Are you still able to live comfortably?

[BritManToo]

13 hours ago, The Cipher said:

Honest question, how much do you guys save a month? Or like, what would you consider a normal amount of monthly savings?

I never saved anything, but I only ever worked for people that provided a company pension.

[topt]

24 minutes ago, Denim said:

I am amazed that since February we have been getting by on about 19,000 a month. 

Kudos to you and your partner. Unfortunately my partner spends more than that a month on herself alone.........not including living expenses

[Speedhump]

You are far too near the knuckle financially to decide to move to Thailand. If your only income is almost static, whar would you do if they change the requirements?

If you decide to come here, make it a rolling temporary arrangement, and keep a safe haven back home, just in case. 50k is really low to feel comfortable (and please don't not have health insurance, at least inpatient). 

[khunPer]

16 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

I know I can be done in other parts of Thailand but I'm particularly interested in Pattaya living .

50,000 baht a month - when you have the 800k baht deposit and don't need to worry about funds for extension of stay - is Okay for a modest lifestyle, but if you are dreaming all the usual dreams that we often hear about the Pattaya-lifestyle, it might not be enough.

 

Based on my 16-years experience here, you can live - or rather survive Okay - for

• 10,000 baht rent of a modest place, including basic expenses
•  5,000 baht for health insurance (depending of age and cover)
• 15,000 baht for daily needs as food, providing you cook some at home or dine in modest places
•  5,000 baht for other needs, including transportation

That leaves you with about 15,000 baht a month for entertainment, including just hanging out with other foreigners in a pub, or if you wish to spend little extra on something. It's not a lot, but it's doable.

 

You might need to be compare with what lifestyle you will have, if you instead stay in your home country. In my case I have a better lifestyle here in LOS than I could for the same money in my home country...????

[Denim]

1 hour ago, topt said:

Kudos to you and your partner. Unfortunately my partner spends more than that a month on herself alone.........not including living expenses

Well, my wife is currently paranoid about catching covid and spends all day on the sofa watching Korean soaps. Mindless stuff but very low maintenance. Won't even go to do the shopping run at Big C with me , which is good , as if she comes along the bill goes up 50%

[EvetsKram]

Aussie aged pension is nowhere near 50k, I was looking at it yesterday.  I'm still a few years from it

[kennw]

15 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

- you mostly cook yourself with stuff from market OR live from street food

I could buy enough takeaway fried rice chicken from a proper restaurant to last 3 meals for 50 baht. Even with inflation no need to eat street food, IMO.

 

- don't smoke and/or drink heavily

Always amazes me how often people with little money still smoke and/ or drink a lot. That's the first thing that should go when poor.

 

- don't expect to have a permanent girlfriend/boyfriend

no need in LOS. Another one available from any bar. However it's a bit unrealistic to dabble in that pond if on 1k a day. Perhaps once a week/ fortnight/ month depending on price.

 

- don't want to enjoy yourself with cinema, water parks etc

Not so. I was on less than 1k a day and often went to the movies at a proper cinema. Went to a mall and ate at the foodcourt while there for the movie. Proper food, not street food for under 100 baht.

 

-You will be living a Thai style live and will have to forego many of the perks that you can enjoy today in Australia, because they are cheap (i.e. beef, wine). Anything western in Thailand has its price which might not fit in a tight budget.

What's wrong with living a Thai life style? Millions of Thais do so and have no more complaints than residents of western countries. I don't see many perks from living in a western country unless seriously wealthy. The lower echelon is getting <deleted> these days while the wealthy are living the life of Riley.

I don't live in Oz, but I had a waaaaay better life in LOS on less than 1k baht a day ( not including rent/ insurance etc ) than I do on a pension here. If I only had the pension and had to rent a house I'd be eating dog food as that's all I could afford.

 

My understanding you cannot get an Australian govt aged pension unless you reside IN Australia. You are also means tested there and you lose a portion of the pension if you holiday overseas. Cut is decided on the period out of the country.  

[EVENKEEL]

If 50,000tbh/mo is all you can scratch up, so be it. If you haven't improved your income by now, what's going to change if you keep working? For 50 K you can have a decent little life if and only if you do it solo. And have a nice savings for big ticket items.

[ozfarang]

11 minutes ago, kennw said:

My understanding you cannot get an Australian govt aged pension unless you reside IN Australia. You are also means tested there and you lose a portion of the pension if you holiday overseas. Cut is decided on the period out of the country.  

And where did you get this information from?

 

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/age-pension/how-manage-your-payment/travel-outside-australia/pension-rates-payable-outside-australia

 

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/age-pension/how-manage-your-payment/travel-outside-australia

 

Some reading for you from the official source

[Mike Teavee]

17 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

I'm looking at the aged pension from Australia and it's around 50,000 baht a month..of course you would have to have the 800k in the bank to meet the immigration requirements.

 

Not sure how much the other countries pay their aged pensioners but ...who here lives on their solely aged pension and any difference from before in terms of living in Pattaya

 

 

I know I can be done in other parts of Thailand but I'm particularly interested in Pattaya living .

There are 2-3 guys on a popular Pattaya Forum that post regular budget updates on how they live on around 50K pm & they seem to have an ok lifestyle, but I've found that around twice is about the right amount for me & I would really struggle on < 60K.   

 

I think inflation will be a big factor over the coming years, I don't know how the Aussie pension CoL increases work, on paper UK State pensioners are covered by a "Triple-Lock Guarantee" so should get an increase at least in line with inflation BUT UK State Pensions are frozen if you move to Thailand so they actually get nothing (assuming they've told the government that they're living in Thailand which not all do). 

 

 

 

[natway09]

A word of warning< there is serious talk in Government circles of not paying the old age pensiont to flolks who do no spend 6 months a year in Australia which would mean you need an abode for 6 months in Australia & budget for 2 air tickets a year

 

[Airalee]

2 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

are you talking about me ? 29 million baht ? I wish...i have about 14 million baht which would have to last 20 to 25 years...

Yes.  I’m including the ฿15,000,000 condo in your net worth….which if you’re only assuming a ROR of 2% at ฿25,000/month (฿300,000 per year) you might want to look into higher yielding investments with less risk (damage from tenants/special assessments/vacancies/etc.). Even Thai condos, if purchased correctly, would offer more than double that.

 

You have plenty of money for a comfortable lifestyle here.  You yourself said you don’t smoke and only drink a little (good for lower health insurance rates/expenditures in the long run).

 

Run the numbers through a savings drawdown calculator.  At a 3% after tax return, you could withdraw ฿1,000,000 per year for 64 years.

 

 

[Salerno]

1 minute ago, Mike Teavee said:

I don't know how the Aussie pension CoL increases work

Unlike the poor poms Aussies aren't frozen (I think they get tweaked twice a year?). That said the increases aren't much to shout about, they just got 1.6% (AU$14.80 a fortnight) which is the biggest increase in seven years.

[ozfarang]

4 minutes ago, natway09 said:

A word of warning< there is serious talk in Government circles of not paying the old age pensiont to flolks who do no spend 6 months a year in Australia which would mean you need an abode for 6 months in Australia & budget for 2 air tickets a year

 

Do you have an official source for this rumour?

[Salerno]

@Mike Teavee re Aussie pensions, I forgot to mention recent reports "About one in four Australians living on the pension are living below the poverty line." which appears to be an improvement on a 2015 OECD report that put it at 1 in 3.

 

Hence people on nothing but a pension could see living in LOS as a better quality of life than staying in Australia (assuming they can meet the financial requirements one way or another) ... until health issues kick in of course.

[DJ54]

30+ years selling electric interconnect products to Aero/Defense market.. it’s exciting to be in the 

arena and was having fun, really didn’t think about social security even though my sister said

you should retire... .. finally 67 retired 

[DefaultName]

I don't spend much daily, but I did spend up front.  Got a decent condo that I'm happy to spend time in; good internet, UK TV through an android box, washing machine, proper oven, good shower.  Even before Covid, I reckoned that, if I had a place that I enjoy being in, and that means that I didn't feel the need to go out every night, it would save me money.

 

So, spend more up front, later spend less.  Live better.

[Swimfan]

22 hours ago, Pravda said:

And I have a question? Basic pension in Australia is 50k baht a month? That's 2000 aus dollars. The government really gives that much to old people? This is much better than Canada where you only get 600-700 a month....the rest is income supplement for old people, but to qualify you have to actually live in the country.

 

Is this the same in aus? How do pensions work there?

It’s about 45k Baht a month for full singles pension you get some additional supplements if living in the country. You have to remain in the country for the first 2 years of the pension after that it is full portable depending on how many years you worked for. 37 years gives you the full amount out of country. Anything less is paid prorata if you only worked for 25 years then you would only get 25/37 out of country. 

[brianthainess]

23 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

$967.50 per fortnight with telephone..electricity supplement added around 50k Thai baht per month $967 X 2 payments

Eligible from 67yo ....allowed to own your own but no other assets although obviously you won't be able to rent out your home whilst in Thailand I guess otherwise you won't get the pension ...you' d have to rent it out in cash I guess 

 

Even if you owe your own home in Australia how do pensioners live on that ?

Better in Pattaya 

 

I may be wrong but the OZy pension includes some rent, in the UK that is claimed separately from the local council. 

[brianthainess]

7 hours ago, DefaultName said:

I don't spend much daily, but I did spend up front.  Got a decent condo that I'm happy to spend time in; good internet, UK TV through an android box, washing machine, proper oven, good shower.  Even before Covid, I reckoned that, if I had a place that I enjoy being in, and that means that I didn't feel the need to go out every night, it would save me money.

 

So, spend more up front, later spend less.  Live better.

Absolutely not having to pay rent anymore is a big benefit, cheap washing machine, oven, I can live comfortably on 10,000b a month for food, I don't eat Thai food anymore, i'm over it, now i order frozen foods, Indian, pies etc. on line. buy good bread locally, couple of large beers with dinner smoke a bit, kick back with Netflix. Lecky 1,000, water 60b, good internet 600b car 500 fuel + around 20,000 a year running costs, I love where i live and don't need to go out. Ah but then there's the wife, who though works all day still needs my support especially in this current climate.  

[LarrySR]

On 10/1/2021 at 2:31 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Don't forget the health insurance. I paid 60,000 baht last time for mine.

Health insurance for a pensioner in Thailand, in my case 65,000bt +50,000bt deductible and they don't cover pre existing conditions that are likely to creep up and not be covered...

Edited October 2, 2021 by LarrySR

[Johnny Mac]

50k a month is too tight. You want 70 if you don't want to be scraping and holding back on things you want to do/like.

[Pravda]

38 minutes ago, Johnny Mac said:

50k a month is too tight. You want 70 if you don't want to be scraping and holding back on things you want to do/like.

It all comes down to the cost of healthcare in this country. Personally I'd be able to live just fine on 50k. I'm shocked how much they charge just for consultation at better hospitals these days. The price of insurance will go through the roof for old folks and this is what will make the stay unaffordable for many.

[Johnny Mac]

9 minutes ago, Pravda said:

It all comes down to the cost of healthcare in this country. Personally I'd be able to live just fine on 50k. I'm shocked how much they charge just for consultation at better hospitals these days. The price of insurance will go through the roof for old folks and this is what will make the stay unaffordable for many.

Sure, you can live on 50k, but for me personally to enjoy life and eating what you want etc, I'd want closer to 70.

 

Insurance/healthcare is another topic.

[Pravda]

36 minutes ago, Johnny Mac said:

Sure, you can live on 50k, but for me personally to enjoy life and eating what you want etc, I'd want closer to 70.

 

Insurance/healthcare is another topic.

 

Well, you can always live like a schmuck 1 month on 30k and save that 20 for the next month. No biggie 

[Johnny Mac]

8 minutes ago, Pravda said:

 

Well, you can always live like a schmuck 1 month on 30k and save that 20 for the next month. No biggie 

30k don't think so. Your rent and bills will be circa 20 if you want anything passing as comfortable.. I'd say a tramp as opposed to a schmuck.

[NoshowJones]

On 10/1/2021 at 9:15 AM, BritManToo said:

You forgot the divorce that costs you 50%+ of everything you ever saved/owned.

When I got divorced after 12 years of marriage, my wife tried for half of everything, the sale of the house, car, money in bank, furniture etc, no kids, hardly ever worked, drank like a fish and smoked like a lum (chimney) she was forced to accept £500 while I got everything else.

[NoshowJones]

On 10/1/2021 at 11:24 AM, BritManToo said:

Yeah, but think what she probably looks like!

Just imagine it, the guy is slim, handsome, not well off financially, the wife is much older, unattractive, overweight, though well off financially and owns her own home. Does anyone really think there is a scenario like that in Thailand?  

[BritManToo]

51 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

When I got divorced after 12 years of marriage, my wife tried for half of everything, the sale of the house, car, money in bank, furniture etc, no kids, hardly ever worked, drank like a fish and smoked like a lum (chimney) she was forced to accept £500 while I got everything else.

Yeah, but back in those days 500 pounds would buy her a nice house.

[Swimfan]

4 hours ago, brianthainess said:

I may be wrong but the OZy pension includes some rent, in the UK that is claimed separately from the local council. 

You can claim rental assistance on top of the pension as a separate supplement. I believe it’s about an additional $65 a week