Have an exit plan. A revolver in the cabinet is a good idea. You don't want to be one of these guys that does a flier. There's something rather dignified, masculine, and even courageous, about the bullet in the head, as opposed to more wimpy methods. And yeah, leave a note. Most important, why do so few of these guys leave a note? You're gonna die someday whatever, choosing the time and place is almost an assertion of your human dignity.

My take from SS is $2800/month. House and car paid for but we occasionally need to add something to the pot. My wife's SS goes to a US bank and sits there. We also have IRA and 401K accounts. That said, 8M baht could do if he found some employment (teaching), spoke good Thai, and knew his way around. I might add not living at the beach or Bangkok. Having 8M baht is very tempting and he could go through it in a few months. I've know people in the past that did exactly that.  I don't think I could do it.

27 minutes ago, nausea said:

Most important, why do so few of these guys leave a note?

The ladyboys don't give them time to write a note.

On 5/19/2020 at 11:49 AM, georgegeorgia said:

Australia its around 1.8% , as for the banks in Laos i dont know if i would feel "comfortable' putting say 10 million baht into the Franco Lao bank,i have never heard of it.

maybe something like Bangkok bank would be more comfortable with,but at 8% it sounds great.

 

Sorry, but at 8% it almost sounds suspicious to me.     Plenty of banks around the world that have offered much higher interests rates than the competition only to eventually default.

48 minutes ago, nausea said:

Have an exit plan. A revolver in the cabinet is a good idea. You don't want to be one of these guys that does a flier. There's something rather dignified, masculine, and even courageous, about the bullet in the head, as opposed to more wimpy methods. And yeah, leave a note. Most important, why do so few of these guys leave a note? You're gonna die someday whatever, choosing the time and place is almost an assertion of your human dignity.

Why not support euthanasia on demand and go out painlessly.

 

I know a fellow who missed and just deformed his jaw and face with a failed gun approach. 

I know of at least one guy in Thailand who shot himself in the chest twice. Leave a note. Saves everyone a lot of trouble. The revolver thing is just a meme, there's no good way to kill yourself. Apparently, Hitler killed himself with poison, but his followers tried to make it look like he used a revolver, as I said, it's a masculine way to go out. I doubt, in reality, it's very pretty, blood and brains splattered over the ceiling.

2 hours ago, Andy from Kent said:

 

Sorry, but at 8% it almost sounds suspicious to me.     Plenty of banks around the world that have offered much higher interests rates than the competition only to eventually default.

Lao and Cambodia banks offer these types of rates for long-term savers of their local currency... In all my research, I never found a Lao bank that has defaulted in recent times, and there is also a government guarantee (albeit only 25% of any level of savings).

There is significant exchange rate risk in the KIP/USD trade, you may find yourself needing to handover all your interest rate profit and then some, just to get your original investment back.

 

https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=LAK&view=5Y

3 hours ago, Trillian said:

There is significant exchange rate risk in the KIP/USD trade, you may find yourself needing to handover all your interest rate profit and then some, just to get your original investment back.

 

https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=LAK&view=5Y

I'm confused by your statement.  I live in Laos and exchange my USD monthly income into kip (LAK).  Your link shows that 5 years ago I'd get about 8,000 kip for $1.  Now I get about 9,000 kip for each of my USD.  So I now receive more than 10% kip for my USD than I would 5 years ago.

 

I save that kip in a high interest account, and I'll live in Laos and live off my UK pension and the annual/monthly interest from that kip account.  I won't return to the UK, so have no interest in exchanging my kip into USD or GBP.

 

Where will I lose out?

On 5/20/2020 at 2:13 AM, crazykopite said:

40 k a month (£1,000+) for renting out your UK house you must have very expensive house to get that type of rental income as the average rental income is between £650/750 per month that’s unless you live bang in the city of London and a £1,000 is for a shed 

I rent my 2 bed flat out in York for £750/month, that's a little below market value in the area if anything. Rented my own well-furnished 1 bed flat out in Surrey for £900/month back in 2013. So you are a bit off-base on UK rental values imo - would expect a decent 3 bed house in York to get at least 1k a month. In Surrey, 1.5k to 2k in a nice area.  

 

On 5/20/2020 at 12:33 AM, HashBrownHarry said:

I see your main problem is if you loose  your tenant, then what?

Or you get a non-paying tenant, one who refuses to leave, trashes your house etc. Being a landlord isn't as easy as it sounds, especially if you are absent overseas and you have to pay an agent to manage the property (who I've found generally more than wanting in that regard). Sometimes can get lucky and have a long-term, reliable tenant but plenty of the other kind, too. 

 

And with recent Covid, landlord has even less rights than before if tenant doesn't pay up.

 

Tax breaks for landlords in UK have or are about to be reduced e.g. can't claim interest on mortage repayments, wear and tear etc. People have been exiting the sector before the Covid stuff started. 

 

Seem to recall Richard Coleman (the earlier posted in this thread who said he rented his house out in UK) saying some months ago he'd had problems with a tenant at his property....

 

 

On 5/22/2020 at 2:14 PM, nausea said:

Have an exit plan. A revolver in the cabinet is a good idea. You don't want to be one of these guys that does a flier. There's something rather dignified, masculine, and even courageous, about the bullet in the head, as opposed to more wimpy methods. And yeah, leave a note. Most important, why do so few of these guys leave a note? You're gonna die someday whatever, choosing the time and place is almost an assertion of your human dignity.

If you have it all worked out, great. I'm going to work on it a while longer.

On 5/22/2020 at 8:57 PM, simon43 said:

I'm confused by your statement.  I live in Laos and exchange my USD monthly income into kip (LAK).  Your link shows that 5 years ago I'd get about 8,000 kip for $1.  Now I get about 9,000 kip for each of my USD.  So I now receive more than 10% kip for my USD than I would 5 years ago.

 

I save that kip in a high interest account, and I'll live in Laos and live off my UK pension and the annual/monthly interest from that kip account.  I won't return to the UK, so have no interest in exchanging my kip into USD or GBP.

 

Where will I lose out?

I didn't say you would lose out, I said there was significant risk. The reason for that is because posters may be attracted by the prospect of 8% interest without realising that the LAK is on a long term weakening trend. If a person intends to convert say USD into KIP, invest it at 8% and then spend it all in-country there isn't really a problem. But if the expectation is to convert foreign currency into LAK, invest at 8% and afterwards to exchange it back into the original currency, that will result in a lower true rate of interest, especially if there are redemption taxes involved, potentially to the point of overall loss.

 

Having said those things, inflation in Laos is high, 6.14% in March, as result the increase in the number of KIP received in exchange for USD is more than wiped out, over the ten year period you mention you would make a loss.

 

https://tradingeconomics.com/laos/inflation-cpi

I came across a KIP calculator (below) which shows the effect of inflation over any past period, it may help put the 8% pa interest rate into perspective. According to the calculator average inflation since 1989 has totalled 18.6% per year, this year alone it has averaged over 6% per MONTH:

 

https://www.worlddata.info/asia/laos/inflation-rates.php

 

 

 

But if the expectation is to convert foreign currency into LAK, invest at 8% and afterwards to exchange it back into the original currency, that will result in a lower true rate of interest, especially if there are redemption taxes involved, potentially to the point of overall loss.

 

No, I have absolutely no intention to do that.  This savings account is one 'arrow' of my plan to receive a modest income in my retirement which I intend to spend in Laos.  (The other arrows are my UK government pension, savings in my Thai bank account and the occasional teaching online).

 

Were I to return to live in the UK, I would indeed have some losses when exporting my Lao savings.  Additionally, my $1 million private health insurance cover ceases if I am no longer classed as an 'expat', and I would be at the mercy of the well-intentioned but underfunded NHS.

''I have a work colleague''

 

Oh dear. Makes a change from a friend I suppose.