Saving Enough Money For Retirement In Thailand.

[sokal]

Bottom line you would need minimum of $3000 a month (to days money)and a place that you own to live for retiring comfortably in Thailand.

can you explain how you spend $100/day in Thailand , Assuming you live in BkK and not in Isarn. Just list it like 50 beers , 4 pizzas, rent a lady etc

of course dining at the Landmark everyday would fit the bill, spending $10 for coco pops and $20 on imported cheeses including the 50 beers at villa daily would tip you over the 100 probably, so why live here?

Some expats that already live in Thailand full time like to set the bar high to make it seem less attainable for other people. It makes them feel good I guess.

The height of the bar makes very little difference. When you are broke, you are broke. You can certainly live for today and not worry about tomorrow, but tomorrow DOES come. When you are young and bulletproof, it seems like you will never get old, but, you WILL get old. Thailand is a great place to live IF you have money. You have a lot of options when you are young. You can always find a way to make money. Those options dwindle away as you get older. If you don't make provisions for your old age, you can be sure no one else will.

The guy posted a $3000 minimum. My main point is that I know many people in North America that live on less then that, minimum wage pays less then that. So the guy is either clueless or he just wants to set the bar high to cut down other people.

[Heng]

And don't forget, along with hat making, you're not allowed to work in a few hundred professions here. So probably not a good idea to count on an entrepreneurial spark when you're 60+.

Would also agree that $3k USD would be plenty for a single fella, no family to support, and the wife or SO doesn't have property/business income etc. In fact at that income level, I wouldn't even risk trying to support anyone else, I'd just pay my grocery/utility/fitness bills, health insurance, and hang out in gents clubs (once/twice a week) for the rest of my life. For me, I could probably be comfortable enough (again, assuming that I still have at least one home paid off... oh, and I guess I can't ever buy another automobile either... that's okay, they can make modern jetliners last for 30+, I'm sure my trusty minivan can do the same).

But with kids, moderate quality bi-lingual school, college (even locally) down the road, and assuming that you don't have a significant portfolio of property or other assets that you have allocated for these things, then it's going to be a rough ride later on. Oh, and you'll have to deal with the fluctuation of whatever currency you're earning in.

Edited August 16, 2009 by Heng

[nputman]

I think the retirement visa monthly minimum of 65,000 baht is about right. My SS income is just a bit more, and I can live fairly comfortably here but I wouldn't want to try it on much less. A lot depends if you are happy renting or want to buy a home. Renting a very nice apartment in Jomtien or BKK is not very expensive. But if you want to buy a home, you would need to have the cash available outside your monthly income to do so because saving up to buy the home would take a long time. Unfortunately I need to go the saving route but we have found a cheap almost-new farang built home to rent in rural WNY for only 2,500 baht/month plus air con so it will be possible for us to save to construct our new home in 2-3 years. Not too bad but much longer than I would like of course. But if we lived in the states we'd be living in a crap apartment somewhere so LOS really works for me. Life threw me a major fast-sinking curve ball a few years back and all my assets poofed . I never, ever thought that would happen. As somebody above said, thank God for a fixed pension, in my case U.S. Soc. Security. Now we just need to hope the O administration keeps the $USD from weakening much more.

True indeed! My SSDI payment at least for now covers a semi comfortable life here but would be living on Skid row in the States on it.

[Pakboong]

my familly are rich,it helps

Is they now?

[mrtoad]

I'm sort of in the process of restructuring my finances. I have a house in the UK (no mortgage), and have several other income streams from outside of Thailand. I'm basically spreading stuff in different areas. I think the most important thing is to take advice from a proper financial consultant, and see what structure fits. For certain things I pretty much know what to do,and if I am not sure then I fall back on advice from my parents who are both senior employees of the IR in the UK - there is no way I want Brown and his cronies getting hands on any of it. As sassinie says, you need to give a few more indicators on your situation to get any real advice.

[mrtoad]

Bottom line you would need minimum of $3000 a month (to days money)and a place that you own to live for retiring comfortably in Thailand.

can you explain how you spend $100/day in Thailand , Assuming you live in BkK and not in Isarn. Just list it like 50 beers , 4 pizzas, rent a lady etc

of course dining at the Landmark everyday would fit the bill, spending $10 for coco pops and $20 on imported cheeses including the 50 beers at villa daily would tip you over the 100 probably, so why live here?

Why settle for less than what you are used to? I don't think $3,000 is particularly high, and certainly when I finally finish working, I'd like to think that I am able to have a better income than that.

[Jingthing]

Why settle for less than what you are used to?

Because for most mere mortals they will be long dead before they have a 3K USD income in retirement. That's why. While I think it is true that many people will never be able to afford to retire, the vast majority of people do make compromises in order to do so. Edited August 16, 2009 by Jingthing

[changnaam]

Agree 100% with what Mr Toad is saying.....

There is some good advice on here but if you were building a house you would not be asking a forum how to do it, I would hope you would get REPUTABLE, PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.

Also in terms of the amounts being discussed. What would you be comfortable living on if you finished work today? What could you scrape by on? What would give you the opportunities to do all the things which you want to do?

Only then can you start to look at what is achievable, oh and before you get too depressed don't forget inflation as well because that is the biggest factor which could have a bearing on your future. What will $3k be worth in 20 years.....

[Lopburi99]

Why settle for less than what you are used to?

Because for most mere mortals they will be long dead before they have a 3K USD income in retirement. That's why. While I think it is true that many people will never be able to afford to retire, the vast majority of people do make compromises in order to do so.

True ... or maybe their health craps out or something else happens in their life which suddenly forces them into retirement and to adapt as necessary. Therefore, and to topic, always try to have a tidy sum available immediately in case you find yourself no longer able to save for retirement over time for whatever reason.

Happily, I've found adapting to a vastly simpler life style although initially a shock, has not been that difficult. And a simpler life has it's definite advantages like being much more peaceful with far less daily stress as in the rat-race dog-eat-dog. However, dealing with the extra or perhaps unlimited free time is another matter. I find that more challenging than the life style adjustment itself. For many years I was busy every day with almost no time to myself. Crazy how things can change! We have so little control over the big things.

Edited August 16, 2009 by Lopburi99

[12DrinkMore]

I sometimes, not often nowadays, wonder how all the english teachers expect to retire here?

For the visa the Thai pension will not amount to very much and so they would need to go the 800,000 in the bank route.

I guess they are all on the "live for today" mentality or expecting a "Bangkok pension", ie an inheritance from good 'ol Mum and Dad.

[MyphuketLife]

Bottom line you would need minimum of $3000 a month (to days money)and a place that you own to live for retiring comfortably in Thailand.

You must be joking. $3000 per month in today's money? I live very comfortably in a 3-bdr townhouse in central BKK where I pay rent, with both truck and motorcycle payments, on around $2,000 per month. That includes being able to save each month. In retirement a person living in rural Thailand with low rent and no vehicle financing could easily be comfortable on as little as $1000 per month in today's dollars.

He or She said todays money... Inflation is a B&%ch as they say

[bonobo]

I have a friend who has a very small pension from the Dutch military (he was hurt while a low-ranking soldier).  Depending on the exchange rate, it is about 35,000 baht a month.  He has lived here happily for about 15 years now, and is married with two children.

Quite frankly, I could not do that.  I need about 140,000 baht per month to maintain my minimum lifestyle (and no, I don't go out to the bar scene and such.)  That pays for my home, car, gas, food, movies, sat television, internet, etc.

Luckily, my pensions, when they start in about 10 years, will be more than double that, so anything I do between now and then and the money I have in savings, stocks and other assets are just gravy.

It all depends on your own lifestyle.  You can live quite comfortably in a small town in Issan for much less than in Bangkok, so you really need to list down what is necessary for you to be happy, then figure out the costs to be able to afford that.