Do I have enough money to live in Thailand, and how to do it

[Barnabe]

Put 25,000 in bitcoin, wait 4 years

- if lucky, cash out 100,000 and buy a condo

- if unlucky, cash out 500 and get properly wasted that night

[rct99q]

Here is what I would do. Get a makeover. If not already in shape, get a work out program sorted. Invest in some self help programs..better your life, how to communicate, learn about love, those sort of things. 

Take 6 months and start dating locals.

 

42 is too young to waste here in Thailand. By making yourself a more attractive person you will attract likewise. Living out your life with a loving partner in the UK, US, Canada, or wherever would be preferential to the possibility of 40 years here in Thailand. Buying young pussy is still just that. Buying. Finding a loving spouse is much more rewarding.

[AlexRich]

4 hours ago, gordog said:

Thanks for the responses.

 

As I mentioned in some posts. I have an elite visa currently, speak Thai (I have lived here sporadically since a teenager) and know the culture as well as a foreigner can. I just don't have any knowledge of business or investing.

 

Reading the responses it seems I need to do something with the 600k to create income. Given I don't know anything about investing, would the best option be to use a service or 3rd party, like this Vanguard that everyone talks about? As I don't think i'd be knowledgeable enough to pick investments myself.

 

 

Do some reading. As your a Brit I’d recommend Money Week. They offer fairly decent advice. Investors Chronicle is another decent publication. For someone with no interest in the markets a tracker fund would be ideal. Go for a well established fund manager, with a solid reputation. Avoid active funds (where the manager picks the stocks) as these can sometimes go wrong. A recent example being a fund operated by the celebrated fund manager Neil Woodford. It went badly wrong and investors lost a chunk of their money. So before you do anything read as widely as possible. 
 

Vanguard is a well respected fund manager, and over a long time a market tracking fund should do better than most stock pickers (active managers). Bear in mind there will be periods when the market dips, but over a long period it’s trajectory is upwards.

 

I personally believe this is the safest and easiest way of generating an income whilst growing your capital. Property generates rent but it only takes one bad tenant to screw that up, and it can be an asset that takes time to sell. Even if you buy in the UK you will still need people to manage it. 
 

The final advice is to avoid drains on your income. You don’t sound like someone who’ll fall into a party lifestyle or start funding a Thai family, or get conned into buying someone property in Issan. So I suspect you don’t need advice here, as you won’t fall into these traps.

 

What you are proposing is doable, as long as you plan sensibly. Good luck.

[AlexRich]

5 minutes ago, rct99q said:

Here is what I would do. Get a makeover. If not already in shape, get a work out program sorted. Invest in some self help programs..better your life, how to communicate, learn about love, those sort of things. 

Take 6 months and start dating locals.

 

42 is too young to waste here in Thailand. By making yourself a more attractive person you will attract likewise. Living out your life with a loving partner in the UK, US, Canada, or wherever would be preferential to the possibility of 40 years here in Thailand. Buying young pussy is still just that. Buying. Finding a loving spouse is much more rewarding.

I think your post comes under the category of judging others by your own standards.

[Dart12]

29 minutes ago, rct99q said:

Here is what I would do. Get a makeover. If not already in shape, get a work out program sorted. Invest in some self help programs..better your life, how to communicate, learn about love, those sort of things. 

Take 6 months and start dating locals.

 

42 is too young to waste here in Thailand. By making yourself a more attractive person you will attract likewise. Living out your life with a loving partner in the UK, US, Canada, or wherever would be preferential to the possibility of 40 years here in Thailand. Buying young pussy is still just that. Buying. Finding a loving spouse is much more rewarding.

Is this what you did?

[khunPer]

23 hours ago, gordog said:

So I recently sold my house in the UK. I have around 600,000 pounds in my UK bank account. Divorced, I have no pension, no other savings, investments or assets and I am 42 years old.

 

I would like to permanently retire and live in Thailand, leading a modest lifestyle. 

 

I have no knowledge of finance, business (other than my original trade in the UK which I cannot do in Thailand )

 

I was wondering if this sum of money is enough, and if so what I should do with it to best see out my days in retirement here (I enjoy writing and wish to do it full time)

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help ( please no replies about "why Thailand" , "other places are better" and so forth)

Your £600,000 is equivalent to about 25 million baht, and that is enough, but widely depending of life-style.

 

At age 42 you cannot get a retirement visa, so you would need to consider an Elite Card, which will cost you in the level of around 1 million baht for 10 years. Thereafter you can use the retirement 50+ year option, which require an 800,000 baht bank deposit; i.e. up to 2 million baht gone for permission to stay in Land-of-Smiles.

 

The governments 65,000 baht a month calculation is a good base for a budget, many can live for less, some use a lot more. With a modest life style you can live, or survive, from around 30,000 baht a month, more comfortably when about 50,000 baht a month. Nightlife, drinking and ladies can easily turn the budget number to rocking up over 100,000 baht a month, and further way up in sky-level; be careful not too easily falling in love...????

 

Very simple calculated, 23 million baht divided with 500,000 baht – i.e. 40,000 baht a month for a modest life-style – will last 46 years; i.e. you can afford to be 88 years old.

 

If you count 3 million baht to settle in Thailand – plus the 2 million baht before mentioned set asie for staying in the kingdom – you should have enough for a move; establish some level of home, which might be furniture etc. for a rented home; and some kind of transportation; and some money set aside in a "rainy day"-account for emergency and unexpected events. That leaves you with equivalent to 20 million baht.

 

20 million baht invested long-term in something relative safe that can pay a dividend or outcome of between 2 percent and 3 percent a year, i.e. between 400,000 baht and 600,000 baht a year, and keeping the invested capital in line with consumer inflation index – which is possible to find – could secure you a life-long almost inflation secured life-style of around 40,000 baht a month; and little more if you count of using the capital based on a calculated expected age, but calculate with a high age, as you in worst-case-scenario might turn older than expected, i.e. not running dry of funds.

 

40,000 baht a month is not enough for a lavish life-style, but many lives Okay with that level of income. Don't forget to include a health insurance in a budget, or to set money aside every month in a self-insurance account; could be from around 2,500 baht monthly at your age, depending of cover.

 

Specified into a monthly budget, you could for example count:

• 10,000 baht for renting a home, might include electric, water and wifi
• 15,000 baht for daily needs (average 500 baht a day) like food etc.
• 2,500 baht (minimum) for health insurance, or set aside for self insurance
• 2,500 baht (minimum) for transportation (gasoline/insurance if you own a vehicle)
• 10,000 baht for others (average 300 baht a day), including amusement and traveling

Why Thailand?

Probably as many answers as different life-styles. I'll only answer from my own preferences and experience, and not in any particular order of importance, here are some of the major points for me:

• Weather, all-year-summer and barefoot-Xmas, which might not be eligible for northern areas of the kingdom
• Affordable life-style, in averange my money are worth double as much in buying power compared to Europe, but depending of life-style; i.e. if only eating Western-food it's close to same level as at home
• Girls (no need for further explanation)...????
• Living in "paradise", which might be depending of choice of location, and personal capacity of positive view (always look at the bright side of life)
• No need to waste my savings on heating a house during the utterly cold Scandinavian winter...????
• Beach parties and other great nightlife...????
• I could afford a combined nanny/live-in-maid when having a small child in the house

????

 

[nauseus]

12 hours ago, DDBKK said:

Easily enough. 

 

400K into a UK property will yield some nice monthly income to live off whilst always ensuring you have that safety net to return to and have a foot in the UK property market. 

 

I'd be tempted to buy a condo somewhere along the new BTS line in BKK also and either rent it out or live in which could be the base in Thailand or just rent something nice but cheap in any other location. 

 

Another 50K GBP on some higher risk investments and pay attention to how well they perform and play the markets somewhat. 

 

Another 50K in slush fund for travel etc but try not to touch it and live purely off the yield from UK property. 

 

Sorted.

 

Sounds like a plan.

[ivor bigun]

19 hours ago, nauseus said:

 

Yes. It can certainly keep one on one's toes. 

It was a joke ,i have been married so long i trust her and our son with my life ,which they have really looked after recently through an illness

[Kalasin Jo]

On 1/13/2021 at 8:05 AM, BritManToo said:

I live here in a nice 3 bedroom house with a younger Thai woman and 2 Thai kids.

Costs me around 12kgbp/year, 600k would last me 50 years.

40,000bht/month.

 

If you had the will power not to spend/spend/spend, you could do the same.

Or the foolish urge too invest or speculate (I always lost money doing that)

You might also want a party lifestyle, which would cost you a lot more.

Yes. I would say that would work. But you have to live a very quiet life, in or near a small village well away from the bright light money pits...and if you want a relationship, find a trustworthy Thai lady who doesn't gamble or take drugs. Those habits would destroy your savings, your relationship or both. Some Thai ladies can be very persistent about money, gold, gifts to the point of driving you crazy.

Factor in transport and rent or the cost of buying. Health insurance too. Plus visa and annual extension financial requirements and cost.

At 42 I doubt that you really want a very quiet life for so long. At 69 it's just about acceptable for me. 9 years ago it wasn't!

 

Good luck!!

[Bangkok Barry]

Why Thailand? There are many places in Europe that are very cheap to live in - I know a Dutchman who has bought a nice property in Hungary, for example. Infrastructure is often better in Europe, many food prices are cheaper, as is alcohol if you fancy a bottle of wine or two. More people speak English to a reasonable standard and I'd venture might be more trustworthy than many Thais who routinely bend the truth to suit themselves. I personally would choose Spain in a heartbeat if I didn't have family now in Thailand.

[Nout]

Go for it! Ignore naysayers and failures. YOU CAN NEVER RETIRE TOO EARLY! Have a great time and if necessary pick up work later along the way.

[Nout]

13 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Why Thailand? There are many places in Europe that are very cheap to live in - I know a Dutchman who has bought a nice property in Hungary, for example. Infrastructure is often better in Europe, many food prices are cheaper, as is alcohol if you fancy a bottle of wine or two. More people speak English to a reasonable standard and I'd venture might be more trustworthy than many Thais who routinely bend the truth to suit themselves. I personally would choose Spain in a heartbeat if I didn't have family now in Thailand.

The OP SPECIFICALLY ASKED NOT for your kind of response.

[Bangkok Barry]

52 minutes ago, Nout said:

The OP SPECIFICALLY ASKED NOT for your kind of response.

 

You are correct. My bad.

[nauseus]

7 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

It was a joke ,i have been married so long i trust her and our son with my life ,which they have really looked after recently through an illness

 

Yes, I was joking too.

[Kadilo]

16 hours ago, PGSan said:

Returns on what?

Bullsh.it 

[Kadilo]

14 hours ago, rct99q said:

Here is what I would do. Get a makeover. If not already in shape, get a work out program sorted. Invest in some self help programs..better your life, how to communicate, learn about love, those sort of things. 

Take 6 months and start dating locals.

 

42 is too young to waste here in Thailand. By making yourself a more attractive person you will attract likewise. Living out your life with a loving partner in the UK, US, Canada, or wherever would be preferential to the possibility of 40 years here in Thailand. Buying young pussy is still just that. Buying. Finding a loving spouse is much more rewarding.

Yeah get yourself in shape so you can attract a size 20 UK heffa. 

Mills and Boom ain’t real you know. 

[rct99q]

3 hours ago, Kadilo said:

Yeah get yourself in shape so you can attract a size 20 UK heffa. 

Mills and Boom ain’t real you know. 

Not sure about that. However I do know there are plenty of beautiful local women throughout England. Much like here in Thailand they are looking for the best of the best. If, as the OP indicated, he is recently divorced there could be some personal issues that caused this. By accepting these possible faults and correcting them could lead to attracting a more desireable spouse. If at the end of the day one is unable to attract a partner Thailand is a great place to obtain one.

[rct99q]

18 hours ago, AlexRich said:

I think your post comes under the category of judging others by your own standards.

Not sure. The OP indicates that they are recently divorced. In most cases, but not all, divorces happen due to specific reasons. They usually just dont happen. This could be a breakdown in communication, one or the other becoming less desireable, mental issues, and so on. My remarks were to offer an option to uprouting oneself on the "idea" that Thailand offers something they can not find locally. The OP has a small nest egg, is still quite young, and could potentially offer a local person a decent life partner. But it takes effort to become that spouse others are looking for. If not coming to Thailand and obtaining one is a good option.

[rct99q]

18 hours ago, Dart12 said:

Is this what you did?

Some days I wish I had. Mine was a result of a death, not divorce. I do believe during my grieving process I did not take the time to completely heal. Physically and mentally. Had I done so the past 15 years could have been different. Divorce is a traumatic experience and time should be taken to asses their situation. Seeking some therapy to help the healing process could help in their decision making.

[Dart12]

18 hours ago, khunPer said:

Your £600,000 is equivalent to about 25 million baht, and that is enough, but widely depending of life-style.

 

At age 42 you cannot get a retirement visa, so you would need to consider an Elite Card, which will cost you in the level of around 1 million baht for 10 years. Thereafter you can use the retirement 50+ year option, which require an 800,000 baht bank deposit; i.e. up to 2 million baht gone for permission to stay in Land-of-Smiles.

 

The governments 65,000 baht a month calculation is a good base for a budget, many can live for less, some use a lot more. With a modest life style you can live, or survive, from around 30,000 baht a month, more comfortably when about 50,000 baht a month. Nightlife, drinking and ladies can easily turn the budget number to rocking up over 100,000 baht a month, and further way up in sky-level; be careful not too easily falling in love...????

 

Very simple calculated, 23 million baht divided with 500,000 baht – i.e. 40,000 baht a month for a modest life-style – will last 46 years; i.e. you can afford to be 88 years old.

 

If you count 3 million baht to settle in Thailand – plus the 2 million baht before mentioned set asie for staying in the kingdom – you should have enough for a move; establish some level of home, which might be furniture etc. for a rented home; and some kind of transportation; and some money set aside in a "rainy day"-account for emergency and unexpected events. That leaves you with equivalent to 20 million baht.

 

20 million baht invested long-term in something relative safe that can pay a dividend or outcome of between 2 percent and 3 percent a year, i.e. between 400,000 baht and 600,000 baht a year, and keeping the invested capital in line with consumer inflation index – which is possible to find – could secure you a life-long almost inflation secured life-style of around 40,000 baht a month; and little more if you count of using the capital based on a calculated expected age, but calculate with a high age, as you in worst-case-scenario might turn older than expected, i.e. not running dry of funds.

 

40,000 baht a month is not enough for a lavish life-style, but many lives Okay with that level of income. Don't forget to include a health insurance in a budget, or to set money aside every month in a self-insurance account; could be from around 2,500 baht monthly at your age, depending of cover.

 

Specified into a monthly budget, you could for example count:

• 10,000 baht for renting a home, might include electric, water and wifi
• 15,000 baht for daily needs (average 500 baht a day) like food etc.
• 2,500 baht (minimum) for health insurance, or set aside for self insurance
• 2,500 baht (minimum) for transportation (gasoline/insurance if you own a vehicle)
• 10,000 baht for others (average 300 baht a day), including amusement and traveling

Why Thailand?

Probably as many answers as different life-styles. I'll only answer from my own preferences and experience, and not in any particular order of importance, here are some of the major points for me:

• Weather, all-year-summer and barefoot-Xmas, which might not be eligible for northern areas of the kingdom
• Affordable life-style, in averange my money are worth double as much in buying power compared to Europe, but depending of life-style; i.e. if only eating Western-food it's close to same level as at home
• Girls (no need for further explanation)...????
• Living in "paradise", which might be depending of choice of location, and personal capacity of positive view (always look at the bright side of life)
• No need to waste my savings on heating a house during the utterly cold Scandinavian winter...????
• Beach parties and other great nightlife...????
• I could afford a combined nanny/live-in-maid when having a small child in the house

????

 

You write and lay out information very well.

Corprate person in ex-life?

[khunPer]

3 hours ago, Dart12 said:

You write and lay out information very well.

Corprate person in ex-life?

Many thanks. In ex-life I was self-employed (music and pro audio) running a smaller company; before that I was in Airline business (my education), where everything needed to be in strict order, as some faults can be fairly fatal...????

[lazygourmet]

Just another "mine is bigger than yours" tedious topic.

[AlexRich]

13 hours ago, rct99q said:

Not sure. The OP indicates that they are recently divorced. In most cases, but not all, divorces happen due to specific reasons. They usually just dont happen. This could be a breakdown in communication, one or the other becoming less desireable, mental issues, and so on. My remarks were to offer an option to uprouting oneself on the "idea" that Thailand offers something they can not find locally. The OP has a small nest egg, is still quite young, and could potentially offer a local person a decent life partner. But it takes effort to become that spouse others are looking for. If not coming to Thailand and obtaining one is a good option.

The OP is recently divorced. No shame there as it’s a coin toss now, with 50% divorcing. And it’s expensive, unless your wife is considerably wealthier than you are. If the OP is smart then once bitten twice shy. 
 

He’s not interested in staying home and making the same mistake, he wants a new life and a bit of adventure. He already speaks Thai and understands the culture. And I’d guess he also understands the many pitfalls and traps that people fall into. He strikes me as well suited to Thailand, with his head screwed on the right way. 
 

If you remain single in Thailand you can move around and enjoy all the benefits with none of the costs. If you can protect the bulk of your assets, then marriage in Thailand is an option, with the same caveats as at home. It can go wrong and it’s expensive to get out of. 

[onebir]

7 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

If you can protect the bulk of your assets, then marriage in Thailand is an option

Pointers on this* could be helpful!

 

*Other than the obligatory "don't pay medical expenses for a water buffalo until you've sought a second opinion".

[AlexRich]

5 hours ago, onebir said:

Pointers on this* could be helpful!

 

*Other than the obligatory "don't pay medical expenses for a water buffalo until you've sought a second opinion".

You could tuck the bulk of it away overseas. Only bring into Thailand what you are prepared to lose. If it goes wrong you have something to fall back on. 

[Mike Teavee]

OP it's hard to retire at such an early age, I lasted 3 months on my 1st attempt when I was 40, 15 months on my 2nd attempt at 47 & am currently 13 months into my 3rd (hopefully final) attempt at 54.        

 

I personally don't think £600K is enough (at 45 I calculated that I wanted to have £500K to last me 15 years until I hit 60 & my pensions kick in) so its essential that you use the money to generate an income, especially if there's not a pension coming in at some point in the future. 

 

On the subject of pensions, I would strongly recommend that you keep your NI contributions up to date to ensure you get a full UK State pension, I managed to do my AVCs at Class 2 (Working overseas) rates so approximately 8 months after receiving the pension I will have had all the extra money I put in back & will be in profit every month after that, even if you end up paying at Class 3 rates you get payback after approx 3.5 years. 

 

I know it's "Only" around £760 pm (approx 30K THB) & your Pension will be frozen (i.e. no Cost of Living Rises) if you live in Thailand (but not if you live in the Philippines) but it might just be the "Extra" that you need to make it work when you're > 67.

 

Good Luck with whatever you decide to do... 

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Mike Teavee

[elliss]

On 1/13/2021 at 2:05 PM, BritManToo said:

I live here in a nice 3 bedroom house with a younger Thai woman and 2 Thai kids.

Costs me around 12kgbp/year, 600k would last me 50 years.

40,000bht/month.

 

 

   I Invested in a younger Issan  lady , only 40 years age difference .

  Perfect , we have so much in common ...

[Surelynot]

Just now, elliss said:

 

   I Invested in a younger Issan  lady , only 40 years age difference .

  Perfect , we have so much in common ...

Damn....26 years for me....time to trade in?

[nauseus]

1 hour ago, elliss said:

 

   I Invested in a younger Issan  lady , only 40 years age difference .

  Perfect , we have so much in common ...

 

I'm starting to feel like I've been had. ????

[Huckenfell]

On 1/13/2021 at 5:01 PM, gordog said:

So I recently sold my house in the UK. I have around 600,000 pounds in my UK bank account. Divorced, I have no pension, no other savings, investments or assets and I am 42 years old.

 

I would like to permanently retire and live in Thailand, leading a modest lifestyle. 

 

I have no knowledge of finance, business (other than my original trade in the UK which I cannot do in Thailand )

 

I was wondering if this sum of money is enough, and if so what I should do with it to best see out my days in retirement here (I enjoy writing and wish to do it full time)

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help ( please no replies about "why Thailand" , "other places are better" and so forth)

 

 

With that amount of money, go for it. But forget any ideas of business, you will get ripped off.