Do you think (most) financially struggling western retirees are stupid for not retiring abroad?

[BE88]

Just now, transam said:

You sound like a very boring individual..........

Yes you are right I am bored in Thailand now

[bignok]

2 minutes ago, transam said:

You sound like a very boring individual..........

You live in Ubon, one of the most boring cities in the world 555

[Lacessit]

29 minutes ago, bignok said:

Nong Khai has 3,500 baht a month rooms. Get yourself a 30yo gf. 

I would rather pay more for the room, and less for a 50 yo GF.

 

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, bignok said:

You live in Ubon, one of the most boring cities in the world 555

To you may be, but then again, perhaps you are the most boring bloke on the forum to think that, eh.....😘.................🤭

[BE88]

6 minutes ago, transam said:

To you may be, but then again, perhaps you are the most boring bloke on the forum to think that, eh.....😘.................🤭

many expats here in Thailand are stupid .......you are not the exception

[Moonlover]

40 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I don't think they are stupid, just unable to uproot themselves. My guess is people who retire outside their homeland are far more likely to have travelled extensively. 

Yes I agree with that. I wonder how many of folks on this forum are ex military and have acquired the 'travel bug' as I call it. I think ones upbringing has some influence as well. My dad was in construction and was for ever moving on to the next project, with the family in tow of course, usually one project behind him. We never lived in a house for longer than 5 years.

 

After many, many years I can still remember possibly the happiest person I ever met. His name was Alister and he was a sheep farmer on the Isle of Sky in north west Scotland. He was in his 60s I guess and had only left the island twice in his life and even they were only brief excursions.

 

I think 'happy' isn't quite the right word for Alister. Contented would be more accurate. He wanted nothing more than a warm fire in the winter nights and a wee dram or two of an evening. Few people seem to reach that state of contentment with their lives.

 

 

[transam]

1 minute ago, BE88 said:

Many expats here in Thailand are stupid .......You are not the exception.

Don't worry, you made a mistake coming here, I understand your attitude towards others, but, I am sure we all wish you luck with your dilemma......👍..........😉

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, EchoPlus said:

Not everything is about money or purchase power.

Most people want to stay in the place they call home.

You need a peculiar mindset to go die in a country where most people don't even speak your language, infrastructure sucks and your family ain't around. Most people retiring in Thailand are in a way or another, deep down inside, sad and lonely individuals. I mean no disrespect. It's just the truth.

You are right, and wrong. Most people do prefer to stay where they are, out of habit.

It's not a peculiar mindset. Different, yes. I would die of boredom in Australia. 

I speak Thai quite competently.

Thailand probably has the best infrastructure of any SE Asian country, except Singapore.

Many retirees here have Thai families they support, and get support in return. Your "sad and lonely" retirees occupy bar stools, I doubt they are a majority, albeit most visible.

 

[Ralf001]

6 minutes ago, transam said:

Don't worry, you made a mistake coming here, I understand your attitude towards others, but, I am sure we all wish you luck with your dilemma......👍..........😉

BE88 aint to far wrong though after all You are the reason why shampoo has instructions.

[bignok]

13 minutes ago, BE88 said:

many expats here in Thailand are stupid .......you are not the exception

He's the worst.

[bignok]

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

BE88 aint to far wrong though after all You are the reason why shampoo has instructions.

5555

[BE88]

9 minutes ago, transam said:

Don't worry, you made a mistake coming here, I understand your attitude towards others, but, I am sure we all wish you luck with your dilemma......👍..........😉

Surely you are talking about yourself, you are a Freudian case.😁

[bignok]

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

You are right, and wrong. Most people do prefer to stay where they are, out of habit.

It's not a peculiar mindset. Different, yes. I would die of boredom in Australia. 

I speak Thai quite competently.

Thailand probably has the best infrastructure of any SE Asian country, except Singapore.

Many retirees here have Thai families they support, and get support in return. Your "sad and lonely" retirees occupy bar stools, I doubt they are a majority, albeit most visible.

 

Yes Oz is boring. Its only fun til age 30 really. Thailand is just way better for older guys. The average Oz woman over 30 gets beefy and has her eyes on money only.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

BE88 aint to far wrong though after all You are the reason why shampoo has instructions.

Oh hello Ralphy, long time no see, but, I don't have any hair.........

[QuantumQuandry]

I was a runaway kid.  When I was young, I did worse than live out of a car.  I slept in other people's abandoned cars.  Crashed on people's couches, sometimes, when I could.  Slept in halfway houses until I hit the limit of how long I could be there.  Crashed in the basements of some scary, creepy, weird ass people, including a guy who dissected roadkill in his basement for no particular reason.

 

Yet, honestly, it wasn't that bad.  Spent my days at a community center shooting pool and playing ping pong.  Went to fast food places at the end of shift and asked if they were throwing away any unsold food.  My only responsibility was to secure somewhere to sleep and something to eat and I had all day to do it.

 

At any point, I could have chosen to go into a foster home and had people take care of my survival needs...but I never had to and I didn't find surviving on the street all that hard.  I mean, there was the uncertainty of where you would sleep or what you would eat...but I never felt any real despair.

 

And sure, an old guy might have health problems that I didn't.  But he could also take advantage of the many social welfare programs (food stamps, SSDI, section 8 housing, etc.).  As a runaway, any encounter with the government could end in me being carted off to a foster home, which I did not want.

 

My experiences lead me to feel that being poor in America is not all that bad.  I imagine that being poor in another country where I can't speak the language, I have no citizen rights and they don't really want me there...would be a much worse option.

Edited October 21, 2023 by QuantumQuandry

[transam]

1 minute ago, BE88 said:

Surely you are talking about yourself, you are a Freudian case.😁

Wow, I am famous........

[bignok]

3 minutes ago, transam said:

Oh hello Ralphy, long time no see, but, I don't have any hair.........

So why are you still using shampoo? 5555

[Lacessit]

12 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Yes I agree with that. I wonder how many of folks on this forum are ex military and have acquired the 'travel bug' as I call it. I think ones upbringing has some influence as well. My dad was in construction and was for ever moving on to the next project, with the family in tow of course, usually one project behind him. We never lived in a house for longer than 5 years.

 

After many, many years I can still remember possibly the happiest person I ever met. His name was Alister and he was a sheep farmer on the Isle of Sky in north west Scotland. He was in his 60s I guess and had only left the island twice in his life and even they were only brief excursions.

 

I think 'happy' isn't quite the right word for Alister. Contented would be more accurate. He wanted nothing more than a warm fire in the winter nights and a wee dram or two of an evening. Few people seem to reach that state of contentment with their lives.

 

 

My GF's father had never been outside his village until two years before he died at age 88. The neighbouring rice fields are as far as he got.

They say travel broadens the mind, it likely also fires the imagination.

[scottiejohn]

25 minutes ago, transam said:

To you may be, but then again, perhaps you are the most boring bloke on the forum to think that, eh.....😘.................🤭

While I agree with you I also believe there are a few (about 12?) other contenders for that title.

 

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, bignok said:

So why are you still using shampoo? 5555

There is pubic hair, and soap can be irritating.

[Ralf001]

9 minutes ago, transam said:

Oh hello Ralphy, long time no see, but, I don't have any hair.........

Obviously the shampoo bit went over your head but hey,  I don’t have the time nor the crayons to explain it to you.

Edited October 21, 2023 by Ralf001

[bignok]

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

My GF's father had never been outside his village until two years before he died at age 88. The neighbouring rice fields are as far as he got.

They say travel broadens the mind, it likely also fires the imagination.

My gf's parents live 1 hour from 2 famous attractions, never been. She asked me to drive them there. Yet they are happy people.

[transam]

7 minutes ago, bignok said:

So why are you still using shampoo? 5555

Eeeer, BN is confused, yet again, poor fellow........🥴

[EchoPlus]

20 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

You are right, and wrong. Most people do prefer to stay where they are, out of habit.

It's not a peculiar mindset. Different, yes. I would die of boredom in Australia. 

I speak Thai quite competently.

Thailand probably has the best infrastructure of any SE Asian country, except Singapore.

Many retirees here have Thai families they support, and get support in return. Your "sad and lonely" retirees occupy bar stools, I doubt they are a majority, albeit most visible.

 

Not what I've witnessed but maybe I'm biased.

I don't have any solid data on this so... :)

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

I don't think they are stupid, just unable to uproot themselves. My guess is people who retire outside their homeland are far more likely to have travelled extensively. 

I think living abroad contentedly or even happily takes a certain disposition and mindset -- including the willingness to break out of one's traditional routines and have new experiences, being able to adapt to changed environments and customs, and a willingness to interact with others who have different backgrounds from yourself.

 

I'd never call people who make a different choice from the one I've made to live abroad as "stupid." But every time we make a choice to do something or not do something, there are consequences that may be good or bad in varying degrees.

 

I think too many would-be western retirees never even consider or weigh the pros and cons of living abroad. It's an option that at least deserves informed consideration.

 

Edited October 21, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Bobthegimp]

This is a good thread, but why did the OP omit the most obvious reason people don't uproot and move across the planet, which would be ties with friends and family?  

 

One poster alluded to subsidized housing. The wait lists for that option are years long and the rent still eats up most of their income.  Many social housing projects are dangerous as hell and the only thing more vulnerable than a senior citizen is a cripple. A crippled senior is the ultimate meat animal in that food chain.  

 

I believe that moving to Thailand would give those people a much better standard of living.  Stating that people must have 800k to deposit is ignoring the visa agent option.  The hundreds of passports I saw at one agent's office last year gives a good indication that the agent option isn't going to disappear any time soon.  Jomtien won't accept my income letter and I wasn't prepared to transfer 800k out of an investment account to have it sitting in a dead account over here, so the visa agent and IO won the day.  The service was so good that I'll use the same route again this year. 12k for a renewal is peanuts. 

 

  As for medical issues one would have to question why someone who is sick and dirt poor would want to prolong that existence instead of taking whatever joy they can up front in exchange for a shorter life.  Canadians now have the option of going back home and having our wonderful government euthanize them. 

[Ralf001]

2 minutes ago, Bobthegimp said:

Canadians now have the option of going back home and having our wonderful government euthanize them. 

Be better to piss the air ticket money up the wall and self euthanize here when you feel the time has come.

[mania]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

 

People on low level social security often have a check of  1000 or so. Do the math.

Sure it's different if a person owns their home clear.

Yeah but that same math works both ways.

Anyone "retiring" to place like Thailand on 1k a month or so as you say is nuts++

 

That person is in no way financially able to pay for medical care If or more likely when he will need it. Que the I can fly always home while having a stroke crowd 😉

 

Back in America that group with a 1k SS check qualify for EBT/SNAP for food Plus United health care gives them another $175 a month for anything

 

Plus Medicaid pays their Part B *& Part D

 

Then to top it off Social Security Supplemental Insurance pay them the difference  up to X level (but they cannot leave the country for more than 30 days at a time)

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-17-008.pdf

 

So yeah its not as dire a pic as you paint.

Believe it or not most of the car/van living crowds want that life

(Gawd knows why but they do 😅 )

Edited October 21, 2023 by mania

[Bobthegimp]

25 minutes ago, QuantumQuandry said:

My experiences lead me to feel that being poor in America is not all that bad.  I imagine that being poor in another country where I can't speak the language, I have no citizen rights and they don't really want me there...would be a much worse option.

The point is that an income that qualifies as poverty in the US is far from poverty over here.  If you're resilient enough to survive what you did, you'll figure out the language and find your footing over here.  The social welfare payments in the West are being devoured by inflation.  

[Michael Klaxxon]

I was watching a vid on Youtube the other day.

Female expat (Russian I believe) was talking about the kind of guys she met in Phuket.

 

3 categories:

1) Guys that are losers back home

2) Guys with mental health issues

3) Guys that are cheaters

 

I think she is mostly right.

Edited October 21, 2023 by Michael Klaxxon