On 9/26/2023 at 6:04 PM, Celsius said:

Much better option to come to Thailand when you are young than struggle with all kind of disabilities once you reach the retirement age.

Much better work in the west when younger and save up for retirement. I could have stayed in Thailand 1998 when working as a dive instructor, i decided to go back and work in London, some stayed mainly because their options back in the UK were poor.

 

It is better to retire as young as possible though 40s, 50s, early 60s, of course if older not many years before the health issues kick in

16 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

One thing which does concern me if I were to stay long term in Thailand is access to reasonably priced health-care. 

This^^^

 

I think it is something many wonder about or struggle to decide about.

 

Of course you can if able self insure but if one big thing happens then the bucket is less full

If more than one big thing happens then going back...(If your able to ) is a possibility for health care.

 

We have a home in both places & was living full time in Thailand. Now we go back & forth & often think about returning full time. But what concerns you concerns me also & it is the main thing I wonder about. Super healthy at this point no meds/probs etc but still health insurance basically free here. There I would be buying International Expat insurance & that price is only destined to go one way ????

28 minutes ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

Been do this since 2008....and takes time and discipline..slowly began parting with "stuff" and now live minimalist..i live on needs and not wants...i travel here with only a carry  on and all my stuff fits in my car back home-which also double as my japanese capsule hotel ???? as i search for a place and save $$ on reverse culture shock and costs of going back home---

 

I used airbnb alot for monthly stays as new posts can be 50% off and i work in hospitality and culinary trained so can work anywhere...i have a work ethic and is all i do when i return...

 

last year i went to beach during winter..cheap studio furnished..drove car there and emptied out my stuff and was good to go---found a job 10 mins away cooking.....eat free at work--come home and chill.....save half to return to LOS and spend half on rent etc,,,,,6 there--then 6 here

and yes its a pain but ive tried to streamline it....last year put my stuff in storage and made it into a little office for the day and put my bed in my car....used 24 gym to shower or a have a 2 gallon water pump if off the grid....will head home next month to cooler temps/ car camping

 

also did delivery app work for a season so wherever i slept i could work that area as well.....$$$ and make my own hours and schedule a my daily exps were low cos im sleeping in my wagon

 

*let the flaming begin from those looking down on me with contempt fro their Ivory Towers*

Wow since 2008.  Thanks for the reply and hope you keep enjoying the 6 months here 6 there.

 

I did the car camping thing for about a year and a half prior to coming to Thailand.  I wanted to see more of the US before making the move to Thailand. For the most part the car camping was great. The US does not make it easy to live without an address. I have a mail forwarding service but that address does not seem to be acceptable for a lot of things.

I certainly don't want to work 'til I die. My father dropped dead of a heart attack in his mid 60s, 5 years after retirement, and I don't intend to repeat that if I can. Or at least I want plenty more than 5 years to myself (I'm 52 now).

 

I'm still in decent health and financially OK so I don't see the point in accruing more money when there's other things in life I'd rather explore. That doesn't mean I want to completely stop work, however. Others may want to do so and that's fine. Everyone has their own objectives in life.

 

Btw, I can't regret not coming to work in Thailand when younger because the money wasn't there in my chosen profession (IT). If it was, I'd certainly have been up for it. A relatively limited range of professions earn comparable earning potential with the West.

 

The general plan is to stop full-time work next year and come back to the UK for, say, May - Sept to do some short-term work to top up income. Being in IT, remote work is a possibility too. 

 

My flat in the UK is paid for and I plan to leave that empty rather than renting it out. I want a UK base when I need it and I don't need problem tenants or having to move stuff in and out of storage. Finding places to live at short notice is also very hard here nowadays, at least in SE UK where I reside.  Thought about AirBnB but again, too much aggro potentially. 

 

I also regularly use the NHS, which kindly pays for my medication, so retaining a UK base is a must for me.

 

Currently single with on-off relationship of several years in Bangkok. So open to possibilities. Covered the bar scene when younger. 

 

Budget wise, I'm looking at £35k pa net without needing to top up from any income and aiming to add another £10k net from work which should be achievable during a stint back in UK. Working for 4 months of the year would be enough to feel semi-retired and not feel chained to a full-time profession, for me at least. Main concerns would be persistent high inflation affecting real values of assets in the long-term. 

 

YMMV. 

On 9/26/2023 at 5:00 PM, BritManToo said:

Healthy life expectancy is 60 years, disability free life expectancy is 63 years, good luck beating the statistics.

That's true when younger, but once you reach a later age the statistics keep pushing your life expectancy out.  When I run it through various calculators (while being honest about lifestyle), now I get a life expectancy of 91 (50/50 chance of making it) and a 75% chance of making it to age 83.   And hopefully I have more than 3 years of non-disability left.

 

So in a very real sense, the more one ages, the more one has already beaten the statistics.  All the more so if one is in relatively good health.

 

Of course nothing is guaranteed and I don't begrudge any youngsters who took off for a life of adventure.  I'm just happy with my own choices and where I've ended up in this chapter thus far, and in fact grateful as many things could have gone differently and in a bad way.   So if the youngsters tell me I've done it wrong and that I should instead have followed a course where I would have had to work until I die, well that is water off a duck's back.

 

It occurs to me that people who post on an expat forum have generally also already beaten the odds.  Escaping the cradle and associated insular mindset that the West has prepared for them. 

 

Britman I very much enjoy your posts by the way. 

On 9/27/2023 at 3:55 AM, Furioso said:

You can't go back to the west. It's changed too much. 

True. Life here is nothing like it used to be when I was a child. It has not got better either. It's all about greed now, IMO.

2 hours ago, ChrisP24 said:

It occurs to me that people who post on an expat forum have generally also already beaten the odds.  Escaping the cradle and associated insular mindset that the West has prepared for them. 

I have not yet kicked the bucket, but I see nothing worth living longer for in this brave new world we live in.

In a world gone mad, only the lunatics are happy.

Well of course we're all different and we make different choices.

 

I retired early at 55, I'd saved plenty in my working career so money wasn't an issue.

 

Doing nothing was fine for the first few years, but then the boredom started to kick in.

 

I'd travelled for work extensively, I've probably slept in hotel beds more than my own bed, and seen a lot of the world in the process.

 

So travel now doesn't interest me at all, I want to be at home, in my bed, with my stuff.

So as the years went on I realized, there are only so many books you can read, so much TV you watch!

 

So at the end when our son moved to the US for college and declared after a week he was never coming back, Momma Bear distraught it was the catalyst to move.

 

Ended up with a part time job at Delta airlines, which was great since I'd spent so much time on the damn planes.

 

Now I have something to get up for in the morning, we can split our time in Thailand and US thanks to my free flights benefits working for the airline, and overall I'm a much more balanced guy.

 

Again different strokes for different folks, but 100% retirement just wasn't for me