Why are UK expats still doing the 800K deposit for retirement extensions ?

[brianthainess]

3 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

The topic of "what happens to funds in Thai bank after death" 

without a Thai will in place has many opinions.

Threads in "Finance Forum" debate options

The Krungsri bank gave me a very detailed reply in an email on how my wife can get my money after I die, even with no will in place. I can't remember all the details but.

Take my death cert to local family court

wait for probate letter, (maybe up to 3mths.)

Take letter, death cert, my bank book, PP to them.

As I posted on the many forums before.

 

 

[DrJack54]

1 minute ago, brianthainess said:

The Krungsri bank gave me a very detailed reply in an email on how my wife can get my money after I die

Very important word in your post is ....." WIFE" 

Many of us have relationship without the W word.

[shortstop2]

3 hours ago, Henryford said:

I get .9% with Krungsri here

Same as me.

 

My alternatives:

 

1) My Social Security direct deposited to Bangkok Bank this coming month should be about 68K but there could easily be a month where it's only 64K.  I guess I could supplement with an additional Wise transfer.

 

2) Agent, but don't want a bankbook showing less than 800K for 3 months prior/after.

 

3) SCB at 1.5% but don't like the idea of not having a bankbook to show Immigration 

 

I could currently earn 5.5% in the USA which nets out to a 4.6% difference which has meaningful opportunity cost of 36,800 baht which ain't chump change.

 

But for simplicity and peace of mind, I'm continuing to use the 800K method.  I also want some of my money in Thailand as I've been having problems setting up transfers.  I realize that this may not make economic sense.

[jerrymahoney]

55 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

If and Might. When my father died with a will, and owing no money to anyone, it still went for probate. 

I do not know about UK. In USofA it is a common practice at banks and investment  P-O-D and no probate required. 

[CharlieKo]

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

£18039 today.

Indeed, you are right. 

[brianthainess]

1 minute ago, jerrymahoney said:

I do not know about UK. In USofA it is a common practice at banks and investment  P-O-D and no probate required. 

So what if the deceased owed money to someone? which is the point of probate, does that mean taking the beneficiary to court to try and get their money?  

[Pumpuynarak]

49 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

and the associated problem with getting 12 proof's of Foreign Transfer from banks (or maybe multiple banks if you use Wise and they don't deposit directly into your bank) due to only Bangkok Bank using FTT identifiers, also in the case of Bangkok Bank timing annual statements, ordering it early enough to be in time for your renewal, but also to be still valid when you go.

I have had zero problems with complying to the monthly income requirements either with Bangkok bank or my IO for as long as it has been necessary.

[Skallywag]

3 hours ago, anchadian said:

THB800,000 divide by say 44 baht to the pound = 18,180 pounds earning interest in a UK bank at say 7% = GBP1,272 (THB56,000) yearly compared to using an agent say 12,500 baht yearly, gives a saving of approx THB43,500 annually.

Now which one would you choose?

In the USA Bank of America highest interest is 0.45% .  England must be doing a lot better with the post pandemic inflation than the USA.  

[NoDisplayName]

4 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said:

It does'nt make any financial sense to me other than if you don't have 65K monthly income.

Sure, you could take out your 800K, pay the fee to convert to pounds, pay the fee to send it back to the UK.   You'll earn a bit more interest.

 

You can withdraw 65K equivalent each month, pay a fee to convert to baht, pay a monthly fee to send it back to Thailand.

 

You can pay whatever tax on interest earned in the UK.  In the end, it'll probably be a wash, but with the added benefit of worrying all year that the changes in Thai tax law means you might maybe be taxed on all incoming funds.

 

And when one or more of your monthly transfers aren't registered as FTT, then you get to attempt to prove foreign source, or pay an agent 20K.

[pomchop]

1 minute ago, Skallywag said:

In the USA Bank of America highest interest is 0.45% .  England must be doing a lot better with the post pandemic inflation than the USA.  

all sorts of online usa banks paying 5% interest no min no problem....google will find lots of choices...the big boa, wells fargo etc are the ones that pay practically nothing and get away with it because people are too lazy or too ignorant to set up an online savings account ...

[jerrymahoney]

9 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

So what if the deceased owed money to someone? which is the point of probate, does that mean taking the beneficiary to court to try and get their money?  

Upon proof of death, the bank or investment bank would give the money to whomever was listed as the beneficiary(ies).

[NoDisplayName]

2 minutes ago, Skallywag said:

In the USA Bank of America highest interest is 0.45% .  England must be doing a lot better with the post pandemic inflation than the USA.  

There are online banks with FDIC protection offering 5%.

High yield ETF's will get you 7%.

 

[Pumpuynarak]

2 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

Sure, you could take out your 800K,

and pray tell me how you can take out the 800K from your Thai bank account when its being used to meet the extension requirements ?

[jerrymahoney]

33 minutes ago, 5davidhen1 said:

Please can someone explain the THB 65,000 pm option?

I thought that the funds had to be shown/proven to come from pension receipts, but from reading this thread, it appears to be OK to simply show proof of a monthly transfer into BBK.

It is up to the individual IMM officer whether they request a source-of-funds letter. For me it has been some do; some don't.

[pomchop]

So for all the people who pay an agent to set up an account showing they have 800 k when in fact it is a fake account done by the agent.....what is to say that some Thai govt official doesn't decide to do a bit of investigation and invalidate the visa that were obtained by this method?

 

I do not know but i suspect there are thousands of people living in Thailand right now with visas that were gotten with this scam of a way to get around the rules.  Seems a sure fire way to get deported if for example you got into some kind of trouble with thai cops and they wanted to take a good hard look at your visa.  A simple check with the bank and your account history would easily expose that you did not really have the 800 k in the bank as required.  So what would the penalty be?  Who knows but i doubt it would be the agent that would be held accountable.

 

 

[Pumpuynarak]

2 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

It is up to the individual IMM officer whether they request a source-of-funds letter. For me it has been some do; some don't.

Mine does and i just take any monthly pension pay advice which my private pension provider provides me with, no problem.

[NoDisplayName]

1 minute ago, Pumpuynarak said:

and pray tell me how you can take out the 800K from your Thai bank account when its being used to meet the extension requirements ?

Make a year of 65K deposits or pay an agent for one extension.

 

I don't know the specifics of combining income and bank deposit.  Is it possible to take out the 400K two months after extension and begin monthly transfers then?

 

Maybe ask the nice folks at immigration what your options are for moving from 800K in the bank to monthly transfers.

[Pumpuynarak]

2 minutes ago, pomchop said:

So for all the people who pay an agent to set up an account showing they have 800 k when in fact it is a fake account done by the agent.....what is to say that some Thai govt official doesn't decide to do a bit of investigation and invalidate the visa that were obtained by this method?

 

I do not know but i suspect there are thousands of people living in Thailand right now with visas that were gotten with this scam of a way to get around the rules.  Seems a sure fire way to get deported if for example you got into some kind of trouble with thai cops and they wanted to take a good hard look at your visa.  A simple check with the bank and your account history would easily expose that you did not really have the 800 k in the bank as required.  So what would the penalty be?  Who knows but i doubt it would be the agent that would be held accountable.

 

 

BINGO ????

[jerrymahoney]

Just now, Pumpuynarak said:

Mine does and i just take any monthly pension pay advice which my private pension provider provides me with, no problem.

Yes. I have one whether asked or not 3x total.

[david555]

5 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said:

I pose this question guys cos i'm seeing UK bank deposit interest rates up to as much as 7% when the interest here in Thailand is no more than 2% so i believe. It does'nt make any financial sense to me other than if you don't have 65K monthly income.

 

Now i appreciate if you don't have the 800K or the 65K monthly income you're f***** and have to use an agent or a helpful IO

 

Any thoughts/comments guys ? 

Probably for peace of mind , more easy if you have 800K , avoiding changing exchange rates who can make your local I.O. rejecting ext. because a few baht short , same count for the transferring organism by   not coding it as coming from abroad  .....

.

800K once in 1 year , keep it safe and no problems anymore ......as long you stay Ret. ext. in LOS or else every month tension in the monthly system , for a little % more

 

Each at their own !

[brianthainess]

38 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

Upon proof of death, the bank or investment bank would give the money to whomever was listed as the beneficiary(ies).

You didn't answer my question. How do you get back money you are owed from the deceased ???

[Pumpuynarak]

10 minutes ago, david555 said:

Probably for peace of mind , more easy if you have 800K , avoiding changing exchange rates who can make your local I.O. rejecting ext. because a few baht short , same count for the transferring organism by   not coding it as coming from abroad  .....

.

800K once in 1 year , keep it safe and no problems anymore ......as long you stay Ret. ext. in LOS or else every month tension in the monthly system , for a little % more

 

Each at their own !

I appreciate and understand what you say but i have no problems whatsoever with complying with the 65K monthly income requirements in every respect and never have had, now surely i can't be the only one ?

The whole purpose of my posting this topic was to highlight the UK deposit % rates compared with the Thailand deposit % rates and the fact that it makes financial sense to have your 800K in a UK account and use the income method for your extension if you are able to do so.

 

My money will remain in a UK account attracting a far better % interest rate and i just keep a few hundred thousand in my Thai account for wifey's benefit when i pop me clogs until she can claim her widows pension.

 

My thinking just seems to make financial sense to me but i'm not a millionaire who does'nt GAF lol 

[brianthainess]

37 minutes ago, pomchop said:

what is to say that some Thai govt official doesn't decide to do a bit of investigation and invalidate the visa that were obtained by this method?

What and loose there bribe income. The question is also why can the BKB get away with it? 

[jerrymahoney]

8 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

You didn't answer my question. How do you get back money you are owed from the deceased ???

With a properly filed P-O-D, It is not the bank's concern. Maybe you should have sued the deceased when he/she was alive.

[brianthainess]

4 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

With a properly filed P-O-D, It is not the bank's concern. Maybe you should have sued the deceased when he/she was alive.

That makes no sense IMO, Say a builder has nearly finished a big job on your house, and then you pop your clogs, how does he get his money back.?

[NoDisplayName]

5 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

That makes no sense IMO, Say a builder has nearly finished a big job on your house, and then you pop your clogs, how does he get his money back.?

You signed a contract.

The estate pays.

[jerrymahoney]

It is important to note that a POD is more powerful than a last will and testament. If a POD account has one individual named as the beneficiary, and the will of the account holder lists another individual as a beneficiary, the POD-designated beneficiary prevails. The named beneficiary on the POD account is not required to honor the account holder’s last will and testament, which makes it imperative that the individual ensures to change or cancel the POD beneficiary if they have someone else listed on their will.

 

A POD account is very similar to a transfer-on-death (TOD) arrangement but deals with a person’s bank assets instead of their stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other investment assets.
 Both POD and TOD agreements offer quick means of dispersing assets, as both avoid the probate process, which can take several months.

 

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/payableondeath.asp

[brianthainess]

3 minutes ago, NoDisplayName said:

You signed a contract.

The estate pays.

IF you signed a contract. To late if the benefactor has taken the money and run init.

[david555]

26 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

I appreciate and understand what you say but i have no problems whatsoever with complying with the 65K monthly income requirements in every respect and never have had, now surely i can't be the only one ?

The whole purpose of my posting this topic was to highlight the UK deposit % rates compared with the Thailand deposit % rates and the fact that it makes financial sense to have your 800K in a UK account and use the income method for your extension if you are able to do so.

 

My money will remain in a UK account attracting a far better % interest rate and i just keep a few hundred thousand in my Thai account for wifey's benefit when i pop me clogs until she can claim her widows pension.

 

My thinking just seems to make financial sense to me but i'm not a millionaire who does'nt GAF lol 

Short said ....i  find the extra % not worth the hassle , but that is only my opinion , i understand this can be different for other people 

[NoDisplayName]

14 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

IF you signed a contract. To late if the benefactor has taken the money and run init.

Wait, what?  You asked what happens if a house owner has a heart attack and dies during an ongoing building project.  Where does that equate to "taking the money and running"?

 

IF you didn't sign a contract, then good lucky.  IF there is no contract, your legal recourse is limited.

Edited September 26, 2023 by NoDisplayName