What age did you retire and how much did you have?

[akirasan]

I could probably retire tomorrow, I'd just have to plan to be dead by April

[KhunFred]

Retired in 2015 at age 65. I had no property or "regular" savings. I get Social Security, a payment from Alabama State Teachers'  Retirement and a TIAA annuity. All of this is lifetime income and the total is now 82 thousand baht a month, which is a raise from last year. I am not ashamed of my income. The Thai people seem to think it is adequate. I have rented all my life because I have had to move three times in the last thirty years because of downsizing. Plus, I was never married, hence no pressure to "own".

[White Christmas13]

9 hours ago, Will27 said:

He doesn't qualify until he's 67 so going back at 65 would be perfect.

Will I don't think you are correct he can get his pension at 65(still) but he need to reside in Australia 2 years before he applies I got my pension at 65 and I just got back 2 years before that from Thailand 

[seasia]

12 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

Some of you guys are not giving your financial status when you retired , please give out the financial details too as well as your age when retired.

 

and is there still much left after your retirement?

None of your business.

 

Where is the ignore button ?

[giddyup]

4 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

Doubt PTSD considered lucky except by the #@$%^ type people. 

If it's real, no.

[swissie]

I was born a poor black child in a slum in Beverly Hills. But when I came to Thailand I was loaded. I was a man with a plan: I invested heavily in women and booze, the rest I just squandered.
Now I am down to my 100 meter yacht that gathers rust, mold and mildue. Blimey!

[rumak]

14 hours ago, Will27 said:

There are loads of Aussies living in Thailand getting the Old Age Pension.

 

Once you qualify, you can get portability.

definitely important in OLD AGE to have that port a potty ....

Edited December 25, 2018 by rumak

[rumak]

14 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Well its 31 years here,and have more than I started with,and about 70 % in THB,

so i think it will still be enough.

regards worgeordie

well, it sure was nice when the banks were paying 11% interest !   i also keep most in THB.....funny when

posters are so worried about keeping enough for the imm. requirement in an "untrustworthy" thai bank.

 

[rumak]

the best part of this thread is i'm learning the age (and length of time in thailand) of some of the regular

posters on TV.    Interesting to see that some are even older than me  

As for financial details..... I believe that the ones who are still here after 20 or   30 years have the knowledge to know how to survive on what they have.

[Hummin]

16 hours ago, Henryford said:

If that is his only savings/income then 11.5 million baht is barely enough. Will he spend several million to buy a property? If not you need say 1 million a year to live on. By his early 70s it will be gone. It is possible but he will have to budget carefully. I retired at 51 and the money goes quicker than you think.

Most people can live easily for 500 000,- a year. 

 

I work some few months a year, have around 1 million baht a year in budget living, and a plan B. 

[Ahab]

18 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

I guess a lot of you from the USA are lucky with your Govt paying military pensions and other Pensions after 20 years Service.

 

You could call it luck, and I was lucky to be able to join, but I would also call it service. I served in nuclear fast attack submarines (hunter killer subs) and spent much of my youth underwater doing things I cannot talk about. Age 19 to 43 while on sea I spent an average of over 200 days a year at sea underwater. This can be hard on your social and family life). So even though it is was a really good deal many people only do a single tour (3-6 years) and get out with zero pension, and only 17% of the people who sign up for the US military (all branches) stay long enough to retire with a pension (20 years). When you consider that only about 1% of the US population has ever served in any branch of the military for any length of time it is a fairly small group of people. 

 

Sitting here in Thailand at 55 years of age with a bunch of good memories, great friends that I met while on active duty, and an adequate pension I feel privileged and I guess lucky that because I was born in the USA I had the chance to join the US Navy and have a very interesting career. It is a career that is definitely not for everyone.

[Will27]

11 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

Will I don't think you are correct he can get his pension at 65(still) but he need to reside in Australia 2 years before he applies I got my pension at 65 and I just got back 2 years before that from Thailand 

There has been a change.

Depending on your birthdate, from 1 July 2017 age pension age will be 65 years and 6 months. After that, age pension age will go up 6 months every 2 years until 1 July 2023.

[worgeordie]

15 hours ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

So your income (forget capital) has been higher than your expenditure for 31 years +/- exchange rate factors since 1987.

Income,savings and appreciation in properties,exchange rates nothing to do with it really.

regards worgeordie

[worgeordie]

7 hours ago, rumak said:

well, it sure was nice when the banks were paying 11% interest !   i also keep most in THB.....funny when

posters are so worried about keeping enough for the imm. requirement in an "untrustworthy" thai bank.

 

I had up to 18 % at one point,the good old days.

regards Worgeordie

[Jip99]

9 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Income,savings and appreciation in properties,exchange rates nothing to do with it really.

regards worgeordie

 

 

You think a 42% fall in exchange rates has nothing to with it ?

 

Really ?

[luckyluke]

I am 70, retired at 53, have a monthly pension of 2200+ Euro ( actually about 80000 ThB )  till my death.

There is +/- an 2% yearly increase of the amount ( Called "Index" in my country, Belgium )

My Thai wife will receive 80 % of my pension at my death and this till she died also.

Unless she remaried.

[villagefarang]

I moved to Thailand at age 23 and stopped pretending to work at 40.  Never made much money working but I saved compulsively and made some good investments.  Now at 64 I am more comfortable than I have ever been, with enough to weather currency and stock market fluctuations.

 

Staying single until my mid forties and not having kids has probably contributed somewhat to my good fortune.????

[cusanus]

On 12/25/2018 at 8:42 AM, rumak said:

but now you are only 58 years old !    I think a few of us would like to move back the clock ten years or so.

You are lucky.  TIME is money !   I have been here better part of 30 years ( with a break to go back to

earn a few more dollars).   

We may have "retired" early.........but i opted for a lifestyle over working 30 years to come here an old man.

 no regrets. 

That's the way to do it if you can. I spent 57 years in what amounted to Hell in the USA, 14 here in complete bliss, occasional poisoned arrows launched from the states but falling short of their mark. If possible, I'd turn the clock back to before age 7 when I first started getting beaten in public schools in Montana, twice very nearly to death.  The women here are cute and make perfect wives, the families are closely knit instead of at each other's throats and trying to rob each other's nests.  I did manage to save several million baht the last several years in the USA which greased the wheels for an escape. Basic living costs are under 180,000 baht / yr and I live like a King. Of course, I don't travel much and keep a tight budget.  EIght years university math and science wasn't worth much dodging a work culture drenched in cocaine, booze and porn, so my SS sucks, 1/3 what it'd be if I'd kept on as a lineman, but it's enough.  The bank interest on savings is about $5,000 USD / year which I've never had to spend,. Thanks to my Thai wife, 100% coverage for health and dental, which doesn't mean much because I've little use for doctors. Those are the nuts and bolts for me. 

[GarryP]

I must admit reading some of these posts is frightening. With no pension, my retirement will be solely dependent on savings, and retirement is only 4 years away. Wish I had a few million dollars like some of the posters claim, but I don't think savings of that amount are the norm for the average retiree.  Oh well, I'll just keep plodding along and saving like mad. The only real positive is that I own my own house and will have Thai Social Security coverage for healthcare.   

[Johnny Bonds]

15 minutes ago, villagefarang said:

I moved to Thailand at age 23 and stopped pretending to work at 40.  Never made much money working but I saved compulsively and made some good investments.  Now at 64 I am more comfortable than I have ever been, with enough to weather currency and stock market fluctuations.

 

Staying single until my mid forties and not having kids has probably contributed somewhat to my good fortune.????

 

Off topic and unrelated to you, but that reminded me of the half dozen people over the years I've met in Thailand who retired early, after investing in Apple or Microsoft stock when they were priced low 
How they all managed to pick these 2 stocks at their lowest point with no formal training and end up in Thailand always puzzled me.

I found out later a couple of them inherited money and came from a wealthy family ????????

[steve73]

I've heard many stories about guys retiring here with a comfortable sum, getting married, then deciding to buy some property (to save on rents) or a business, and the losing the lot... and it's not always to the BG's.

 

I retired here 12 years ago at age 47 with what I thought was a "comfortable" pot (mostly invested into oil companies, so I've suffered some very big swings over that period, and currently much lower than I'm comfortable with..!).  I'm still many years away from a UK state pension, although I could start drawing on my small personal QROPS.  But even with that and the state pension I'm nowhere close to qualifying for the income requirement for retirement, so I use the seasoned cash savings, and usually spend around half of it each year to suit my lifestyle.

Clearly I could blow much more, but God only knows how much longer I may need to stretch it out.

[georgegeorgia]

6 hours ago, Ahab said:

You could call it luck, and I was lucky to be able to join, but I would also call it service. I served in nuclear fast attack submarines (hunter killer subs) and spent much of my youth underwater doing things I cannot talk about. Age 19 to 43 while on sea I spent an average of over 200 days a year at sea underwater. This can be hard on your social and family life). So even though it is was a really good deal many people only do a single tour (3-6 years) and get out with zero pension, and only 17% of the people who sign up for the US military (all branches) stay long enough to retire with a pension (20 years). When you consider that only about 1% of the US population has ever served in any branch of the military for any length of time it is a fairly small group of people. 

 

Sitting here in Thailand at 55 years of age with a bunch of good memories, great friends that I met while on active duty, and an adequate pension I feel privileged and I guess lucky that because I was born in the USA I had the chance to join the US Navy and have a very interesting career. It is a career that is definitely not for everyone.

Would be very hard being underwater 200 days !

 

seriously can I ask  did you have to take Vitamin D tablets? 

Edited December 26, 2018 by georgegeorgia

[Ahab]

4 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

Would be very hard being underwater 200 days !

 

seriously can I ask  did you have to take Vitamin D tablets? 

Not all at one time. Normally 40-80 days at a time. Did not have to take any supplements, the food is quite good (normally) and supplies all needed nutrients.

[georgegeorgia]

55 minutes ago, cusanus said:

That's the way to do it if you can. I spent 57 years in what amounted to Hell in the USA, 14 here in complete bliss, occasional poisoned arrows launched from the states but falling short of their mark. If possible, I'd turn the clock back to before age 7 when I first started getting beaten in public schools in Montana, twice very nearly to death.  The women here are cute and make perfect wives, the families are closely knit instead of at each other's throats and trying to rob each other's nests.  I did manage to save several million baht the last several years in the USA which greased the wheels for an escape. Basic living costs are under 180,000 baht / yr and I live like a King. Of course, I don't travel much and keep a tight budget.  EIght years university math and science wasn't worth much dodging a work culture drenched in cocaine, booze and porn, so my SS sucks, 1/3 what it'd be if I'd kept on as a lineman, but it's enough.  The bank interest on savings is about $5,000 USD / year which I've never had to spend,. Thanks to my Thai wife, 100% coverage for health and dental, which doesn't mean much because I've little use for doctors. Those are the nuts and bolts for me. 

Sorry, did i read right ? Living costs are under 180k a year? 

 

Thats great if you can do that ! 

[rumak]

1 hour ago, cusanus said:

Thanks to my Thai wife, 100% coverage for health and dental, which doesn't mean much because I've little use for doctors

how do you manage to get coverage through her ( if i am understanding correctly) ?

Does she happen to work for govt. or somewhere that covers spouse even if not Thai ?

 

[Old Croc]

Like LuckyLuke at the top of the page, I am 70 having retired at 53.

However, due to family constraints, I didn't move here permanently until aged 62. 

One of the (many) advantages of frequent spouse changes is the necessity to also frequently sell and then buy real estate. I chose carefully and rode Australia's housing bubble up until I sold my last place at a very handsome profit. All things considered, I ended up well ahead, and with a good work pension (superannuation), and income from my investments I haven't had to, and will never, apply for the OAP.

[rumak]

13 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

Sorry, did i read right ? Living costs are under 180k a year? 

 

Thats great if you can do that ! 

haha   i thought that was going to raise some eyebrows.  especially since a previous post says he needs a million a year to live .  I have everything i want,  live in the country,  prefer my food at home over restaurant fare, don't vacation (anymore) cause its just too nice right where i am.  What i'm getting at is not difficult for

those not paying rent and living simple to live a nice retirement lifestyle on 20 k a month or so.

Of course the BIG unknown is whether one day i will be carted into the hospital with some horrendous ailment.  In that case I have already given britmantoo a sturdy plastic bag to use on me when nobody is looking.  ( hopefully the Dr did not misdiagnose my ingrown toenail for cancer)

[Spidey]

Retired age 56 due to ill health and received the maximum company pension. Also had iro £200k invested in various ways. Pension is index linked, due to get a 3.4% rise in April. Will draw state pension as of May.

 

Since moving to Thailand, I have bought a house and a car from my investment pot. Initially, my company pension was more than enough for my monthly living expenses, even managed to reinvest some of it. However, the fall in the GBP-THB has seen the income from my pension fall by 20%, leaving things a bit tighter. Also, my son started school and then changed school, making school fees a significant part of my expenditure.

 

On the plus side, I no longer pay rent, giving me a saving of 16k - 18k baht/month.

 

I still have the lifestyle that I dreamed of, but am now short on my original lump sum, which was for emergencies/ relocating to GB if necessary. Hope to redress the balance with my state pension, over the next few years, notwithstanding a further fall in the exchange rate/further hike in my son's school fees/changes to immigration rules.

 

Roll on May.

[sammieuk1]

At 48 with what transpires after a financial crash being in the wrong currency twice and a pound that's now not worth the wheelbarrow required to push it into a Thai bank just about hanging on with ever diminishing options???? 

[villagefarang]

6 hours ago, Johnny Bonds said:

 

Off topic and unrelated to you, but that reminded me of the half dozen people over the years I've met in Thailand who retired early, after investing in Apple or Microsoft stock when they were priced low 
How they all managed to pick these 2 stocks at their lowest point with no formal training and end up in Thailand always puzzled me.

I found out later a couple of them inherited money and came from a wealthy family ????????

I am one of those Apple guys.  I bought Apple on one of its many pullbacks because I like Apple products.  Over the years I mainly bought things I knew, like a company where one uncle was CEO.  I learned about buying stock from another uncle who was a stockbroker and I only moved to a different online brokerage after he retired.  I tried to stay diversified and seldom had more than ten thousand in any one stock and tended to buy and hold.  Apple through the portfolio out of balance, but in a good way, and I resisted persistent warnings from friends to sell.  I have never been very good at listening to others and have always made my own decisions.

 

Reportedly my first savings account was opened when I was four months old with a thirteen dollar contribution from my mother’s bridge club.  I saved every birthday and Xmas gift as a child.   Over the years it grew.  I don't remember when it happened exactly but at some point it felt better having money and watching it grow than it felt spending it.  It gave me a sense of freedom.  You wouldn't know it now but I had a hard time learning how to spend in my later years.????