How to retire in Thailand

[Felton Jarvis]

8 hours ago, PeachCH said:

The 800k in the bank or the 65k monthly income you actually don't need, when an agent will be in charge of your retirement visa. 

Many retired falangs, especially in Pattaya, couldn't stay in Thailand without the "agent visa option". (Costs around 20k)

I pay my agent (who is also my landlady). 14 thousand baht a year to renew my extension of stay.

[Felton Jarvis]

8 hours ago, PeachCH said:

The 800k in the bank or the 65k monthly income you actually don't need, when an agent will be in charge of your retirement visa. 

Many retired falangs, especially in Pattaya, couldn't stay in Thailand without the "agent visa option". (Costs around 20k)

I pay my agent (who is also my landlady). 14 thousand baht a year to renew my extension of stay.

[Felton Jarvis]

8 hours ago, PeachCH said:

The 800k in the bank or the 65k monthly income you actually don't need, when an agent will be in charge of your retirement visa. 

Many retired falangs, especially in Pattaya, couldn't stay in Thailand without the "agent visa option". (Costs around 20k)

I pay my agent (who is also my landlady). 14 thousand baht a year to renew my extension of stay.

[FritsSikkink]

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Thailand is cheap as chips!

If you eat very cheap food and drink very cheap drinks, yes. If you like the finer things in life, it will be a lot more expensive

[G_Money]

1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

Why would one brag about how much they spend? Does it impress anyone perhaps? Spending 3000 baht a month at 7-11 means a whole lot of junk food, unless you do much of your shopping for oil, bread, water, fish sauce and other sundries besides doing it at Lotus or Big-C. Anyone who lives here knows they can get good, healthy food for under 300 baht at most restaurants without getting extravagant for some reason besides to show off. I'm guessing you don't understand that when a foreigner shows off burning his money, it makes the Thais around him think unrealistically about all foreigners, we're all rich and have money to burn, which isn't true for over 90% of the expats.

Why not.  People love to talk about what they don’t spend.  How little they get by on etc.

 

 

 

[G_Money]

2 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

Average Social Security check by type

While most people think of Social Security as a program just for retirees, it serves many other groups, including the disabled, spouses and minor children of retirees as well as the spouses and minor children of deceased workers.

The amount that each group receives differs substantially.

In fact, the average retired worker receives $1,905.31 each month – about 8 percent more than Social Security recipients as a whole. Here’s how the figures break down by recipient, as of December 2023.

Type of beneficiary	Percent of total payouts	Average monthly benefit
Source: Social Security Administration, December 2023.........................Google has a few things that don't match what the actual Social Security Administration says. The maximum they pay out is 4873 a month................The maximum benefit depends on the age you retire. For example, if you retire at full retirement age in 2024, your maximum benefit would be $3,822. However, if you retire at age 62 in 2024, your maximum benefit would be $2,710. If you retire at age 70 in 2024, your maximum benefit would be $4,873.
All recipients	100%	$1,767.03
Retirement benefits	78.6%	$1,856.38
Retired workers	74.8%	$1,905.31
Survivor benefits	8.7%	$1,501.60
Nondisabled widow(er)s	5.2%	$1,774.33
Disability insurance	12.7%	$1,395.49
Disabled workers	11.0%	$1,537.13

Social Security amounts will be different amounts for different people depending on how much and long they contribute.

 

It is not meant to be one’s sole means of income during retirement despite it is for some.

 

If that’s all one has, their life’s homework is incomplete IMO.

[fredwiggy]

Just now, G_Money said:

Social Security amounts will be different amounts for different people depending on how much and long they contribute.

 

It is not meant to be one’s sole means of income during retirement despite it is for some.

 

If that’s all one has, their life’s homework is incomplete IMO.

Some people, millions in fact, bust their asses for decades just to get by, while people who sit behind a desk and move money around get wealthy doing a job that isn't helping anyone besides themselves and other rich ones. Some might not be able to work after age 65 because of health problems. Living here, most cannot work anyway because of legal requirements. Back in the US, it's very hard for a retired person to get a decent job, most being taken by the younger set. Yes, there are quite a few who are criminals that have money to burn, who've had jobs that hurt the earth or others, but I'm talking about the normal everyday worker. Social Security is all many have to get by on for many reasons.

[Andycoops]

Very easy to retire in Thailand as it is anywhere if you meet the requirements...

[Andycoops]

Very easy to retire in Thailand as it is anywhere if you meet the requirements...

[Andycoops]

Very easy to retire in Thailand as it is anywhere if you meet the requirements...

[Celsius]

My wife makes 80,000 and blows around 100,000 a month.

 

And she is a Thai citizen.

[fredwiggy]

18 minutes ago, G_Money said:

Why not.  People love to talk about what they don’t spend.  How little they get by on etc.

 

 

 

There's a difference in relating good advice on how a person with limited means can be frugal and get by, and one bragging to others just to show off. Easy to decipher between the two

[fredwiggy]

3 minutes ago, Celsius said:

My wife makes 80,000 and blows around 100,000 a month.

 

And she is a Thai citizen.

Danger Will Robinson!!

[G_Money]

6 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Some people, millions in fact, bust their asses for decades just to get by, while people who sit behind a desk and move money around get wealthy doing a job that isn't helping anyone besides themselves and other rich ones. Some might not be able to work after age 65 because of health problems. Living here, most cannot work anyway because of legal requirements. Back in the US, it's very hard for a retired person to get a decent job, most being taken by the younger set. Yes, there are quite a few who are criminals that have money to burn, who've had jobs that hurt the earth or others, but I'm talking about the normal everyday worker. Social Security is all many have to get by on for many reasons.

The last sentence of your post is all you really needed to post.

 

 

[Sandboxer]

At 50, come with US$ 3 million, spend about 10,000 baht a day (incl. rent and medical insurance for a small luxury condo + car) banging your brains out and drinking SaengSomSoda and plan to croak right around 80.

 

Leave nothing to anyone. Ever.

Edited April 24 by Sandboxer

[jayboy]

This is really low grade material - superficial, often inaccurate and unprofessional.If this is the standard of content Thaiger brings to the new arrangement, one has to ask exactly what value is being added.

 

 

Still best not to come to a verdict prematurely so let's see whether the output improves.However in the interim those responsible need to buck their ideas up unless there's a willingness to settle for mediocrity or worse. I assume the intention is in the medium term to monetize the forum as well (one would hope) to provide a community service.I can assure those responsible that to maximize the commercial potential, it's necessary to take the audience seriously and assume its intelligence.This kind of third rate output simply won't do.

[G_Money]

3 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

There's a difference in relating good advice on how a person with limited means can be frugal and get by, and one bragging to others just to show off. Easy to decipher between the two

So a person who has to be frugal and claims how cheap they can live on live on their limited means is considered good advice.

 

Yet someone who posts a lifestyle which requires more income is bragging and showing off.

 

GOT IT!

 

What remains consistent is the have nots will always have contempt for the haves.  

[n00dle]

10 hours ago, Gknrd said:

labotomy

that western education in action

[fredwiggy]

13 minutes ago, G_Money said:

So a person who has to be frugal and claims how cheap they can live on live on their limited means is considered good advice.

 

Yet someone who posts a lifestyle which requires more income is bragging and showing off.

 

GOT IT!

 

What remains consistent is the have nots will always have contempt for the haves.  

Some of the people who do have more and don't find a need to brag about it are called humble, modest, frugal and a quiet achiever.

[Mike Teavee]

9 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

I cook all of the food when I'm home with my daughter and only spend about 3000 baht a month, and this includes oatmeal, soy and regular milk, eggs, chicken, ground chicken, salad greens, oil, rice, vegetables, fruit, yogurt,tea, coffee, pasta, sauce, bread, Italian Bread, parmesan, tuna, Equal, jelly, garlic, and a few other things.

We eat >95% of our meals at home (GF is an excellent cook) & my grocery bill is approx. 30,000 THB PM (No alcohol included) for the 2 of us, mainly due to my foibles when it comes to eating (I don't eat Chicken or Fish which are cheap here & will only eat high quality meat so no Thai beef & only eat lean pork which is approx. 360 THB per KG) + my love of Cheese, Butter & Korean/Japanese spices doesn't help, but also because she loves Chicken, Fish & Seafood so will often cook 2 completely different meals. 

 

NB. I don't dispute that you can eat out or at home very cheaply in Thailand but it's not something that I would want to do, & would rather give up other things (e.g. rent a cheaper condo, socialise, go on holiday less etc...) before I went down that road & turned vegetarian (Cos I still wouldn't eating Chicken, Fish or cheap Thai meats). 

 

 

 

Edited April 24 by Mike Teavee

[G_Money]

7 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Some of the people who do have more and don't find a need to brag about it are called humble, modest, frugal and a quiet achiever.

Of course!  Like yourself I’m assuming.

 

Slight difference in tone from your previous posts.

 

 

[fredwiggy]

4 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

We eat >95% of our meals at home (GF is an excellent cook) & my grocery bill is approx. 30,000 THB PM (No alcohol included) for the 2 of us, mainly due to my foibles when it comes to eating (I don't eat Chicken or Fish which are cheap here & will only eat high quality meat so no Thai beef & only eat lean pork which is approx. 360 THB per KG) + my love of Cheese, Butter & Korean/Japanese spices doesn't help, but also because she loves Chicken, Fish & Seafood so will often cook 2 completely different meals. 

 

NB. I don't dispute that you can eat out or at home very cheaply in Thailand but it's not something that I would want to do, & would rather give up other things (e.g. rent a cheaper condo, socialise, go on holiday less etc...) before I went down that road & turned vegetarian (Cos I still wouldn't eating Chicken, Fish or cheap Thai meats). 

 

 

 

A large portion of Americans don't spend that much on food every month, and that includes children. Cheese costs here, as does foreign beef, which is much better than Thai beef. Cooking two meals a day does cost more, but I still can't see paying that much if most of it is cooking at home. If I remember right, when I lived back in Texas I ate like you did, with fish, chicken and seafood, salads daily, for my daughter and I, and I spent around half of what you do now.

[fredwiggy]

2 minutes ago, G_Money said:

Of course!  Like yourself I’m assuming.

 

Slight difference in tone from your previous posts.

 

 

I really don't assume much, preferring facts and evidence, so I'm not sure what you mean.

[G_Money]

3 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

I really don't assume much, preferring facts and evidence, so I'm not sure what you mean.

Bottom line is if someone wants to post how much they spend and it’s more than you spend or have available to spend they have every right to as much as the guy scraping by on his sole Social Security income who posts his frugal lifestyle has.

 

Nothing to do with bragging.

We are not all equals in the financial sense.

 

 

 

[fredwiggy]

8 minutes ago, G_Money said:

Bottom line is if someone wants to post how much they spend and it’s more than you spend or have available to spend they have every right to as much as the guy scraping by on his sole Social Security income who posts his frugal lifestyle has.

 

Nothing to do with bragging.

We are not all equals in the financial sense.

 

 

 

Of course we are not equals, but it's still bragging showing off what you have. You think anyone cares to hear?

Edited April 24 by fredwiggy

[GammaGlobulin]

11 hours ago, Gknrd said:

Number one criteria if a westerner is have a labotomy,  If Chinese Russian, then Thailand is the perfect place to hang your hat. 

 

Better to retire to Thailand, rather than retire to Taiwan. 

 

When one tries to retire to Taiwan, even a lobotamy is of little comfort. 

 

 

Edited April 24 by GammaGlobulin

[Mike Teavee]

50 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

A large portion of Americans don't spend that much on food every month, and that includes children. Cheese costs here, as does foreign beef, which is much better than Thai beef. Cooking two meals a day does cost more, but I still can't see paying that much if most of it is cooking at home. If I remember right, when I lived back in Texas I ate like you did, with fish, chicken and seafood, salads daily, for my daughter and I, and I spent around half of what you do now.

I regularly ask myself the same question (NB it's more like 4.5 meals a day, I eat 3 times per day and she'll eat 1.5 times) & the 30K does include things like toiletries & house cleaning products etc... But >80% of it is food. 

 

As I said I don't eat Chicken or Fish which tend to be much cheaper here, so a typical meal for me at home will probably cost 2-300B in ingredients, multiply that by say 4 & add in mineral water, coffee, milk etc... & you're looking at approx. 1000B per day.

 

To give a simple example, 6 times a week we use the Condo gym after which she'll cook me a Thai Omelette which I'd guesstimate costs 25B for 4 eggs, 75B for 200g of minced pork, 5B for 1/2 chopped onion, 25B for 30g of cheese = 130B, add on some salad & some beans cooked in a Korean sauce (to give it a bit of a kick) & you're looking at closer to 200B before you add in the 2-3lt of mineral water, 2 coffees & 1 protein shake. 

 

 

NB I don't post this to "Brag" in anyway this is simply what I spend on groceries in Thailand & is why I probably couldn't live on the smaller budgets being mentioned here - Survive Yes, but I would probably turn vegetarian before I'd eat Chicken, Fish or the cheap Thai meats, but that's just me.  

 

As always to each his own, there's no right or wrong answers on this we all just live to our means & prioritise what's important to us (E.g. I'd rather eat well than go out drinking but that's just me).  

Edited April 24 by Mike Teavee

[G_Money]

54 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Of course we are not equals, but it's still bragging showing off what you have. You think anyone cares to hear?

Bragging in your opinion.  I see it differently.  
 

Obviously you care as to your reply to that person you accused of bragging.

[EVENKEEL]

1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

Of course we are not equals, but it's still bragging showing off what you have. You think anyone cares to hear?

Are you still miffed because I said I spend more than 3k/mo on 7-11? And yes I do buy eggs, milk, bread and sometimes butter  at 7-11.

 

What is my monthly food bill? I haven't a clue. I hit Makro usually when I'm low on coffee and it's easy to spend 10K stocking up on snacks,  cheese, butter, olive oils plus soaps. I like to eat salmon and chicken. Sometimes I'll hit out local expat store for some good Aussie beef and their Thai minced beef isn't bad. We don't do food courts at the malls. Instead I prefer to spend money at their nice buffet restaurants. Last night I sent the ole lady out for food and she came back with steamed rice and boiled chicken for me wrapped in paper 40thb. and mango and sticky rice. Tomorrow maybe I'll cook at home. 

 

I don't have a budget. I know if I pay a 20K baht purchase like tires for the car I'll have to watch the spending a bit more careful. Guess you're just having a bad day. Sorry to hear it. 

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, G_Money said:

So a person who has to be frugal and claims how cheap they can live on live on their limited means is considered good advice.

I have a perfectly happy old age on the money I have, quite frankly I don't know how so many foreigners spend so much money in Thailand.