Retire At 45

[thaibkk]

You have way more money to retire and live here in style. Do you want to be like the vast majority of the retirees that come here when there 65 and way to old to enjoy the place? After something very important stops working. Don't you want the girls calling out to you "sexy man" each and every day? I do!

I am 50 and came here for a 1 year vacation 4 years ago. I told myself while I was here I would look around and see if there was some safe way I could make money without to much work. I had a lot less money than you do and now make a lot more per year than your investments will pay. The same thing will happen to you once you get here; you will become aware of many low risk high return investment opportunities.

If I was you I would quit my job tomorrow, sell my house, car and furniture and catch the next plane here. That is what I did after I found out about the investment opportunities and I have never regretted it for one minute and I am so glad I did. I only wish I knew about Thailand 10 years earlier and I would have been here.

I wish you the best of luck what ever you do.

any interest in sharing your super low risk high return investment program ?

[Naam]

have total assets of $700,000 of that about 85% equities 12% bonds 3% cash. These pay an annual income of about $30,000.

If I had that kind of money, i would turn it all into cash and deposit to StGeorge Bank in Australia into "Direct Saver Account".

It would be about 780K A$, 7% interest rate would bring in 55,000K a year, 1.55 mil baht, or almost 130K baht per month. Minus 10% that they take as tax for non-resident citizens, still makes it nice money. Rate fluctuations have been 5.45 (the lowest I remember) and now 7%. If the income dropped to 100K a month it's still more than I would spend anyway.

For now, i need a few years of pushing the stone uphill, hope I get there before I am 55. In fact, with that kind of money I can live even better in tropical Queensland (Carns and around).

what about the aussie income tax?

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

The Aussie income tax for non residents is 10% on the earnings, the New Zealand tax (although they call it something else) is 2% on the earnings.

[Naam]

The Aussie income tax for non residents is 10% on the earnings, the New Zealand tax (although they call it something else) is 2% on the earnings.

so somebody who lives in Queensland does not pay aussie income tax because he is a non resident? QLD is not a part of OZ anymore?

quote: "In fact, with that kind of money I can live even better in tropical Queensland (Carns and around)."

[Naam]

for the record:

the three sh*ttiest countries on this planet as far as taxes are concerned are Germany, Canada and Australia.

[think_too_mut]

The Aussie income tax for non residents is 10% on the earnings, the New Zealand tax (although they call it something else) is 2% on the earnings.

so somebody who lives in Queensland does not pay aussie income tax because he is a non resident? QLD is not a part of OZ anymore?

quote: "In fact, with that kind of money I can live even better in tropical Queensland (Carns and around)."

Don't be stupid. As a retiree not drawing government pension, I can do that.

[think_too_mut]

for the record:

the three sh*ttiest countries on this planet as far as taxes are concerned are Germany, Canada and Australia.

Ignorance.

How about Denmark with 65% tax?

[kdvsn]

If I had that kind of money, i would turn it all into cash and deposit to StGeorge Bank in Australia into "Direct Saver Account".

It would be about 780K A$, 7% interest rate would bring in 55,000K a year, 1.55 mil baht, or almost 130K baht per month. Minus 10% that they take as tax for non-resident citizens, still makes it nice money.

I would do the same... But in Singapore. You get between 6 and 7 % on AUD time deposits. But without any TAXES.

Any suggestions about how an American living in Thailand can avoid paying taxes to the US government on interest earned in Singapore without meeting the same fate as Wesley Snipes?

[ade]

I am in a fairly similar situation to the OP.

I am 42, have investments of about $1 million and retired five years ago.

I would not be happy with the level of risk associated with an 85% exposure to equities. I have about 55% in equities and therefore have a lower overall return. I assume that I can take an income of 3.5% per year and still have an income that rises in line with inflation. This gives a spending limit of around 100,000 baht per month. I have been spending 50,000-60,000 per month, which give a reasonable cushion.

Interesting to hear from other people in the same boat. What is consistent about your reply is that you obviously have a lower tolerance for risk. A lower equity content, lower yield 3.5% against my 4.5%. And so far a more conservative cushion in retirement. If you can retire on 100,000 baht per month I will consider this a reasonable target. This will probably require another 3 years of asset accumulation. With my first pension then being 12 years away I should definately be retiring.

[ade]

You have way more money to retire and live here in style. Do you want to be like the vast majority of the retirees that come here when there 65 and way to old to enjoy the place? After something very important stops working. Don't you want the girls calling out to you "sexy man" each and every day? I do!

I am 50 and came here for a 1 year vacation 4 years ago. I told myself while I was here I would look around and see if there was some safe way I could make money without to much work. I had a lot less money than you do and now make a lot more per year than your investments will pay. The same thing will happen to you once you get here; you will become aware of many low risk high return investment opportunities.

If I was you I would quit my job tomorrow, sell my house, car and furniture and catch the next plane here. That is what I did after I found out about the investment opportunities and I have never regretted it for one minute and I am so glad I did. I only wish I knew about Thailand 10 years earlier and I would have been here.

I wish you the best of luck what ever you do.

any interest in sharing your super low risk high return investment program ?

Like the prvious respondent I am not aware of any low risk high return investments in Thailand. I have plenty of time and visit Thailand 2 or 3 times a year any Baht based investments will ease the currency risk of retirment. Contact Ade

[ade]

Here's an exercise for you:

When we talk about retirement the mindset needs to change from, "I'll take a gamble on this investment because if it fails I can always replace the income through work", to " this investment represents all my available funds so I need to be cautious because I can't replace the income stream". Having 85% of your investments in equities doesn't match with that mindset shift. Maybe the balanced portfolio for a retiree suggests something like, 30% in equities and the remainder in corporate bonds etc, I don't know what that mix should be. But given that foregoing is largely correct (and 85% in equities is surely not correct) how does that affect the income flow of say $30,000 a year? Fixed income returns are likely to be in the 5-6% (and declining) range and my guess is that reduces the income stream quite a bit.

Having done the latter, factor in the effects of inflation of what, 8%, 10% per year, you decide what it will be but take a look at the bottom line after 10 years.

Finally, look at an exchange rate of 33 per USD or 64 per GBP and then compare the effect of that against one of say 50 or even 45 (against GBP) or 20/25 against USD in ten years time.

Doing the above is not rocket science and is easily dooable by most people. I do the above on a regular basis with my holdings to determine a worst case scenario and the results are often scary. If you're happy with the numbers resulting from the above then retire early, if you're not, don't, simple as that.

Have been continually doing this excercise. We all have to balance financial risks given the shortage of capital.

Utility of working against the utility of retiring.

Risk of dying against living a long life.

Risk of bad health

Risk of losing ones job.

I could go on but you get the picture

Before I will have enough capital not to be concerned about these risks I fear I will have enough money but be too old or even worse dead.

[cclub75]

for the record:

the three sh*ttiest countries on this planet as far as taxes are concerned are Germany, Canada and Australia.

No sir. One the three is definitely... France.

[ade]

I'd say it's marginal at best. the problem with retiring without a big enough nestegg is, you have to change how you invest. You can't any longer be looking to "growth", which is too volatile and risky for retirement. You have to invest safely and "not to lose", which can drastically limit expected returns. It's doable, but you may get married still at your age, may have children, etc.

Thanks for the reply for your infomation I do not intend to get married or change my life style. You will notice my investments pay an income of $30,000 this is not capital withdrawal. I am also due a pension at 60 and 65 but consider this to be too far away for imediate consideration. How big a nest egg or income will you recommend? my back of envelope figures suggest I will have 60,000 to 70,000 baht per month.

Inflation and exchange rates are an ever present risk of which I am aware.

Yes but take into account your $30,000 is not capital increase either. So taking into account inflation, possible swings in exchange rates $700,000 is not really a large amount.

By all means go for it if you can. You are young enough to enjoy it, but try and leave some options open to return to say semi-retirement if it all starts to go wrong. Not knowing your profession it is hard to know whether this is good advice or not.

As you suggest I will not be able to add significantly to my capital if I am to retire.

As I am a military employee semi retirement is not an option. If it were my decision will be a no brainer.

[ade]

I am in a fairly similar situation to the OP.

I am 42, have investments of about $1 million and retired five years ago.

I would not be happy with the level of risk associated with an 85% exposure to equities. I have about 55% in equities and therefore have a lower overall return. I assume that I can take an income of 3.5% per year and still have an income that rises in line with inflation. This gives a spending limit of around 100,000 baht per month. I have been spending 50,000-60,000 per month, which give a reasonable cushion.

Interesting to hear from other people in the same boat. What is consistent about your reply is that you obviously have a lower tolerance for risk. A lower equity content, lower yield 3.5% against my 4.5%. And so far a more conservative cushion in retirement. If you can retire on 100,000 baht per month I will consider this a reasonable target. This will probably require another 3 years of asset accumulation. With my first pension then being 12 years away I should definately be retiring.

Interesting to hear from other people in the same boat. What is consistent about your reply is that you obviously have a lower tolerance for risk. A lower equity content, lower yield 3.5% against my 4.5%. And so far a more conservative cushion in retirement. If you can retire on 100,000 baht per month I will consider this a reasonable target. This will probably require another 3 years of asset accumulation. With my first pension then being 12 years away I should definately be retiring.

[ade]

Rather worryingly, I find myself in agreement with Jingthing. I need to sit down because I feel dizzy.

There are two debates here - the philosophical debate about retiring early (long time to do nothing versus you might die next year) and I side with those who have the balls to just do it and enjoy themselves. I wish I had the balls to do it myself. Perhaps it's one of those philosophical positions which apply better to someone else.

As for the dollars, I can't help thinking 30k is a pitiful return on a capital sum of $700k and a bit of shopping around (either better stock picking with an eye on dividends or some better yielding bonds or cash accounts would make a world of difference). By way of comparison, I'm currently generating around 137,000 interest from $730-$740k with absolutely no risk whatsoever (except currency). 700k generating 7% would give you 130-135,000 a month. That is more than enough to ensure not only a half decent lifestyle, but also (and this is crucial in my view) a buffer for emergencies and enough to reinvest so that your investment income stream keeps pace with inflation over a relatively long retirement.

Having said all that, I do have some sympathy for the 'take a year off' argument too.

30,000$ is my cash only dividend return

[ronz28]

Long term rates of return are highest in the equity markets and I have a pension which is all I need as an allocation to fixed income/bonds. However, there are some major crashes along the way like the US Nasdaq in 2000-2002 the Japanese market in the 1990's. So I have to keep moving my money to the markets with the greatest returns (over the last 3 months). 90% of returns can be attributed to correct asset allocation not stock picking. Risk is reduced by not putting all my eggs in one basket or one market. Latin America (EWZ) and China (FXI) returns have far exceeded any fixed income returns anywhere. But I have to be able to get out timely or have a strong stomach for the losses we are now experiencing. However with a 75% annual return one year its not so hard to take a 30% drop the next year but I try to watch the charts and get out at extreme highs and get back in at the lows. I always monitor the relative performance of my exchange traded funds with their 50 day moving average and switch to cash equivalents at extreme highs and back in at lows to what ever has the best performance except I am not smart enough to get in and out of any of those short position ETFs so I ignore their performance.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

ronz28 just curious but how much time to you take tracking and analyzing the markets?

[ronz28]

I like this stuff so I spend an hour to 2 hours a day reading and looking at charts and more on weekends. However, just monitoring ETF charts on stockcharts dot com and looking at the best performing ETFs per yahoo finance and barchart dot com , etc. takes far less time.

[Naam]

The Aussie income tax for non residents is 10% on the earnings, the New Zealand tax (although they call it something else) is 2% on the earnings.

so somebody who lives in Queensland does not pay aussie income tax because he is a non resident? QLD is not a part of OZ anymore?

quote: "In fact, with that kind of money I can live even better in tropical Queensland (Carns and around)."

Don't be stupid. As a retiree not drawing government pension, I can do that.

i wonder who is stupid in this respect. you think you can live in Australia and not pay any income tax? are you otherwise feeling alright? have you had a medical check-up lately?

seems to me you are NOT thinking too mut!

[think_too_mut]

you think you can live in Australia and not pay any income tax?

You goyt it wrong. It was 10% tax that I pay (the bank deducts it automatically) on iterest earned while I live outside of Oz.

Even if I returned with 770K in the bank, I could live well off interest only, without touching the pricipal.

So, what is the tax on 55K that came from own savings and no oter income, even if there were no provisions for a retiree that takes no government pension?

Whole active families with children live off that, median household income is 48K.

Government pension is, say, 1200A$ (or 1400$?) per month per couple.

55K is about 2.5 times that, even if full tax is paid.

Edited January 21, 2008 by think_too_mut

[mattias33]

I am 45 and considering my options regarding retirement. I hope to to retire in Pattaya or Chiang mai. I have total assets of $700,000 of that about 85% equities 12% bonds 3% cash. These pay an annual income of about $30,000.

Any self funded retirees happy to tell me if this a comfortable position from which to retire?

Bearing in mind I will have to pay for visa runs probably to Malaysia every 3 months.

Currently I have the option of working which obviously means I will have more assets if I retire at a later date.

I "retired" at 33 and moved to Thailand with a load in the bank. To answer your question i think $700k sounds little given that you are 45 years old. Unless you plan to die at 55. But if you have a good "buisness-brain" that money can be enough to move to Thailand and do some "quick deals" now and then. After all money creates money if you are smart about it and the options in Thailand are many and pretty easy.

Also when it comes to your plan about the visa you have to re-think. Penang now issue only 3 touristvisas in a row, wich means if you do the 2 border-runs in between for one month visa on arrival you can stay 390 days all together that way. Then you have to leave the country for 6 months. If i understand it correctly.

[siamamerican]

I "retired" at 33 and moved to Thailand with a load in the bank. To answer your question i think $700k sounds little given that you are 45 years old. Unless you plan to die at 55. But if you have a good "buisness-brain" that money can be enough to move to Thailand and do some "quick deals" now and then. After all money creates money if you are smart about it and the options in Thailand are many and pretty easy.

Also when it comes to your plan about the visa you have to re-think. Penang now issue only 3 touristvisas in a row, wich means if you do the 2 border-runs in between for one month visa on arrival you can stay 390 days all together that way. Then you have to leave the country for 6 months. If i understand it correctly.

$700k would only last 10 years? By my calcs, if he spent 30k a year and increased it by 4% a year to cover inflation, his money would last 30 years. That is using a a conservative 6% return on investments. Sure, if the market tanks, the money might only last 10 years.

[Naam]

you think you can live in Australia and not pay any income tax?

You goyt it wrong.

i (not so) humbly beg to differ. not i got it wrong but you presented it in a wrong way

[mattias33]

I "retired" at 33 and moved to Thailand with a load in the bank. To answer your question i think $700k sounds little given that you are 45 years old. Unless you plan to die at 55. But if you have a good "buisness-brain" that money can be enough to move to Thailand and do some "quick deals" now and then. After all money creates money if you are smart about it and the options in Thailand are many and pretty easy.

Also when it comes to your plan about the visa you have to re-think. Penang now issue only 3 touristvisas in a row, wich means if you do the 2 border-runs in between for one month visa on arrival you can stay 390 days all together that way. Then you have to leave the country for 6 months. If i understand it correctly.

$700k would only last 10 years? By my calcs, if he spent 30k a year and increased it by 4% a year to cover inflation, his money would last 30 years. That is using a a conservative 6% return on investments. Sure, if the market tanks, the money might only last 10 years.

Thats your way of looking at it, and im not saying its wrong. Just that when it comes to budgets there is two ways. The "safe" budget and the "optimistic in very best case" budget. I classify yours as the later, still you might be right about what you are saying, dont get me wrong.

Lets play with the 30k/year then. Witch might btw make his money last only for 25 years and to me thats a low retirementplan if you are 45 years old. But even so, he would have about 70-75k baht per month. Sure, you can live fine on that money, but the retired life is not supposed to be about saving money. You maybe get a nicer house and a car, do some trips around, for instans leaving his homecountry in the age of 45 its a fair guess that a trip back home now a then comes into the budget. Unexpected things like for instans medical/accidents or other things that could not be planned for. Im not saying that 700k is impossible to retire on, but for me (doing the "worst-case-scenario"-budget, i always do that, dont know why) it sounds a bit low. But it is probably possible.

[siamamerican]

I "retired" at 33 and moved to Thailand with a load in the bank. To answer your question i think $700k sounds little given that you are 45 years old. Unless you plan to die at 55. But if you have a good "buisness-brain" that money can be enough to move to Thailand and do some "quick deals" now and then. After all money creates money if you are smart about it and the options in Thailand are many and pretty easy.

Also when it comes to your plan about the visa you have to re-think. Penang now issue only 3 touristvisas in a row, wich means if you do the 2 border-runs in between for one month visa on arrival you can stay 390 days all together that way. Then you have to leave the country for 6 months. If i understand it correctly.

$700k would only last 10 years? By my calcs, if he spent 30k a year and increased it by 4% a year to cover inflation, his money would last 30 years. That is using a a conservative 6% return on investments. Sure, if the market tanks, the money might only last 10 years.

Thats your way of looking at it, and im not saying its wrong. Just that when it comes to budgets there is two ways. The "safe" budget and the "optimistic in very best case" budget. I classify yours as the later, still you might be right about what you are saying, dont get me wrong.

Lets play with the 30k/year then. Witch might btw make his money last only for 25 years and to me thats a low retirementplan if you are 45 years old. But even so, he would have about 70-75k baht per month. Sure, you can live fine on that money, but the retired life is not supposed to be about saving money. You maybe get a nicer house and a car, do some trips around, for instans leaving his homecountry in the age of 45 its a fair guess that a trip back home now a then comes into the budget. Unexpected things like for instans medical/accidents or other things that could not be planned for. Im not saying that 700k is impossible to retire on, but for me (doing the "worst-case-scenario"-budget, i always do that, dont know why) it sounds a bit low. But it is probably possible.

I aggree, $700k might not be enough. I just thought that it would only last 10 years wasn't accurate. You were probably exagerating and I took it literally.

[mattias33]

I "retired" at 33 and moved to Thailand with a load in the bank. To answer your question i think $700k sounds little given that you are 45 years old. Unless you plan to die at 55. But if you have a good "buisness-brain" that money can be enough to move to Thailand and do some "quick deals" now and then. After all money creates money if you are smart about it and the options in Thailand are many and pretty easy.

Also when it comes to your plan about the visa you have to re-think. Penang now issue only 3 touristvisas in a row, wich means if you do the 2 border-runs in between for one month visa on arrival you can stay 390 days all together that way. Then you have to leave the country for 6 months. If i understand it correctly.

$700k would only last 10 years? By my calcs, if he spent 30k a year and increased it by 4% a year to cover inflation, his money would last 30 years. That is using a a conservative 6% return on investments. Sure, if the market tanks, the money might only last 10 years.

Thats your way of looking at it, and im not saying its wrong. Just that when it comes to budgets there is two ways. The "safe" budget and the "optimistic in very best case" budget. I classify yours as the later, still you might be right about what you are saying, dont get me wrong.

Lets play with the 30k/year then. Witch might btw make his money last only for 25 years and to me thats a low retirementplan if you are 45 years old. But even so, he would have about 70-75k baht per month. Sure, you can live fine on that money, but the retired life is not supposed to be about saving money. You maybe get a nicer house and a car, do some trips around, for instans leaving his homecountry in the age of 45 its a fair guess that a trip back home now a then comes into the budget. Unexpected things like for instans medical/accidents or other things that could not be planned for. Im not saying that 700k is impossible to retire on, but for me (doing the "worst-case-scenario"-budget, i always do that, dont know why) it sounds a bit low. But it is probably possible.

I aggree, $700k might not be enough. I just thought that it would only last 10 years wasn't accurate. You were probably exagerating and I took it literally.

True. I also beleive it can last for a good life longer than 10 years. I just used the "plan to die at 55" when my meaning was that the money will not last for 40 years. I agree that it was a missleading way to put it. Retirement for a 45 year old should be planned to last for 40 years, even though many people infact do die at 55! Well, anyways, seems like we agree.

[ade]

Some people replying to this thread seem to have missed the difference between spending dividend income or spending capital.

[teej]

for the record:

the three sh*ttiest countries on this planet as far as taxes are concerned are Germany, Canada and Australia.

No sir. One the three is definitely... France.

Sweden is no tax paradise either...

Hong Kong gets my vote for investor's paradise though.... ZERO TAX ON CAPITAL GAINS!

Re the OP's question, of course it all depends on how you plan to live (as many others have said) and therefore almost completely subjective, however I believe that the original figure of $700K USD at age 45 isn't enough.

I un-officially retired at the young age of 23. I was a derivitives trader during 9/11 and the week after the tragedy when markets re-opened was the best floor-trading experience of my life. I worked until December 31, 2001, received my check and bonus, then called it quits with about 2 million USD. I am 30 now, and now work in entertainment, but not for need or want of money.

Re finances, I still don't feel as if I have enough. I plan to have a family soon and the cost of a good education (IMO) (through university) is in my estimate around 300K USD per child. Of course you could do public schools, etc. but like i said before, it's all subjective and this is just one man's opinion (you asked for input of other self-funded retirees, as far as I know only Naam and myself are self-funded retirees). I want my children to have every opportunity that I was offered, and therefore will fund the best education I can afford (let's not argue whether private schools are good or not, I'm sure somebody can come up with a success story about a rural kid who became a billionaire, but that's beside the point)

I just purchased a parking spot in Hong Kong for 90K USD. Yes, a parking spot. But that's just the way it is there. As I love cars and spend about half my time in Hong Kong, one man's necessity is another man's luxury. I DO NOT live an extravagant life. My daily driver is a Mitsubishi Triton I purchased a few months ago and I collect old SAABs as a hobby. I buy used things from Craigslist and from ThaiVisa classifieds. I fly economy. The most important thing to me right now is prodigious accumulation of wealth (personally, I won't feel completely comfortable until 5million USD +, as I would like to be able to retire in ANY country, not just Thailand). That last point is particularly significant with respect to my personal financial goals, and it is here where we may differ in opinion. Retirement to me is the ability to live comfortably ANYWHERE in the world. You may like Thailand now, but you never know. Things change, time goes on, and people change. It sounds trite, but when you are talking about the rest of your life, I think it's a very valid point.

At 45, you have to take into account what will probably be largest costs as you grow older: health care. Yes, it's cheaper in Thailand at the moment, but again it's all relative to what you feel you need. Forgive me if I didn't see if you had a family or not, but that is another cost that tends to be much much greater than one anticipates. In addition, I think you should consider inflation much more seriously. It is often overlooked in retirement calculations (or to be more exact, under-calculated and marginalized in my opinion). The world WILL change A LOT in the 40 or so years you have left in your life. You want to be able to experience those changes too, don't you? And it is most likely that those experiences will cost money. Do you want to buy a house? Cars? Houses get old and cars die and pretty much everything material needs to be swapped for something new at some point. Again, it's all subjective, but I'm just offering my personal opinion. I agree with Naam that none of us is really qualified to answer the question -- but some of us are qualified to offer advice.

However, when all is said and done, it comes down to what you want to do and how you plan to live your life. If you feel comfortable with 700K at the age of 45, then go for it. I would advise you to work a bit longer and retire with a bit more money, as I don't believe 700K to be enough (Double that, and a retirement in Thailand without worry seems more reasonable to me). Money can go pretty fast, and you don't ever want to be caught in a situation where you find yourself broke and too old to go back to work. That is perhaps the worst situation imaginable. Some guys will say "go for it, you never know, you may die tomorrow, why spend all of your time working?" But consider if you don't die tomorrow but rather live until you are 100 years old. Do you think 700K will fund you for the next 55 years? I congratulate you on the wealth you've accumulated thus far, but in my honest opinion, it's not enough. I think Guesthouse proposed you take some time off and think about it (now that I think of it, he's another self-funded retiree, sorry forgot him). I think that is excellent advice, perhaps the best offered thus far.

Think_too_mut: you're a jackass. I always wondered why you were so bitter and negative. Now I realize it's because you're a poor bastard.

[PCA]

I dont think here are any poor bastards though some overtalkative and overconfident guys who simply talk too much. And plenty who fall for the mine is bigger than yours show. Teej you were a lucky guy to put hand on a nice amount of money, really nice for this age. You also seem to have a clear vision how things should proceed and I think you will get your plans settled. Nevertheless your situation and accordingly the way you see things is not comparable with someones who worked until 45 to save 700k while probably not having much time or resources to enjoy pleasure beside. Also it is not necessary to be able or wealthy enough to live anywhere in the world. He wants to live in Thailand thats what he knows. He has a nestegg which gives him 30k a year on investment income and he has his senses to recognize when his account balance is not showing the figures he needs to see. Then there is still enough time and money to make a u-turn. Most people missing out on the beauties life has to offer because they have no chance unlike you and others simply dont dare or postpone until its too late to enjoy it. Its like standing in front of the swimming pool for the first time and considering should I jump or not. A deep breath and closing the eyes is all what it takes and what a fun it became. The only thing it takes is plan B and the awareness to time an eventual switch.

Edited January 21, 2008 by PCA

[teej]

Agreed PCA, but the comment about Think_too_mut goes way beyond this thread... mostly from his unwavering bitterness regarding real estate in Thailand. The comment was not intended to offend those with fewer financial resources. Those people may indeed have other resources from which to draw happiness from, perhaps finding themselves better off than a rich man with nobody to share it with.

I do realize that the OP wants to retire in Thailand, but I was just offering the scenario in which for some reason he would need/want to leave Thailand. Surely (unless he went to Cambodia, Philippines, etc.) he would be in a bit of a squeeze to make it by on that 700K.

In addition, the OP is 85% vested in equities and is almost referring the their return as a fixed-return investment -- very dangerous. Perhaps he was speaking of dividends, and perhaps I misunderstood. My main point was just to beware -- early retirement is of course everybody's dream, but it has to be thought out very thoroughly or else it can turn out to be a debacle.

I've seen some older retirees who, from their faces, seemed as if their "dream retirement" wasn't so dreamy as they had hoped. Sometimes I wonder if it was my father that was in that situation, and how I would feel. Thailand is a machine that can take a well-wishing good-hearted person and spit them out into a bitter shell of a man. Those who don't believe this just aren't seeing the reality of it all. That said, it can also be a beautiful country with many things to offer. People just need to be realistic. I'm just advising the OP to re-consider and (like GuestHouse suggested) take some time to think about it. A few more years of hard work now can make a huge difference in the long run.

I think that initially (and this is purely guessing), the OP may be happy with the 30K, but as inflation and currency fluctuation and fluctuating equity markets take their toll (if they do), it could be tough going. If anything, I would advise to save some more and reduce exposure to the equity markets (unless the OP knows his derivatives). If i recall correctly, Naam is 53% cash currently, and I believe him to be a smart man.... this alone should tell you something about his immediate view of the current markets.

I don't want to the the guy to rain on anybody's parade. Yes, I was a bit lucky to be trading in perhaps the best trading of the decade, but I'd hate to see the OP retire too early and find himself in trouble later on when he could have toughed it out for a few more years.... In the short term, Thailand will still be here, the beaches will still be here, the girls (if he's interested) will still be here... I think the general consensus from the experienced members would be that 700k is a bit too low. You would have to have everything go your way for quite some time to make it work out, and the most dangerous part of it all is if he takes a big hit early on in his retirement (a 20% correction when he's 46 put's him at ~581k (assuming the correction was in the 85% equity portion only)). Then he could be looking at 580k to fund possibly 40-odd years.

That said, I'm all for people getting out and seeing the world and living their life instead of sitting in a cubicle wasting away their good years. But I've seen some sad faces around Thailand recently, and if he's asking for genuine advice, I'd say work a bit more and maybe he can live a long happy life here with less to worry about.

Teej