with  a potential nest egg of 360K  GBP you are cutting it short.

 

As the OP plans / has to consider paying for an extended family, yes, I agree. If he was living on his own or had additional money coming in (active or passive income to support wife and family) I´d disagree.

Edited January 29, 2018 by DUS

[nopsled]

As i said a while back on this topic, i'm looking at plan B now. She suggested i move in with her, in the home she pays for  and supports her kids in.  I will rent out out my flat in the UK and can pool my money with hers. Not risking much as far as I can see.  If we are making it work after a couple of years maybe my cash situation will be better.

10 hours ago, toughlove said:

All wasted advice. OP will still come to Thailand and donate a house to his lady that he probably met on the internet

2 years later he will be back home stacking shelves in a supermarket. Some people need to learn the hard way

No he won't

[DUS]

2 minutes ago, nopsled said:

As i said a while back on this topic, i'm looking at plan B now. She suggested i move in with her, in the home she pays for  and supports her kids in.  I will rent out out my flat in the UK and can pool my money with hers. Not risking much as far as I can see.  If we are making it work after a couple of years maybe my cash situation will be better.

Sounds like a good idea,

 

Enjoy coming here! There´s nothing worth having that is risk free and there´s always a chance you might find what you are looking for over here. Give it a go! Good luck!

[nopsled]

4 minutes ago, DUS said:

Sounds like a good idea,

 

Enjoy coming here! There´s nothing worth having that is risk free and there´s always a chance you might find what you are looking for over here. Give it a go! Good luck!

Thank you. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by nopsled

[Aussieroaming]

On 28 January 2018 at 7:44 PM, nopsled said:

I'll have about £160k.  Everything I have.  No pension.  I can feel the heat from here!  Let the flames commence ;-)

No flames from me, but Thailand isn't cheap. I'm your age have significantly more than you and I reckon to double it again before I have enough to comfortably retire. You have to factor in inflation, travel, medical issues, circumstance changes etc etc. I ran the numbers on 48M and factoring in price increases year by year I figured out that I'd be broke by the time I was early 80's and my wife would be left to live the rest of her life in relative poverty. Maybe I was being too conservative but better to err on that side. Besides at 54 you should be in your earning prime, so keep saving and good luck. By the way my wife earns enough to cover all of our yearly outgoings and some more as it is but that could also change anytime. Don't leave yourself short. By the way I factored in never getting a pension.

[Aussieroaming]

13 hours ago, mstevens said:

This is absolutely not enough money for a 54 year old to live the rest of his days in Thailand.  You could reasonably expect to live for another 30 years or so - and quite possibly could live a lot longer.  You'll run out of money long before you run out of time - and being a broke foreigner in Thailand ain't fun!

I'm his age, I certainly hope I can squeeze more than 30 years out of the tank, at least that's what I'm planning on.

[Aussieroaming]

15 hours ago, zaZa9 said:

You do know that the law says ''Farang can never own Thai land" right?

So if you build a house with your money , its sitting on land that ( you bought ) in HER name.

Forget all types of tricky bits of paper - if a Thai wants you off THEIR land they will achieve that goal.

And Ive never seen a better incentive  for any  woman wanting rid of a man than the carrot  of automatically  "Winning" a house for her decision. To a Thai this cant possibly have been a bad decision.

Do NOT buy/build a house in someone elses name !

You will need a car living way out there  ( my obs of the bush near HH is 'hot and dry' ) and you will have relocation costs. Put the car in YOUR name - you can. Watch  out carefully to see  if she tries to guide or misinform you on this ( or the house ). 

Then on top of all that - two kids ...

Sheez , the country is full of attractive women without them ...

 

 Anyway ...

I sincerely advise other Aus men that $800 k  aud ( 400k pounds ) at age 60 is a minimum to have behind them and retire here  pre-65.

Up to you ,  the 'live off your UK rent' idea will be very  tight ... but possible.

At least you'll know if she really likes you , or was just hoping for money ...lol.

 

But good luck !

And that 800k is skinny if you live a long life :)

[DUS]

2 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

And that 800k is skinny if you live a long life :)

You mean, like 100+?

[Thaiverymuch]

Hiya nopsled, here’s some figures for you too number crunch.
Firstly, I personally think you will be spending too much on a house at £60k. You can build a 3 bed for 1.5฿mil. Leaving you 130k to live on. When you retire probably at 67 in 2031 on average state pension of £122 per week providing you have paid your NI stamps. This will give you £528 23,300฿ per month. I think you could be comfortable on 30-40฿k but like other replies if you become ill & hospitalised your monthly budget could go in a week!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Aussieroaming]

8 minutes ago, DUS said:

You mean, like 100+?

no, I recon 800k would be pretty much burned in less than 20 years if it was me. Factor in inflation, poor interest rates on term deposits, travel, medical, etc and the pot empties pretty quickly. Don't forget that the spouse might live longer...so you have to keep that in mind too. As I said, maybe I'm too conservative, but I would hate to find out at 80 that I'm healthy but broke, because 80 is too old to go back to work, where as 54 year olds should be raking in the money while they are fit and able. Just my personal thoughts, some people can obviously live cheaper than me.

[Aussieroaming]

11 minutes ago, Thaiverymuch said:

Hiya nopsled, here’s some figures for you too number crunch.
Firstly, I personally think you will be spending too much on a house at £60k. You can build a 3 bed for 1.5฿mil. Leaving you 130k to live on. When you retire probably at 67 in 2031 on average state pension of £122 per week providing you have paid your NI stamps. This will give you £528 23,300฿ per month. I think you could be comfortable on 30-40฿k but like other replies if you become ill & hospitalised your monthly budget could go in a week!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Even if he built at your cost, how much for the land?

[Aussieroaming]

Just now, Aussieroaming said:

Even if he built at your cost, how much for the land?

 

13 minutes ago, Thaiverymuch said:

Hiya nopsled, here’s some figures for you too number crunch.
Firstly, I personally think you will be spending too much on a house at £60k. You can build a 3 bed for 1.5฿mil. Leaving you 130k to live on. When you retire probably at 67 in 2031 on average state pension of £122 per week providing you have paid your NI stamps. This will give you £528 23,300฿ per month. I think you could be comfortable on 30-40฿k but like other replies if you become ill & hospitalised your monthly budget could go in a week!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And your 30 to 40k per month might be doable now but what is the buying power of 30k per month in 20 years time? I would imagine it to be very much eroded by then.

[khunPer]

On 1/28/2018 at 1:58 PM, nopsled said:

I'm 54 years old and if I build said house i would have about £100k left.  She has 2 children, one leaving home soon.  I know it depends how i invest/spend the money, but she is hard working and pretty frugal I think, so would you say this is realistic or am i a long way off here?

I'm answering without reading 6 pages of presumably good suggestions, but replying based on my own experience only – I moved to LoS at age 56, build a house, and I try to manage from whats left of savings and a small retirement government pension – I'm by the way from Scandinavia.

 

If you have nothings else than £100k and expect to live from the dividend only, you can safely count approximately 3% after taxation, when invested in secure bonds or solid dividend paying stocks; i.e. £3,000 a year, which is about 135,000 baht a year. Invested in dividend paying stocks the market value increase, and thereby higher dividend over time, which might equal inflation or even become a plus. Over very long term stocks generate in average 6-7% annually (including paid dividend).

 

That's about 11,000 baht a month, and that's not enough for even a very modest life-style, looked through European glasses. But you can use of your initial capital, some 4.5 million baht, and calculate expected life-time, including some dividend or interest from the savings, which outcome will be less-and-less the more capital is used; however if you expect to pass the age of 90 and count that the money shall last for another 40-years, you'll have an average of ca. 112.000 baht a year, so better counting on living from the dividend only.

 

You say in another post that you might inherit around £200k at some point, which of course will change your situation, as your initial £100k shall only last until a realistic time until the inheritance can be paid; is that 15 or 20-years ahead..?

 

Normally the Immigration Office require an annual income in the level of 400k baht a year or 40k bah each month for a foreigner married to a Thai (supporting his family), which is not that way out. So your £100k or 4.5 million baht will last for a little longer than 10-years, when taking dividend/interest into consideration. And mind you, that you still have a risk of currency exchange rates, and that you shall only place the funds in something fairly safe. You could of course move savings to Thailand and invest them here –which is actually quite Okay, I talk from experience – and eliminate exchange rate fluctuation.

 

Having a paid for house you need to account for electric usage, water (if not private well) and eventually gas for cooking, which can be from some 2,000 baht a month and up. Furthermore an Internet connection for not less than 500 baht. Health insurance for yourself, as when checking out you may loose anything from home. The cheapest available will costs you from something like 1,500 baht a month. Count 500 baht a day for food and basic living-expenses for a family of three; i.e. 15,000 baht a month. Transportation, clothes, various extras – a kid in school? – etc. easily comes from 5,000 to 10,000 a month. So from around 30,000 baht a month it's possible; i.e. your £100k can last 13 to 15 years.

 

However you'll also need to set some money aside for maintenance of your house, as things may not last as long as you are used to from home – I talk from experience – already after five years you'll begin to find the first stuff to be maintained or replaced. When living on a limited budget, even "small" unforeseen expenses of 20,000 to 50,000 baht can hurt (a lot).

 

To obtain a visa, and later annual extensions of stay based on marriage, you'll need to prove an income similar to 40k baht a month, or holding a deposit of 400k baht in a Thai bank; in your situation it must be the last option. The deposit only need to stay in the bank for three month before you apply for an annual extension, but might be a better option with a 12-month fixed account and just cash the interest, at the moment you can typically get 1.5% minus 15% withholding tax; i.e. 5,100 baht.

 

Count on setting fund aside in a dedicated "rainy day account", so you always have instant access to a certain level of cool cash, for example with an ATM-card. The level is a question of individual possibilities, but I would presume never less than 100k baht. You could make it a shared account with your wife, which in case something happens to you – can be an accident – gives her immediately access to some funds; but it's however a question of thrust.

 

I noticed you didn't say "wife", and the above I quoted is based on marriage – if you're not married, and do not plan marriage – your extension will be based on retirement, and your deposit then 800k baht. I'm for example not married to my GF, so I use the retirement-extension.

 

When I first time dreamed about moving to Thailand, or rather believed I could do it, I was planning with 1.6 million DKK, about 8 million baht. However I would leave the 1 million DKK at home and gain interest from mortgage bonds – the Danish system is very stable, and at that time it would generate 5% pa. or about 20k baht a month – and the remaining 3 million baht I would use for a home, ca. 1 million baht; another million for a business set-up a (now ex) Thai GF could take care of and generate additionally 10k-20k baht a month from; and the last million baht for buying a car, and whatever I needed to move and buy for establishing a home in LoS. Today, in the glorious shining light of hindsigt, I can see that I shall be happy I ended up with some more savings before I moved; and years later I even have a small government pension on top, that makes it an Okay, but still for many expats an "modest", life-style (at least in the area I live).

 

Yes, it can be done, but it may not be as easy as dreaming about it...

I wish you good luck...

 

 

Edited January 29, 2018 by khunPer
Spelling

[nopsled]

8 minutes ago, khunPer said:

I'm answering without reading 6 pages of presumably good suggestions, but replying based on my own experience only – I moved to LoS at age 56, build a house, and I try to manage from whats left of savings and a small retirement government pension – I'm by the way from Scandinavia.

 

If you have nothings else than £100k and expect to live from the dividend only, you can safely count approximately 3% after taxation, when invested in secure bonds og solid dividend paying stocks; i.e. £3,000 a year, which is about 135,000 baht a year. Invested in dividend paying stocks the market value increase, and thereby higher dividend over time, which might equal inflation or even become a plus. Over very long term stocks generate in average 6-7% annually (including paid dividend).

 

That's about 11,000 baht a month, and that's not enough for even a very modest life-style, looked through European glasses. But you can use of your initial capital, some 4.5 million baht, and calculate expected life-time, including some dividend or interest from the savings, which outcome will be less-and-less the more capital is used; however if you expect to pass the age of 90 and count that the money shall last for another 40-years, you'll have an average of ca. 112.000 baht a year, so better counting on living from the dividend only.

 

You say in another post that you might inherit around £200k at some point, which of course will change your situation, as your initial £100k shall only last until a realistic time until the inheritance can be paid; is that 15 or 20-years ahead..?

 

Normally the Immigration Office require an annual income in the level of 400k baht a year or 40k bah each month for a foreigner married to a Thai (supporting his family), which is not that way out. So your £100k or 4.5 million baht will last for a little longer than 10-years, when taking dividend/interest into consideration. And mind you, that you still have a risk of currency exchange rates, and that you shall only place the funds in something fairly safe. You could of course move savings to Thailand and invest them here –which is actually quite Okay, I talk from experience – and eliminate exchange rate fluctuation.

 

Having a paid for house you need to account for electric usage, water (if not private well) and eventually gas for cooking, which can be from some 2,000 baht a month and up. Furthermore an Internet connection for not less than 500 baht. Health insurance for yourself, as when checking out you may loose anything from home. The cheapest available will costs you from something like 1,500 baht a month. Count 500 baht a day for food and basic living-expenses for a family of three; i.e. 15,000 baht a month. Transportation, clothes, various extras – a kid in school? – etc. easily comes from 5,000 to 10,000 a month. So from around 30,000 baht a month it's possible; i.e. your £100k can last 13 to 15 years.

 

However you'll also need to set some money aside for maintenance of your house, as things may not last as long as you are used to from home – I talk from experience – already after five years you'll begin to find the first stuff to be maintained or replaced. When living on a limited budget, even "small" unforeseen expenses of 20,000 to 50,000 baht can hurt (a lot).

 

To obtain a visa, and later annual extensions of stay based on marriage, you'll need to prove in income similar to 40k baht a month, or holding a deposit of 400k baht in a Thai bank; in your situation it must be last option. The deposit only need to stay in the bank for three month before you apply for an annual extension, but might be a better option with a 12-month fixed account and just cash the interest, at the moment you can typically get 1.5% minus 15% withholding tax; i.e. 5,100 baht.

 

Count on setting fund aside in a dedicated "rainy day account", so you always have instant access to a certain level of cool cash, for example with an ATM-card. The level is a question of individual possibilities, but I would presume never less than 100k baht. You could make it a shared account with your wife, which in case something happens to you – can be an accident – gives her immediately access to some funds; but it's however a question of thrust.

 

I noticed you didn't say "wife", and the above I quoted is based on marriage – if you're not married, and do not plan marriage – your extension will be based on retirement, and you deposit then 800k baht. I'm for example not married to my GF, so I use the retirement-extension.

 

When I first time dreamed about moving to Thailand, or rather believed I could do it, I was planning with 1.6 million DKK, about 8 million baht. However I would leave the 1 million DKK at home and gain interest from mortgage bonds – the Danish system is very stable, and at that time it would generate 5% pa. or about 20k baht a month – and the remaining 3 million baht I would use for a home, ca. 1 million baht; another million for a business set-up a (now ex) Thai GF could take care of and generate additionally 10k-20k baht a month from; and the last million baht for buying a car, and whatever I needed to move and buy for establishing a home in LoS. Today, in the glorious shining light of hindsigt, I can see that I shall be happy I ended up with some more savings before I moved; and years later I even have small government pension on top, that makes it an Okay, but still for many expats an "modest life-style" (at least in the area I live).

 

Yes, it can be done, but it may not be as easy as dreaming about it...

I wish you good luck...

 

 

Thank you. I appreciate the detailed reply.

[DUS]

12 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

no, I recon 800k would be pretty much burned in less than 20 years if it was me. Factor in inflation, poor interest rates on term deposits, travel, medical, etc and the pot empties pretty quickly. Don't forget that the spouse might live longer...so you have to keep that in mind too. As I said, maybe I'm too conservative, but I would hate to find out at 80 that I'm healthy but broke, because 80 is too old to go back to work, where as 54 year olds should be raking in the money while they are fit and able. Just my personal thoughts, some people can obviously live cheaper than me.

 As you rightly point out, everything´s quite subjective in terms of how much someone "needs" to live / to live comfortably / to survive. But the 800k AUD was originally mentioned for a single person of 60+ years as the bare minimum to retire in LOS. That´s over 20mn Baht. Whilst you say that you burn that amount of money in less than 20 years, personally, I wouldn´t consider 1mn per year the bare minimum to live in TH. But yes, piece of string etc bla bla bla.... :-)

[Aussieroaming]

15 minutes ago, DUS said:

 As you rightly point out, everything´s quite subjective in terms of how much someone "needs" to live / to live comfortably / to survive. But the 800k AUD was originally mentioned for a single person of 60+ years as the bare minimum to retire in LOS. That´s over 20mn Baht. Whilst you say that you burn that amount of money in less than 20 years, personally, I wouldn´t consider 1mn per year the bare minimum to live in TH. But yes, piece of string etc bla bla bla.... :-)

Agree 100% in principle about 1M being suitable now. However add yearly inflation and in 20 years that 1 Mill needed becomes 2 or 3 mill and if you don't generate enough interest or income to offset the inflation you end up in a world of hurt. 

[473geo]

Lifestyle choice is a major factor - by way of example

 

Take a guy who rents a home at 10k baht a month, pays electric for air con, eats out mostly western food, drinks 3 - 5 beers a day,

He Is possibly 18 -20k baht per month outlay above a guy with a paid for modest home, no air con, eats for example Thai food and homegrown fruit, doesn't drink alcohol.

[denby45]

9 hours ago, MaeJoMTB said:

Hargreaves Lansdown, the only straight players in town, and can all be done completely online.

http://www.hl.co.uk/

 

PS. You have to state you are living in the UK to open an account (but they don't check).

I am well aware of Hargreaves Lansdown. I was asking the names of the brokers he says can arrange Discounted Placings.

 

 

Thanks anyway

 

 

Den

[JAZZDOG]

12 hours ago, suzannegoh said:

Someone is bound to criticize this calculation because it's "milk maids math" but it has been a decent rule of thumb for stock & bond investors over the better part of the last century. Take your total amount of savings and multiply it by 4 percent. If your annual living expenses during retirement will be less than that, then you are ready to retire. 

I've read that but it is pretty useless in todays economy. It basically cuts your assets into 25 years and everyone lives to 87 ? Here is the best calculator I have run across, not complicated and you can exchange data to come up with something near reality. Deal is having a passive business, rental income is what it is all about.

A million invested conservatively in the US might make you $40K per year, not much! My CDB in Brazilian banks average 9-12% currently, up to 14% two years ago.

People say "Brazil, that's scary" but fact is Brazil owns a good chunk of the US debt plus natural resources that would be difficult to piss away. But anyway my point is living in Thailand having a family business making a mere THB$ 1.2M / year equates to having US$ 1M in a US bank. Cash flow is much better than cash these days. The 4% rule is really funds you can add each year once you calculate your retirement income. Try this calculator:

 https://financialmentor.com/calculator/best-retirement-calculator

[mettech]

Love is strong but be careful and take calculated chances and keep money for the future if she has a house move in and if not rent one and you will see what it will go.

Good luck .

[nopsled]

1 minute ago, mettech said:

Love is strong but be careful and take calculated chances and keep money for the future if she has a house move in and if not rent one and you will see what it will go.

Good luck .

Thanks for that mettech.  Is that 172? :-)

[zaZa9]

10 hours ago, Aussieroaming said:

And that 800k is skinny if you live a long life :)

Yes , Ive been here 10 years ,  from age 50 ,  but  that  reserve has diminished only about $50k , all in the initial stage of relocating , buying a truck and having a darn good year or 2 as a single man.

Its stayed up pretty well  because of the somewhat peculiar situation wherein  Aus has delivered consistently good super and bank interest rates compared to most of the countries my expat neighbours are from.

But unlike the Brits , I wont automatically receive an aged pension Im due at 65. Since Ive been here the Aus government has decided to punish expats by demanding they return home ( and  probably further burden the Aus economy )  for TWO years before they will 'grant' us our pensions that we paid tax toward all our lives..

I certainly dont live the high life in my current relatively expensive ( for Thailand ) location. I  live on 70k to 80k a month and I guess its something like a 'middle' Middle Class  Thai existence. I havent got a Villa  or  even a pool where I rent   ( but its a nice house and spot , with great beaches )  ,  I dont do brunch at any resort , and the price of golf here precludes me dropping $100 aud a game. ( Simply because I live within my means and that seems like a lot.)  And my Thai lady works. 

I do travel a bit because I like it , but its  all S.E. Asia and 3 star hotels or g/hses.

And we eat and drink very well..

But once I factor in a trip or 2 home , health insurance , and running a coupla bikes and a truck , I cant get my budget less than 70k.

 

I take my hat off to those who can live on 50k !