Money Lovely Money

[nonthaburial]

Had a long interesting chat last night to a very good friend based in the Philippines. This is his dilemma.

Being over 60 he still holds a job and in fact subject to health expects to continue working for another 10years. his monthly salary is equivalent to 140,000 Baht per month. He is married to a Thai lady and they have a 23 year old son who is working.

He has a lovely house in Manila that is valued at 15 million Baht, however he has a mortgage of 747,000 Baht to be paid.

He has never been a free spender, doesnt visit bars or take part in such activities that drains the bank balance.He has lived very carefully and he says apart from his mortgage owes no debts.

Now after attaining the age of 60 last year his UK pension kicked in, he had a lump sum of GBP12,000 plus a monthly pension of almost GBP 400, which he has not touched and sits in the bank.

Earlier this year, sadly, his Father died and he was left GBP50,000 payable immediately (after probate) with the chances of another large sum if his 80 year old Mother should pass on.

So in his words " The money is starting to stack up in his account" and he has no idea what to sensibly do with it.

Never being in that position I couldnt answer him, but I am sure people on here would have advice.

[Gary A]

It's quite simple. Start spending it. A hearse has no luggage racks and you CAN'T take it with you. I have a good friend who is VERY well of. I always tell him that his children are going to be very happy because their old man was so cheap.

[mosquitobill]

Had a long interesting chat last night to a very good friend based in the Philippines. This is his dilemma.

Being over 60 he still holds a job and in fact subject to health expects to continue working for another 10years. his monthly salary is equivalent to 140,000 Baht per month. He is married to a Thai lady and they have a 23 year old son who is working.

He has a lovely house in Manila that is valued at 15 million Baht, however he has a mortgage of 747,000 Baht to be paid.

He has never been a free spender, doesnt visit bars or take part in such activities that drains the bank balance.He has lived very carefully and he says apart from his mortgage owes no debts.

Now after attaining the age of 60 last year his UK pension kicked in, he had a lump sum of GBP12,000 plus a monthly pension of almost GBP 400, which he has not touched and sits in the bank.

Earlier this year, sadly, his Father died and he was left GBP50,000 payable immediately (after probate) with the chances of another large sum if his 80 year old Mother should pass on.

So in his words " The money is starting to stack up in his account" and he has no idea what to sensibly do with it.

Never being in that position I couldnt answer him, but I am sure people on here would have advice.

Being a 60yr old British ex-pat myself I was under the immpression that the UK pension is still payable at age 65 and not 60.

[BigSnake]

Sure someone will be willing to help his spent it.

[sweetchariot]

Being a 60yr old British ex-pat myself I was under the immpression that the UK pension is still payable at age 65 and not 60.

It's obviously a private/ company pension, as I don't think the government would be giving him a £12k gratuity.

[Irene]

Had a long interesting chat last night to a very good friend based in the Philippines. This is his dilemma.

Being over 60 he still holds a job and in fact subject to health expects to continue working for another 10years. his monthly salary is equivalent to 140,000 Baht per month. He is married to a Thai lady and they have a 23 year old son who is working.

He has a lovely house in Manila that is valued at 15 million Baht, however he has a mortgage of 747,000 Baht to be paid.

He has never been a free spender, doesnt visit bars or take part in such activities that drains the bank balance.He has lived very carefully and he says apart from his mortgage owes no debts.

Now after attaining the age of 60 last year his UK pension kicked in, he had a lump sum of GBP12,000 plus a monthly pension of almost GBP 400, which he has not touched and sits in the bank.

Earlier this year, sadly, his Father died and he was left GBP50,000 payable immediately (after probate) with the chances of another large sum if his 80 year old Mother should pass on.

So in his words " The money is starting to stack up in his account" and he has no idea what to sensibly do with it.

Never being in that position I couldnt answer him, but I am sure people on here would have advice.

First, ask him to jot down of the sum that he needs to survive and continue with the current lifestyle.

Second, that sum should be set against his income that is assured to come his way leaving a surplus for him to do whatever he likes. Set aside one-half of that sum for rainy days or for being a big spender once in a while. One-quarter could be deposited in a fixed income instruments or a bank deposit and another quarter invested in stocks of blue chips and ETF (exchange traded fund) and mutual fund.

[nonthaburial]

some good replied here as well as the expected few.Interesting hat no one has suggested that he pays off his mortgage OR is that taken s read

[Gary A]

some good replied here as well as the expected few.Interesting hat no one has suggested that he pays off his mortgage OR is that taken s read

Why would he possibly want to pay interest on a mortgage when he is cash flush. I would guess that he has hoarded his money for so many years that it is difficult for him to change his way of life.

[rgs2001uk]

some good replied here as well as the expected few.Interesting hat no one has suggested that he pays off his mortgage OR is that taken s read

Why would he possibly want to pay interest on a mortgage when he is cash flush. I would guess that he has hoarded his money for so many years that it is difficult for him to change his way of life.

some people work to live, others live to work, sounds like a waste of a life.

if i was him i would sell the house in the pi and move to thailand where i would imagine his thai wife would rather be.

depending on where he chooses to live in thailand, he can set himself and his family up very nicely for say 5 million baht, that would be house and land paid for, everything in the house paid for, and a new car paid for.

that leaves him 10 million baht from the sale of the house in the pi, put that money and his other money, lets say £60k ( lets call the total £200k ) in a high interest account in the uk, say 6%, that would give him an income of £1,000 per month, plus the £400 a month he is already getting, thats £1,400 per month, so basically he is working for £700 per month, to do what, why does he want to/need to work.

better to cash up and enjoy what little of his life he has left, but as noted above, he may be so set in his ways he cant change, no matter how much you have scrimped and saved, you cant take it with you.

[spasticated]

RG i used to think it would be great not to work but it really does get very boring unless you have a good hobby. I keep working so do many others as they would keel over if they didnt!

[nonthaburial]

RG i used to think it would be great not to work but it really does get very boring unless you have a good hobby. I keep working so do many others as they would keel over if they didnt!

Thats also my friends attitude. Insists on keeping active.

I fail to understand why so many responses suggest he is a cheap charlie and a hoarder. He is most definately not, my whole point was that after so many years of working to survive he is now cash flush which I think has come as rather a surprise to him.

He told me last night that he will pay off his mortgage today !

[LaoPo]

some good replied here as well as the expected few.Interesting hat no one has suggested that he pays off his mortgage OR is that taken s read

Of course he should pay off his mortgage.

BTW, a 15 Million Baht house is quite something for Manila, that's some US $ 475.000....

LaoPo

[nonthaburial]

some good replied here as well as the expected few.Interesting hat no one has suggested that he pays off his mortgage OR is that taken s read

Of course he should pay off his mortgage.

BTW, a 15 Million Baht house is quite something for Manila, that's some US $ 475.000....

LaoPo

Totally agree with you LaoPo, however I have been to the house and it is magnificent with marble flooring and all wood in the Filipino version of teak, all about 400 Sq M in size,

As for the quoted value, this was evaluated by the bank from whom the mortgage came from and was for insurance purposes. However even if it was valued at 15m, due to the financial situation in the country not many would be able to afford it

[LaoPo]

some good replied here as well as the expected few.Interesting hat no one has suggested that he pays off his mortgage OR is that taken s read

Of course he should pay off his mortgage.

BTW, a 15 Million Baht house is quite something for Manila, that's some US $ 475.000....

LaoPo

Totally agree with you LaoPo, however I have been to the house and it is magnificent with marble flooring and all wood in the Filipino version of teak, all about 400 Sq M in size,

As for the quoted value, this was evaluated by the bank from whom the mortgage came from and was for insurance purposes. However even if it was valued at 15m, due to the financial situation in the country not many would be able to afford it

Why does he want to continue working for another 10 years (being 60+)................?

LaoPo

[bendix]

The OP talks about him being cash rich, but how cash rich is he? The original post doesnt mention it, except to say he has 15m baht in an essentially illiquid asset (a 20 million peso house in Manila will take some shifting), a 12k pound lump sum together with 400 quid a month, and whatever surplus there is from his salary. I can't work out how rich or otherwise he is, so any advice we give him is meaningless.

[barky]

If I were him, I would continue working, but at a relaxed pace at something of real interest. I would pay off the house immediately. I would ensure enough was put asside in secure investments that paid nice little dividends. Ensure that his wife and child are provided for and would be secure and comfortable when he passes on. I would absolutely not come to Thailand to live! (visits/holidays only). I might however be persuaded to buy a modest apartment in a great location that I would leave empty while I wasn't using it. Then I would start spending the rest slowly over time on the things I liked, trips etc.

[OxfordWill]

Another ten years of working? Pay off his debt ASAP. And as a 24 year old son myself I can say that I wish my parents had opened some sort of restricted-access savings account for me to compound interest so that when I am older, I had funds that had been accumulating that I could tap into when old enough to know what to do with it and not waste it. Seeing how well asian parents tend to take care of their kids financially wise (generalising!) I sometimes feel a little annoyed. But of course, I have the independence and ability to earn for myself which my parents could not have taught me by providing hand outs. I will do my best to give my child/ren something along these lines, rather than just spend whatever money I have before I kick the bucket.

Edited March 17, 2008 by OxfordWill

[DB84]

Seeing how well asian parents tend to take care of their kids financially wise (generalising!) I sometimes feel a little annoyed. But of course, I have the independence and ability to earn for myself which my parents could not have taught me by providing hand outs. I will do my best to give my child/ren something along these lines, rather than just spend whatever money I have before I kick the bucket.

You must have been hanging around high society kids. Generally, the KIDS take care of the PARENTS when they retire.

OP as others have said, it's hard to get an indication of how rich he is. But it's not like there is overflow, so I would do the safe thing an put the money into a high-interest account or buy short-term bonds.

[OxfordWill]

Yea I was comparing kids of my own relative socio-economic band. I.e. UK middle class I guess (sort of) equals hi so kids here (what is thai middle class anyway?). That just happens to be my situation, would be interesting to hear about others too. But Im talking about pre-retirement, since this guy is gonna keep working for maybe 10 years! Indian and Chinese and many other asian families, who have money, think long term - and I mean three generations ahead - its unique to western culture as far as I can see that families with come spare cash try to spend it all before they die, thinking their kids will be fine for themselves, which of course they probably will be. Its no better or worse than the alternative, but different enough to be interesting.

[LoveDaBlues]

RG i used to think it would be great not to work but it really does get very boring unless you have a good hobby. I keep working so do many others as they would keel over if they didnt!

Thats also my friends attitude. Insists on keeping active.

I fail to understand why so many responses suggest he is a cheap charlie and a hoarder. He is most definately not, my whole point was that after so many years of working to survive he is now cash flush which I think has come as rather a surprise to him.

He told me last night that he will pay off his mortgage today !

Depending on how the mortgage is structured this may be a bad move. It's quite possible the remaining balance is mostly principle; in that case don't pay it off. No sense in paying off a mortgage unless you can save a lot of interest by doing so.

[PattayaParent]

Tell him to spend one half of what he's got on booze and women and the rest he can just waste.

[BigSnake]

SPEND SPEND

[vegas]

Invest in Vegas Enterprises. PM me for account details.

[barrella]

I think barky hit the nail on the head.

If he has worked for that length of time is his life and he suddenly stops working this will not be good for him.

Of course if he can slow down the work pace and enjoy, perfect.

Not only my mother but also a very dear friend to my family both came up to retirement age and they both took a lump sum as well as monthly amount and they both just sat there once work had finished. The problem being they had worked all there lives, with work gone there was nothing for them to do. I pulled them both out to travel and both had stayed with me at one of my places in Bangkok but they just wanted to move back the UK, then both of them became ill. I talked my mother into going back to work and she thought it was a great idea, now she is full on and working like a crazy women, never been better, all but for the arthritis.

The close friend of the family was more stubborn about the whole thing saying, "why should I work if I do not have to anymore". Now he is in hospital having heart surgery. In fact I am just checking email and forum things passing time before I fly back to good old blighty to be with him for when he comes out.

From my small experience a person like what you are talking about should not stop work 100% unless he has clear plans with what to do with his time as he will have allot of it.

Take care of his wife's and son's futures as much as he can, which would mean paying off all his debt's IE house.

You can not take moeny to the grave but I am sure his wife and son would like to think back about there loved one knowing that he did not only care for himself but for the people he loved also. If he loves them that is .

The flip side is I am sure his wife and son understand that he must have worked hard for most of his life and should enjoy the fruits of his labor now that he can, so spend some and have fun with the years he has left. I am sure there are some things that he would love to do.

I remember my great grand mother that died at 100, near to the day and got the famous letter from the queen, she said to me, Everything in moderation including moderation"

It sounds like his life is all going in a nice direction, I wish him all the best.

[misterman21]

can you see your friend in the mirror!!