How many millions of baht does one need to retire in Pattaya?

[georgegeorgia]

6 hours ago, geisha said:

One of my friends who is 74 , good health and owns his own condo gets by on 25 000 baht a month. He rarely drinks, does a lot of sport. That’s not counting his health insurance and banking his 800 000 B . Obviously he doesn’t go out much evenings  and is a very good cook. Lives alone, has a motorbike. It’s his choice not a necessity. He retired at 55. 
It all depends on your lifestyle. And age. 

I guess he should "up" his budget as gets towards 80 though .

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

And what's the point of being poor in Pattaya?

Far too restrictive a perspective...... it is preferable to being poor (and old) in many western countries. Accommodation and food, and general cost of living, is so much cheaper. Can't imagine a 70 year old being able to enjoy a weekly massage back home.....and the ability to sit in the sun on the promenade.

Just don't get sick.......

 

[The Old Bull]

If he gets tangled up with a bar girl ,no amount of money will be enough.

[Grumpy one]

On 1/11/2024 at 6:43 PM, petermik said:

100 million was enough 4 me......

Dong or Lak 

[WhatsNext]

12 hours ago, persimmon said:

The average UK income is £ 35 k , so you would need around £ 1 million invested .

That would provide a sustainable 120 ,000 per month . Should be plenty .

I would guess that the budget for ladies would decrease with age - nobody wants to be the oldest swinger in town .

 

When do people realize that you can eat the principal.... 1 million on 20 years basis with say 4% return will give you a monthly of : 6039 UKP

That's 268.433 baht !

To get 120.000 baht per month you only need a capital of : 446.050..

 

Please guys, learn how to use an annuity calculator and you can retire 10 years earlier than you think.

 

*edit* For those crypto screamers : Yes there are people that got rich from it, there are however more people that lost money, Bitcoin is just a database, you are buying baked air, as long as everyone is fine with that, the value will increase. If someday people wake up to the nothingness of it all, it will poof in an instant. Keep Hodling ! Daimond hands, listen to airhead influencers, buy your coin, hype, hype, hype.

[newnative]

On 1/12/2024 at 12:18 AM, JimTripper said:

I think it's safe to say not many expats in pattaya have 800k pounds, at least not the ones I know.

    800,000 pounds is only a little over 1 million US dollars.  I think quite a few expats in Pattaya easily have that much.  By that I don't mean a million in cash, but in the combined assets they have--property, stocks, savings, etc.  

    As for the thread, I think the answer would depend on what sort of guaranteed income the person in question has coming in each month.  Suzy Orman, the so-called financial guru, stated that one needs 5 million dollars to retire, and maybe 10 million.  That might be true if you have no pension or social security but certainly is not true if you do have steady income coming in.  Someone with a steady, guaranteed income of $50,000 a year will need far less in savings than someone with $15,000 a year in income, their spending being equal.

    I retired at age 52 with a pension and worked part-time until age 59, when I moved to Thailand.  I certainly did not have 5 million saved, nor 1 million. for that matter.  But I had, first, my pension, and then SS at age 62, both with COLAs--important.  That guaranteed, increasing income was enough to live on and has since been augmented with stock dividends and other investments, primarily real estate.

[WhatsNext]

4 minutes ago, newnative said:

    800,000 pounds is only a little over 1 million US dollars.  I think quite a few expats in Pattaya easily have that much.  By that I don't mean a million in cash, but in the combined assets they have--property, stocks, savings, etc.   

 

Just as about 32% of the men in Pattaya are ex marines, ex sas or ex secret service, i think that the number of cash millionaires retirees are grossly exaggerated. Most people i know, among which are a dentist, a lawyer, and several people that worked in ICT are certainly not rich and live in pensions/social security or eating their principal. 

 

Fantasy, boasting and general BS are quite big on this forum, so i would take all the 100 million baht plus for what it is, nonsense. 

[Celsius]

56 minutes ago, WhatsNext said:

 

 

 

*edit* For those crypto screamers : Yes there are people that got rich from it, there are however more people that lost money, Bitcoin is just a database, you are buying baked air, as long as everyone is fine with that, the value will increase. If someday people wake up to the nothingness of it all, it will poof in an instant. Keep Hodling ! Daimond hands, listen to airhead influencers, buy your coin, hype, hype, hype.

 

I agree in principle, but curiously people found a use for it.

 

For example, it is very restrictive to send money from Thailand. Wife registered for Dee money and it is still a bit stupid and long. She needs to transfer 3mb and there are restrictions.

 

I made her register for bitkub, she bought some stellar coins and it was in my Canadian account in less than 30 minutes and I think the total fee was less than 2 baht.

[WhatsNext]

16 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 made her register for bitkub, she bought some stellar coins and it was in my Canadian account in less than 30 minutes and I think the total fee was less than 2 baht.

 

This is one of the very few legitimate and safe, if done in a very short time frame like you did, use cases. 

[BenStark]

27 minutes ago, Celsius said:

the total fee was less than 2 baht.

 

You conveniently forget to mention the bid-ask spread and the exchange fees you have to pay at both ends.

 

And 2 baht fee for 3 million baht is just pure drivel from someone who didn't make a transaction

[georgegeorgia]

21 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

 

 

Safe to say?

 

Many don't have 800K THB for their extension of stay.

 

Stupid question anyway from the OP, I have seen this asked here so often.

 

Also, another' asking for a friend' post.

 

It depends on lifestyle, does he drink and smoke, does he want nice cars, Health insurances, does he like trips back home, chances of getting stung in a relationship.

 

A ridiculous amount of variables to form a realistic opinion or give a figure.

 

And to give the impression somebody is going to bum along in life having sex twice a week, cooking their own breakfast in a condo, blah blah blah.

 

What a mundane existence. It smacks of being in God's waiting room. Next he'll be joining those having beer for breakfast.

 

And to cap another poster, 800K GBP is a tidy amount to have saved in their fifties in cash and anybody saying different, is talking out of their ASEAN NOW ass.

 

How many times do we hear and get questions from guys surviving on pensions from many countries and nationalities?

 

I'm 61 and have a number of UK properties and a substantial house here.

 

I will continue along the path of semi retirement in Thailand whilst buying and selling properties in the UK, until it's time for me to leave this Earth.

 

@advancebooking have you got 35 million stashed?.............

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So when your 67 you won't get the government pension !!

Worked hard all your life paying taxes and won't receive a cent back.

 

[Celsius]

Just now, BenStark said:

 

You conveniently forget to mention the bid-ask spread and the exchange fees you have to pay at both ends.

 

And 2 baht fee for 3 million baht is just pure drivel from someone who didn't make a transaction

 

Stellar does not have a huge spread. You can set a limit order and even make a small profit.

 

I did not say she transferred 3 million baht, you did. I would not make such a huge transaction in case I f up a wallet address. The beauty of stellar is that you can make many small transactions for a ridiculously small fee. 

[newnative]

1 hour ago, WhatsNext said:

 

Just as about 32% of the men in Pattaya are ex marines, ex sas or ex secret service, i think that the number of cash millionaires retirees are grossly exaggerated. Most people i know, among which are a dentist, a lawyer, and several people that worked in ICT are certainly not rich and live in pensions/social security or eating their principal. 

 

Fantasy, boasting and general BS are quite big on this forum, so i would take all the 100 million baht plus for what it is, nonsense. 

     As I said in my post, I am not saying they are CASH MILLIONAIRES.  I am not saying they have a million dollars in cash lying around.  What I am saying is that there are lots of Pattaya expats that have a million dollars in combined assets, which can include property, stocks, bonds, personal property, mutual funds, bitcoin, gold, and, yes, some cash.  Total assets. 

    If you are an older American and own your home, you are likely a good way to having a million dollars in assets just with your home, let alone what else you have saved.  I have 5 siblings, all homeowners, and they all likely have a million in total assets.  And, no, they did not have exotic jobs.  They were in teaching, school secretary, worked for a builder, real estate agent, accountant, etc.  Their spouses also worked. 

    We're the generation that had the 'Greatest Generation' as parents, who were thrifty from the Depression, were hard workers, saved, and many passed their wealth to their children--including my parents.  I'm not saying what I wrote applies to everyone but it does to many--including all the American friends and relatives I know.   I'm also not blowing smoke.  The average net worth of Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 is $1,217,700.  

     I doubt that 32% of the men in Pattaya are ex Marines, SAS, or secret service.  I also doubt that your lawyer, dentist friend, and so on have reached retirement age and have little in the way of assets other than their pensions and SS.

      

[Scouse123]

22 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

So when your 67 you won't get the government pension !!

Worked hard all your life paying taxes and won't receive a cent back.

 

 

Why?

 

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/working-past-state-pension-age

[georgegeorgia]

Not sure where the article address what I say 

Are you saying in the UK there is no assets test to get the government pension at 67?

 

So I can own a investment property or have a million dollars in the bank and still be eligible for the old age pension?

 

[noobexpat]

1 hour ago, georgegeorgia said:

Not sure where the article address what I say 

Are you saying in the UK there is no assets test to get the government pension at 67?

 

So I can own a investment property or have a million dollars in the bank and still be eligible for the old age pension?

 

 

Yes its not means tested unlike australia.

It may be in the future but its a political hot topic.

I have accrued almost a full state pension but i plan on never receiving a penny ....in 20 years time, anything can happen.

[shdmn]

15 hours ago, BenStark said:

 

The one and only real crypto expert on this forum, you find him in the crypto forum has been predicting that once the crypto ETF were approved, it would catapult BTC to 200K,

 

The ETF's were approved by the SEC on Wednesday, and the red dot in the screenshot is when they started trading yesterday. My guess is that the elastic in the catapult broke

 

 

 

There is no such thing as a crypto expert.  That is like calling a degenerate gambler a gambling expert.  On the technical side understanding how it works yes, but not crypto 'investing' if you want to call it that.

[shdmn]

3 hours ago, BenStark said:

 

You conveniently forget to mention the bid-ask spread and the exchange fees you have to pay at both ends.

 

And 2 baht fee for 3 million baht is just pure drivel from someone who didn't make a transaction

The middlemen charging transaction fees are the only ones consistently making money from crypto.  Not including all the scammers creating their own sheitcoins.

 

It's hilarious that something constantly being touted as a way to do transactions without paying bank fees ends up costing a lot more in transaction fees.  Like a LOT more.  It's not even close!

[WhatsNext]

5 hours ago, newnative said:

     As I said in my post, I am not saying they are CASH MILLIONAIRES. 

 

I think all of your friends are lucky to be American then maybe. Most retirees in Thailand are from Europe/UK and we have substantially less to spend. Salaries are a lot lower and most countries do not have massive over appreciation of house values.

 

Again, happy for you but it's sadly not the rule if you aren't American, which is 95% of the world

[noobexpat]

I expect to hit 100m baht in mid 50's. 

I may peak at 200m before i need to commence an investment draw-down strategy because i will have decades of cash reserves.

I'm pre-inheritance too and the old folks have +£1m so...

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, The Old Bull said:

If he gets tangled up with a bar girl ,no amount of money will be enough.

If he gets loved up, or is the type easily manipulated, there certainly are dangers in that category. 

[BritManToo]

On 1/12/2024 at 12:50 AM, MangoKorat said:

Hmmmm maybe you've been having sex with the wrong gender .

If you think sex is a pain in the bum, you're probably doing it wrong!

 

Rent at 30kbht/month seems massively out of line for a single guy.

My 3 bedroom house costs 10kbht/month.

 

As for income, massive boasters on this forum, the reality is most have nothing but their state pension.

When the Brit DWP pays out a week late, look at all the complaint posts on these forums ..........

Most people seem to be living hand to mouth, pension doesn't arrive on time and they don't eat.

(Brit pension is 800GBP/4 weeks, that's about $1,000US/month)

[newnative]

15 hours ago, WhatsNext said:

 

I think all of your friends are lucky to be American then maybe. Most retirees in Thailand are from Europe/UK and we have substantially less to spend. Salaries are a lot lower and most countries do not have massive over appreciation of house values.

 

Again, happy for you but it's sadly not the rule if you aren't American, which is 95% of the world

     All my friends in Pattaya are not American; most are not.  I also know British, Swiss, German, Canadian, Irish, Dutch, Australian, and others from other countries and most are what would be considered well-off.  It's a bit ridiculous to say only American expats in Thailand have any money.

    Not sure your house values statement holds water.   UK house values seem to be appreciating nicely--which is often crowed about on Asean Now by some of our British expats.  From an average of 150,000 pounds in 2005 they have risen to an average of 290,000 pounds in 2023.  

     Expats buying property in Thailand generally do not get a mortgage, they pay cash.  So, if they buy a condo for 7MB, they're plunking down around $200,000 in cash.  A house for 10MB, about $285,000 in cash. Since they are likely not leaving themselves destitute with the purchases, they are in possession of a fair amount of funds.  Of course, not everyone fits this description but there are significant numbers who do, from more countries than just the US..

[WhatsNext]

6 minutes ago, newnative said:

 Expats buying property in Thailand generally do not get a mortgage, they pay cash.  

 

Very true i have a house myself in Hua Hin and this is paid in cash of course, i do know some guys that borrow on their wife's name. However what i mean to say is that this is certainly not the majority of the expats in Thailand. Quite a lot of them don't have the 800k THB in the bank for the retirement visa  and live on a basic EU pension which can be anywhere from 900 to about 1200 Euro if you are single. 

 

Like everywhere there are rich(er) and poor(er) people around, and in my years in Pattaya i certainly didn't get the impression that the majority had a lot of cash lying around. Most retirees live in places like the Markland, rooms in soi bukhao and condo's in Jomtien like the VT series. Rents are 12-20k and the rest is spend on drinking, girls and hanging out with the boys.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, newnative said:

Expats buying property in Thailand generally do not get a mortgage, they pay cash.  So, if they buy a condo for 7MB, they're plunking down around $200,000 in cash.  A house for 10MB, about $285,000 in cash. Since they are likely not leaving themselves destitute with the purchases, they are in possession of a fair amount of funds.  Of course, not everyone fits this description but there are significant numbers who do, from more countries than just the US..

Would point out there's plenty of houses in Thailand selling for 1-2Mbht, that's $30,000-$60,000US.

Not sure why you think the average expat would blow 10Mbht on a house in someone else's name, in a country they have no right to live in.

 

This is a strange forum where everyone is rich, has big houses, young wives that love them for themselves, never pay for sex, were all educated and successful businessmen. Reality is, I've rarely met any foreigners that managed better than finishing high school, or worked in better jobs than postman/painter/locksmith/insurance salesmen, or live in anything better than a cheap one room condo.

 

One question I do ask myself ....... all you guys that never pay for sex, don't take drugs, don't smoke, don't go to bars, don't drink alcohol ......... why are you all living in Pattaya? 

[shdmn]

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

If you think sex is a pain in the bum, you're probably doing it wrong!

 

Rent at 30kbht/month seems massively out of line for a single guy.

My 3 bedroom house costs 10kbht/month.

 

As for income, massive boasters on this forum, the reality is most have nothing but their state pension.

When the Brit DWP pays out a week late, look at all the complaint posts on these forums ..........

Most people seem to be living hand to mouth, pension doesn't arrive on time and they don't eat.

(Brit pension is 800GBP/4 weeks, that's about $1,000US/month)

Where are you renting a 3 bedroom house for 10k?  No way in Pattaya anywhere near the beach.

 

Context matters, you can't just make blanket statements like that as if rent is similar no matter where you live.  Single guys generally want to be in Pattaya closer to the action and near the beach,  and that costs more.

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, shdmn said:

Where are you renting a 3 bedroom house for 10k?  No way in Pattaya anywhere near the beach.  On the darkside or way out in Na Jomtien or Bang Saray somewhere maybe....although that is getting harder to find too.

 

Context matters, you can't just make blanket statements like that as if rent is similar no matter where you live.  Single guys generally want to be closer to the action and near the beach,  and that costs more.

5Km outside any Thai town will get you a house for 10kbht/month (or less).

Obviously excluding Bangkok and the islands.

[shdmn]

43 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Would point out there's plenty of houses in Thailand selling for 1-2Mbht, that's $30,000-$60,000US.

Not sure why you think the average expat would blow 10Mbht on a house in someone else's name, in a country they have no right to live in.

 

This is a strange forum where everyone is rich, has big houses, young wives that love them for themselves, never pay for sex, were all educated and successful businessmen. Reality is, I've rarely met any foreigners that managed better than finishing high school, or worked in better jobs than postman/painter/locksmith/insurance salesmen, or live in anything better than a cheap one room condo.

 

One question I do ask myself ....... all you guys that never pay for sex, don't take drugs, don't smoke, don't go to bars, don't drink alcohol ......... why are you all living in Pattaya? 

They are around.  I know a few of them.  Most seem to be trust fund babies though.  They usually try pass themselves off as being independently successful.  Pretending they made it all through investing or running a successful business or whatever, but I can usually see right through that.

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, shdmn said:

Just because they are not associating with you or are not frequenting the establishments you do doesn't mean they are not around.  I know a few of them.    

Were they former navy seals or special forces?

[PJ71]

On 1/13/2024 at 4:13 AM, Celsius said:

For example, it is very restrictive to send money from Thailand. Wife registered for Dee money and it is still a bit stupid and long. She needs to transfer 3mb and there are restrictions.

 

Not really, you can send 2m or less overseas per time without any restrictions which soon adds up if you're doing it once a week or whatever.