Delayed gratification

[Startmeup]

Your 40 years old so you have circa 40 years left to live all going well.

You have a decision to make.

You can retire early now with 100k baht per month to spend.

You can work another 5-10 years after which time you have 200k per month.

It could be as high as another ten years but if you are lucky it might only be 5 years, This isn't predictable. 

Do you take the 100k per month now or put your head down and double your income in the coming years for a much more comfortable life?

Pros/Cons

[richard_smith237]

It depends if you enjoy your job or not.

 

Additionally, the issue is less binary than this simplistic choice, because IF someone has enough money to happily retire, then they are not forced to 'do their job'....    and thus, many of the frustrations are eroded when someone can just walk away at any time and the job could be more satisfying. 

 

One could also negotiate the option to take more holiday... 

 

Personally, I don't want to retire, I like my job and it keeps me sharp. 

If I could work 3 months per year for as long as I physically can, that would be great.

 

 

[The Cyclist]

You will go mental retiring at 40 and 100k a month might be a bit of a struggle at 40 and depending on your lifestyle.

 

7 minutes ago, Startmeup said:

Do you take the 100k per month now or put your head down and double your income in the coming years for a much more comfortable life?

 

You take that 100k a month and invest it in a 10 or 15 year plan and continue working.

[OneMoreFarang]

 

[OneMoreFarang]

What will you do when you "retire"?

 

Personally, I work with computers, and I play with computers and electronics. Work and hobby are almost the same.

If I wouldn't get paid for it, I would still do it - at least in general.

I don't have any retirement plans. But I only do projects which I like. So I enjoy my "work" and have no reason to stop it.

 

What will you do with your time? I guess something you like. And playing with the girls is nice but not really something you can do 24/7.

So, what will you do? And will you do it just for fun or also to make money?

 

Recently I watched a lot of videos from a YouTube channel M539. The guy worked in IT and he liked cars. Then he learned how to repair cars. Then more of the same. Now he does engine rebuilds from M5 and other expensive and complicated cars. He does it on YouTube and he enjoys it. And lots of people watch and he makes enough money to do what he likes to do.

So, what do you like to do?

 

[sirineou]

You never retire,

You just stop working for the man. and do what you want to do 

Take the money, find your muse and go for it. 

Just make sure you have enough to do the things you want to do, otherwise you would be sitting there waiting to die, 

You  can only decide what it is you want to do with the rest of your life and how much you need to do it. 

[Ben Zioner]

54 minutes ago, Startmeup said:

Your 40 years old so you have circa 40 years left to live all going well.

You have a decision to make.

You can retire early now with 100k baht per month to spend.

You can work another 5-10 years after which time you have 200k per month.

It could be as high as another ten years but if you are lucky it might only be 5 years, This isn't predictable. 

Do you take the 100k per month now or put your head down and double your income in the coming years for a much more comfortable life?

Pros/Cons

I can't imagine why someone  would retire at 40.

[topt]

56 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

I can't imagine why someone  would retire at 40.

I can but not with only 100k baht a month - what will that be worth in 10/20 years after inflation.......

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Ben Zioner said:

I can't imagine why someone  would retire at 40.

Lots of people don't like their jobs.

And to be fair, I also wouldn't like many of those jobs which other people do.

 

[scubascuba3]

if you are happy working keep working for longer 

[JoseThailand]

Normal people retire at 65-67 and live a quiet and happy life in Pattaya

[JoseThailand]

Arbeiten mach frei!

[PingRoundTheWorld]

3 hours ago, Startmeup said:

You can retire early now with 100k baht per month to spend.

You can work another 5-10 years after which time you have 200k per month.

 

You lifestyle may vary, but even today 100k/mo is bare minimum I'd recommend to someone to live in Thailand. It allows for a good living with modest entertainment. But what happens in 10 years when inflation pushes prices up and your 100k don't buy quite as much anymore? what happens in 20 years? 30 years? at age 40 you have to worry about these things if you retire that early. Even older retirees are struggling with inflation and currency fluctuations (strong baht/weak retirement currency).

 

At 200k/mo you can have a great lifestyle, and are much more future proof in case of currency fluctuations or inflation. I'd personally choose to work a few more years and retire with a clear mind than retire early with an uncertain future (imagine having to go back to work when you're 60!).

 

But it doesn't have to be now or in 10 years. You can work 5 years or however many more years you feel like - 150k/mo should be pretty solid too, it doesn't have to be double or nothing.

[ThailandRyan]

47 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

Normal people retire at 65-67 and live a quiet and happy life in Pattaya

These days a normal person, who had a decent job, can retire at age 50 and a 10 year LTR visa.....only need an 80k a year pension.

[PingRoundTheWorld]

2 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

So, what do you like to do?

I like to drink with friends and play around with girls much younger than me. How can I leverage this into a workhobby? 

(I guess the obvious answer would be open my own venue - except the kind of places I like to hang out would be expensive, and require a lot of connections/tea money/etc which I wouldn't want to deal with)

(though I sometimes do wonder- with the amount of money I and my friends spend on alcohol alone we could easily finance a bar.. maybe when we're older, lol)

[Puccini]

3 hours ago, Startmeup said:

Your 40 years old so you have circa 40 years left to live all going well.

You have a decision to make.

You can retire early now with 100k baht per month to spend...

 

For a start, consider the possibility that 100,000 Baht per month might buy considerably less in 10 years in 20 years, in  30 years.

[JoseThailand]

31 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

These days a normal person, who had a decent job, can retire at age 50 and a 10 year LTR visa.....only need an 80k a year pension.

 

What do you call a decent job? In the UK the average salary after taxes is just 2300 GBP per month. How do you retire at 50?

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

I like to drink with friends and play around with girls much younger than me. How can I leverage this into a workhobby? 

(I guess the obvious answer would be open my own venue - except the kind of places I like to hang out would be expensive, and require a lot of connections/tea money/etc which I wouldn't want to deal with)

(though I sometimes do wonder- with the amount of money I and my friends spend on alcohol alone we could easily finance a bar.. maybe when we're older, lol)

Many of us like that. But not 24/7 until the end of our life.

 

And no, don't open your own bar, even if you can afford it. It's a lot of work and often a lot of headaches to run it - even if it is busy and successful. 

[mstevens]

3 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

Normal people retire at 65-67 and live a quiet and happy life in Pattaya

 

And people who are able to retire earlier.

[BritManToo]

8 hours ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

But what happens in 10 years when inflation pushes prices up and your 100k don't buy quite as much anymore? what happens in 20 years? 30 years? at age 40 you have to worry about these things if you retire that early. 

When I arrived in 2009 I was spending 60kbht/month. Now in 2023 I'm spending under 50kbht/month.

 

So in the past 14 years inflation hasn't been significant.

 

PS. I retired at age 45

PPS. You wouldn't believe how many of my pals worked just 1 more year then died before 60. Live life now, tomorrow might never come.

Edited December 11, 2023 by BritManToo

[ThailandRyan]

10 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

 

What do you call a decent job? In the UK the average salary after taxes is just 2300 GBP per month. How do you retire at 50?

Guess in the UK folks don't make 80 to 100k a year, nor can they retire at 50 from a government job with a lifetime pension of over 80k a year like many in the US can.

[PJ71]

13 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

I can't imagine why someone  would retire at 40.

I can't imagine why anyone would continue to work if not necessary.

[NorthernRyland]

14 hours ago, Startmeup said:

You can work another 5-10 years after which time you have 200k per month.

 

What age are you likely to die at or have a seriously diminished quality of life? I would look at family history and factor that in too.

[Ben Zioner]

15 minutes ago, PJ71 said:

I can't imagine why anyone would continue to work if not necessary.

Well, could you give me your definition of "achievement". I am asking because it becomes  relevant at this stage of the conversation. Different generations may have different definitions.

[PJ71]

37 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Well, could you give me your definition of "achievement". I am asking because it becomes  relevant at this stage of the conversation. Different generations may have different definitions.

what achievment?

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, NorthernRyland said:

What age are you likely to die at or have a seriously diminished quality of life? I would look at family history and factor that in too.

Healthy Life expectancy is 61

Disability Free life expectancy is 63

 

I've found those figures fairly accurate.

[Wrwest]

16 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

Arbeiten mach frei!

True enough, 41 years professional life and now freely retired here in Thailand.

[PingRoundTheWorld]

7 hours ago, BritManToo said:

When I arrived in 2009 I was spending 60kbht/month. Now in 2023 I'm spending under 50kbht/month.

 

So in the past 14 years inflation hasn't been significant.

Has your lifestyle and/or location changed though? (less expenses?)

 

As far as I remember from other posts you live a rather relaxed lifestyle with a live-in rental gf. Naturally expenses are low with such a lifestyle. Try to go out to clubs in Bangkok/Pattaya/Phuket a few times a week  with take outs and 60k will barely last you a week.

 

What really has gone up in price in Bangkok since I moved here (2016) is booze, food, and....girls. Pattaya price increases for all of the above seems to be more moderate, but even there there's definitely been changes since.

[FruitPudding]

18 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

I can't imagine why someone  would retire at 40.

 

Perhaps they have enough money and don't want to work anymore,  duh.

[Datsun 1200]

At 40yo I would do the extra work, at 55yo+ I would start really living NOW!!

 

IH