How much money to retire in Thailand.

[amexpat]

17 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

I love Thai food.... in Canada - the Westernized version.

I loved Thai food in the USA.  Without so much sugar, salt, and palm oil.

 

The people who say you need 75-100k are usually those who say you need 600 cc motorcycle or

big truck to visit the hills around here. 

[4MyEgo]

Having read your post quickly, the single most important thing you have not mentioned  is what is your residency status going to be, because if you change your residency from Australian resident to a non resident you are going to be paying some serious tax on your rental income, i.e. 1/3 in tax from the rent with no threshold if you are a non resident, plus capital gains tax.

 

Having said the above, if you haven't looked into it, best you do and make a decision that will work in your favour, although proving your residency status is always challenging.

 

Although as a non resident if you put your money into the stock market and purchase fully franked dividends, you pay no tax and no capital gains tax on shares purchased and sold in the Australian stock market.

 

As far as your super goes, depends when you want to take it out, i.e. at 60 there is no tax payable, take it out before age 60 as a non resident, again its 1/3 in tax before age 60, so look out for that.

 

Health insurance, well if you have no pre-existing conditions, you will probably be up for 100,000 baht per year for a good policy without Medivac, that or do what most of us do and self insure, because you policy will keep going up and up and up, but its a personal choice, also know Medicare is gone after 5 years I am told, although others swear they have been still using it for years well past that, just a matter of keeping an address for the new card and someone to send it to you.

 

Voting is out the window as well, if that bothers you.

 

As far as a monthly budget, 40k baht with house and car paid off is doable for a couple, but if you want best say 50k baht to include holidays.

 

So first is first, if your going to keep the house, best get a qualified property valuer, not a real estate agent, a certified property valuer, to value your house/unit/townhouse as at the date you departed, or are departing Australia, and to put it on the high side so as to minimise your future capital gains tax, and if someone told you that you can apply for the 6 year rule, forget it, its out the window this year.

 

If yo need more info, feel free to post here, or personal message me

 

Good luck with it all and welcome to the land of smiles, get ready for it 555 

[4MyEgo]

6 hours ago, outofafrica said:

I know that i will have to marry to have the benefit of medical insurance.I'm still working and earning a good salary .Will only retire ones i had enough and that is coming closer. 

 

Retiring is easy, as mentioned in my reply, work out your residency status first and foremost because that is where the problem can start and come back to bite you down the track 

[iaminwa]

Yep, prepare to lose it all.

[smotherb]

1 hour ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

OP needs to ignore the usual sexpats who replied to him saying 40k is not enough and take advice from established, refined Farang who like myself leech off his wife insurance and house.

 

Yes, 40k is quite enough to live on if you don't have housing expenses. I don't know how the government insurance works, but I am using my wife's "decent" private insurance and I gotta tell you it's lacking in so many ways. 

 

You don't really need to drink or smoke in Thailand. The country is filthy enough, so why would you want to poison your body with this crap? That's money saved right there. The most money I spend in here is Western food (because Thai food is garbage), but even Western food sucks in comparison to back home. No choice.

 

I get around 70,000 baht a month from "back home" and I am able to save over half that every month. 

 

However, always have an escape plan and never sell your house. When I came here 4 years ago I was making 100k due to better exchange rate and somewhat higher income. I don't plan on retiring here.

 

Good luck. 

 

 

 

Well, he has yet to know if he will marry or even stay with his current girlfriend. So, if she goes, he has no house, no car, and certainly no wife's insurance. Don't you think he would be better off having enough to live without those potential bennies? As you said, you had B100k/mo when you came, now down to B70k/mo. If he does marry, then he can afford to give to their home together.

[mikey88]

I’m not sure how detailed a response you want. If I were me I would be trying not to touch my super’s principle for as long as possible to give it time to grow. 58 is young. Every $100,000 gives a $100 a week at 5% roughly and that’s the broad formula I employ.

The other question that springs to mind is ...what price are you thinking of paying for rent?  Or to put it another way ...what style of living are you thinking of?

10,000 a month gets you something...and 20,000 a month gets you something else.

if you want to discuss more, message me. If not good luck and all the best for your future.

[khunPer]

14 hours ago, outofafrica said:

I have $400 000 in super and my house is payed and  will give me a income of $1600 a month.

It's like a rubber band, it's really depending of one's life-style.

 

40,000 baht a month can be enough for some, and too little for others. I did my early retirement when I was 57 and could easily spend around 75,000 baht a month, of which only 6,500 baht was for renting a bungalow, and my car was fully paid, and I'm also not a big spender and hardly drink (alcohol). But it's also depending where one live; living in a major city, or a tourist area, seems like easily higher spending than living in a rural village.

 

Yes, you can live for 40,000 baht a month – it's also depending if your GF supports a shared household or not – but it's more pleasant with little more money...

[NancyL]

2 hours ago, evenstevens said:

as my post say,s  every Aussie agenda with C/link is entirely different, in my case ,  initially  i was on a disability pension for around 12 yrs then crossed over to the old age pension,during that time had a number of battles with C/link etc etc they kicked me from one  end   of the pitch  to the other ,perhaps a year or so back they would not renew my Medibank card ,another battle  but  another win,  they had to return it to me ,  as they had granted my pension and medi bank etc etc before all the legstrations were passed from 2003 and onwards (that fat bitch Amanda Vanderstone under little Johnny Howard started the rot for us legit ones) hence all the loop holes (so to speak)closing ,basically they could not reverse their decision made  on me around 2001,as they had granted me those concessions before  all the new laws were introduced from 2003 onwards that why we got the nick name The  Pre 2003 Gang, just had the rub of the green our C/MAI immgr dept Visa services come under heavy critisism on this board , they are a dream compared to  the morons employed and running   C/link  a nice evening to all

I just love the way E/S manages to refer always refer to women in negative terms.  Admittedly, after looking up Amanda Vanstone (i.e. the correct spelling of her name)  in Wikipedia, I'd say her "fat bitch" appearance is one of the most appealing things about her.

[outofafrica]

Thanks for all the positive replies. There is a lot of you that should get a life and stop being so childish and narrow minded. Is that the reason you don't live in your country of birth anymore!!!!

[poanoi]

5 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

 

I love Thai food.... in Canada - the Westernized version. Shameful, isn't it? Mind you, I wasn't always grumpy like this simply because I believe I was delusional.

 

It lacks protein, it's dirty, antibiotic farm shrimp, salmon from who knows where, etc.....

 

I love Thai fruit, but I always have to buy it whole, never pre-cut because who knows where the knife has been.

 

Dirty place.

 

 

 

 

i got this sensation in cambodia,

i always felt thais were cheap with the meat, but it was still tasty and good value,

it just meant i had to order 2 dishes and leave most of the rice.

 

in cambodia however, they are taking things to an entirely new level,

i've been here 3 stinking years and not a single day has been satisfying,

to meet minimum protein requirement i cant go below $20/day,

eating a really poor excuse for western food, drenched in ketchup coz they aint got no better

[4MyEgo]

4 hours ago, outofafrica said:

Thanks for all the positive replies. There is a lot of you that should get a life and stop being so childish and narrow minded. Is that the reason you don't live in your country of birth anymore!!!!

Welcome to TVF, most of the bitches on this forum are harmless and thus if you side step them you can obtain some really valuable information from the others, as I and others have posted.

 

At the end of the day, it takes all types, just remember we Aussies are a different bread, never let those beneath us trip us over....oy !

[Nemises]

She has a job and you have a house? Then yes, you have enough. 

[steven100]

9 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Although as a non resident if you put your money into the stock market and purchase fully franked dividends, you pay no tax and no capital gains tax on shares purchased and sold in the Australian stock market.

very good point and worth looking at as an option, however everyones situation is different.

[Elkski]

Interesting thread.   I have been studying this exact question for 20+ months.   

First off yes a  Thai government employees health benefits apply to her husband as well as parents till death and children till maybe end of college.  How good this is, is the debate and how long it can be sustainable is another.  What exact  value it has I would pay to know. 

 

Also government workers can retire after 25 years of service with pension and these healthcare benefits  for life  The retirement is a formula that can vary but the contract I read was.   Last 3 years base pay X ( # years of service/50) = pay.   Typically going to be 20,000 for a teacher or nurse. 

If she has a house that saves you a  minimum 5-15 k.   And avoids you having to buy a condo or something.    

Her childrens needs and mom's needs are important to consider as they come before you as does the dog.  I read that one about the dog  but know the kids and parents part is true.   

I don't know about the oz tax or pension issues.  

In USA my home is tax free when sold if primary residence for 3 of last 5 years.  I guess that means I need to come to USA for 184 days each year.  And need to sell 3 years after I stop that to sell with no capital gains tax. 

What a stupid thing that if you choose to retire in another country your pension you earned is reduced.  And cost of living raises are cancelled if I understand the Oz system.  Don't give Trump any ideas.  He is looking to pay for the big money he just gave his rich pals.   

[4MyEgo]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

very good point and worth looking at as an option, however everyones situation is different.

Absolutely, and my point being, if a non resident, why pay tax to the bastards, i.e. they treat you like someone with a disease, I mean think about it, why on earth would they want to tax (foreign residents) Australian Citizens differently, who have worked all their lives to acquire a home, and if they decide they want to go live overseas for as long as they want, i.e. 2, 5, 10 years or forever, that should be their prerogative and should not be treated differntely.

 

I mean, tax them the same, i.e. under the Australian tax system, i.e. give them the $18,200 threshold and of course charge them the capital gains tax as usual, i.e. discounted to 50% after the 1st year as their property becomes an investment property.

 

Doing it the current way, they miss out on tax, i.e. I sold my place because I wasn't going to cop 1/3 in taxes per year after expenses, i.e. it would have been 50% in real terms, plus full capital gains tax from the day I departed, if I ever sold it.

 

The property market has dropped and will continue to drop, forget what the know all's tell you, its a cyclic thing and its done its dash, its actually gone way over its cycle because of the Chinese, and will correct itself over the next few years as prices continue to drop with the new regulations cooling off the Chinese buyers.

 

The way they currently do it, means they lose, meaning, I win, I mean what do I miss out on, I get to keep my Australian Citizenship as I was born in Australia, so I can return and live there whenever I want to.

 

Medicare goes out the window after a few years down the track & I can't vote, big deal, I get to join all those companies that don't pay tax (legally), its a system that they created, i.e. invest your money in the stock market they say and support our Australian companies and you don't have to pay tax on fully franked stocks, well, so far, so good, making the bacon and not having to pay tax, and no capital gains tax is paid on stocks sold, its a win all the way to the bank for me, and if I want to get the OAP, all I have to do is return to Australia and sit it out for two years, and meet the assets test, these are supposed to be penalties for leaving Australia.

 

I sometimes wonder where these guys get their brains from, seriously, anyone with half a brain knows that tax on Australian property derived from rents is better than no tax being derived from the stock market as a foreign resident.

 

Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining with regard to not paying tax, but they would be better off leaving things as they would normally be under the Australian taxation system, i.e. provide the foreign residents (Australian Citizens) with the $18,200 threshold, they can then pay tax annually, and capital gains tax when they sell, their current system is a no win situation for them, unless those who are foreign residents (Australian Citizens) decide to keep their properties, just doesn't make sense to me, why a foreign resident would keep a property in Australia, when the object is to live a tax free life under their current system, oy ! 

[thaibeachlovers]

21 hours ago, Phuket Man said:

Around 40,000 Baht a month.

More than enough to have a pretty good life.

If one can't live on that, even paying rent and all expenses as most of us do, one is just trying to live on a lifestyle they can't afford. Certainly enough for reasonable people.

The big question is if the present arrangement with well off GF will continue unaltered indefinitely.

Budget at least 60,000 a year for Thai medical insurance, but it increases yearly.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, outofafrica said:

Thanks for all the positive replies. There is a lot of you that should get a life and stop being so childish and narrow minded. Is that the reason you don't live in your country of birth anymore!!!!

Gotta love how some posters come on here wanting info for free and then complaining because they don't like some of the answers.

[Tchooptip]

16 hours ago, NancyL said:

Depends on the Thai wife's health insurance plan.  He mentioned his GF has a gov't job, so presumably a western husband would be covered.  If a foreigner married a Thai lady insured by the basic 30 baht gov't health insurance, then no he can't use her "health insurance", although some gov't hospitals in rural areas permit that, but as soon as he comes done with a serious illness that requires referral to a higher level gov't hospital he'll find he really isn't covered.

Absolutely logical

[Paul Catton]

There will always be three different responses on this forum to your question based upon an individuals members lifestyle and their personal expenditure.

 

1. Not enough money.

2. Enough to scrape by and have a better day to day expierence than in their land of origin.

3. More than sufficient especially  if variables plan out then you can live life like a lord with future savings on top.

 

Like yourself, I am contemplating an early retirement to Thailand in the mid-term future.

 

Make the comparison based on you taking early retirement in your home country with your pot of superannuation, accompanied by a freehold rental property as income to how finances would entail whilst residing with a girlfriend.

 

Then factor in the similar required to duplicate it to Thailand with careful consideration of financing for any and all anonymities that could occur as previous posters have provided.

 

I would be of the opinion that you have enough collateral to advance with your planning exercising due diligence.

 

 

[NancyL]

I hope the OP is learning that ThaiVisa can be an excellent source of information if one is willing to tune-out the idiots.  Actually, the idiots can make it interesting at times.  I have fun poking them with a sharp stick if things have gotten a little quiet.

[amykat]

Retirement is often for a long time, usually until you die, a period of 30 years or so for many people.  The OP has to consider that he may not want to stay in Thailand for that entire time period and/or that it is very likely that he may not stay with his current girlfriend for long either.  So the question, "do I have enough to retire in Chiang Mai? is really short term thinking and gets many people in trouble  ...unless of course you need to retire for some reason, then okay.  But the OP says he is making good money right now, but he is a bit sick of his job or life?  Like many people and maybe he is a little in love right now, like many people who visit Thailand and dream about their new life here?

 

The question should be ..."do you have enough to retire?" at least in several places in the world where you might like to live one day.  Portugal, Spain, your country of origin, Thailand, more than one city here, etc.  And under more than one set of circumstances ..what if you have a child here, with your younger girlfriend which happens to many men even though they never meant that to happen?  What if you become disabled?  What if you want to live in two places? Maybe because you have a child here but hate it here later?  What if you bought a house here and then there is a big war?  Do you have any flexibility?  Can you take your child and wife back to your country and make it work?

 

Your current girlfriend, we know that she is saying everything you want to hear now to make you move here, but later that won't be the case.  She owns her house and car, and you think that will benefit you? But it will not.  She will expect you to pay for it, one way or another.  She will need you to make the payments, or get her a new one, or upgrade, or pay her debts or something, you don't expect.  She will need her money for herself and she is expecting that you will upgrade her life not that she will help you to retire early no matter what she tells you now.  She will tell you later that she just "hoped she could help you but she cannot" ..that is Thai style for what we call a lie. 

 

You will be angry when you read this probably, but you should trust me on this, I have a lot of experience in Thailand and am telling you the truth.  Or she will come up with reasons she needs money for various things, that seem like new emergencies, or whatever.  She might have children or family and she will expect you to pay for them.

 

Anyway, beyond that, many people get fed up with Thailand after some period and want to leave but can't find the way out due to financial and other pressures.  Sometimes family ties like children.  You don't want to be one of them if you can help it.  Thailand has become difficult lately, due to many things that can't be discussed, in my opinion and I think things will get worse, in my opinion.

 

Why don't you consider just dating for a longer period, or having her come to you?  Do you really want to depend on a basically 3rd world (I know that term is technically incorrect but it applies in my opinion) government employee, for your retirement safety and a woman you are just dating, from a culture you don't understand at all, that is totally backwards and opposite yours? Rather than bring her to you ..one of the best rated countries in the world to live, even if you hate certain things, it can't be that bad ...really?   You are bored!! Go on more vacations!!   Study some early retirement websites and see what they say about how much money you need and talk with people who feel the same way as you do.  There are tons of them!! 

 

What you have is really not so much.  A basic guideline is not to take more than 4% from your savings per year, no matter what returns you are getting.  That is if you want a good chance, not even a sure chance, that your money will last 30 years.  That is advice for people retiring at 65 usually, not younger.  That is only $16000 a year for you.  In this environment of low interest rates, many people suggest lower than 4%, more like 3% to be safe, and since you are younger that could be good, so that is $12000 a year.  Plus whatever you get from your house rent, and with taxes and your old age pension which I don't know when that starts for you but I assume not for many years ...but that is not huge money. If you buy a house here , buy a car a few times, and delete capital  ...buy some furniture, you will be hurting, and what if you have a few large medical bills??

 

Once you start depleting that capital you start circling the drain pretty fast!! And let me suggest that after some years here you will be bored and you might want to visit some places that you used to be able to afford and you will NOT be able to afford them anymore!! Like Europe or your home and that won't make you happy!!  You will have a lot of free time and not much money to do things.  You need to think long term.  Please do this.

[NancyL]

Amykat speaks the truth.  In my involvement with Lanna Care Net, I've seen many new male retirees who came over here in their late 50s, as excited as a 5-year old on their first day of school only to turn into bitter 70-year olds after being worked over by a few Thai women (or Burmese boyfriends) and/or suffering some expensive health problems, or getting into some ill-advised business ventures.  Some of these men die horrible, lonely, painful deaths, too poor to return to their home countries of conditions that are entirely treatable like skin cancer, prostate cancer.  They lack the funds for a plane ticket home.  

 

Life in Thailand can be very exciting for a man in his 50s.  Not so good for one in his 80s.

[GTgrizzly]

21 hours ago, wadsy said:

He's in Taree NSW and from the horses mouth (centrelink) that was what he will get as of last month. Half your luck being retired in May this year. PM me if you need any more info. Cheers.

Thanks mate

I was from down that way (Newcastle) came to the gold coast 46 years ago with a couple of mates for a holiday, we went home, they went back to work

I got on my bike and came back, been here ever since

Next move somewhere in LOS, any suggestions ??

[canthai55]

On 2/13/2018 at 3:29 PM, colinneil said:

Yes i do.

PM sent

[GTgrizzly]

10 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

PM sent

Hi canthai

Was this direct at me, if so I didn't get PM

Cheers

[Ahab]

You can easily live on 1600 AUS dollars a month, do not listen to the people saying you need 3-4K, hell I could live in Hawaii on that amount. We budget $1500 USD per month in rural Thailand, we own our own truck and house. I have health insurance here in Thailand. We easily live off this amount each month without worry.

 

Before all the naysayers chime in I said we budget $1500 USD per month for living expenses, we have reserves and don't spend all we could (novel concept). We also travel around Thailand once every month or so exploring the country. Jump in the water is fine.

[evenstevens]

1 hour ago, NancyL said:

Amykat speaks the truth.  In my involvement with Lanna Care Net, I've seen many new male retirees who came over here in their late 50s, as excited as a 5-year old on their first day of school only to turn into bitter 70-year olds after being worked over by a few Thai women (or Burmese boyfriends) and/or suffering some expensive health problems, or getting into some ill-advised business ventures.  Some of these men die horrible, lonely, painful deaths, too poor to return to their home countries of conditions that are entirely treatable like skin cancer, prostate cancer.  They lack the funds for a plane ticket home.  

 

Life in Thailand can be very exciting for a man in his 50s.  Not so good for one in his 80s.

gosh Nancy L ,another depressing post expressing your dim  views that we get fleeced blah blah plus all the medical comments to go with it blah blah , over many yrs have seen and experienced such wonderful deeds performed by  loving caring Thai,s of both genders in relationship with  farungs  as for the medical comments  that can occur but no different to OZ     ,sure E/S  has seen the down side as you mentioned but only on  isolated occassions, the sucess rate outweighs your failure rate by a country mile, Btw thks for the kiss ,   a very nice evening to all

[worgeordie]

2 hours ago, NancyL said:

Amykat speaks the truth.  In my involvement with Lanna Care Net, I've seen many new male retirees who came over here in their late 50s, as excited as a 5-year old on their first day of school only to turn into bitter 70-year olds after being worked over by a few Thai women (or Burmese boyfriends) and/or suffering some expensive health problems, or getting into some ill-advised business ventures.  Some of these men die horrible, lonely, painful deaths, too poor to return to their home countries of conditions that are entirely treatable like skin cancer, prostate cancer.  They lack the funds for a plane ticket home.  

 

Life in Thailand can be very exciting for a man in his 50s.  Not so good for one in his 80s.

Not so good ,anywhere for anyone in there 80's, think i would rather be in my 80's

here,than been afraid to put the central heating on,in winter because maybe could

not afford to pay the electric bill.

regards worgeordie

[watcharacters]

 

 

15 million THB at a  very minimum for emergencies in my opinion.

 

Better to have a greater cushion if possible.

 

 

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, NancyL said:

Amykat speaks the truth.  In my involvement with Lanna Care Net, I've seen many new male retirees who came over here in their late 50s, as excited as a 5-year old on their first day of school only to turn into bitter 70-year olds after being worked over by a few Thai women (or Burmese boyfriends) and/or suffering some expensive health problems, or getting into some ill-advised business ventures.  Some of these men die horrible, lonely, painful deaths, too poor to return to their home countries of conditions that are entirely treatable like skin cancer, prostate cancer.  They lack the funds for a plane ticket home.  

 

Life in Thailand can be very exciting for a man in his 50s.  Not so good for one in his 80s.

Bad news sells, Nancy. That's why on Thai Visa we hear constant stories of the broke, sick, sad losers. Very few stories of the retirees who see out their lives happy and contented, with wives and girlfriends who take much better care of them than they would get from a woman back in their home country. Those people would never appear at the doors of Lanna Care Net. Statisticians call it a biased sample of a population.

 

Now what was that you were saying about idiots on TV?