Older Men And Money

[bronto]

Prediction.

1. The cost of living between Thailand and the West starts to narrow and becomes less attractive to European Expats, but more attractive to wealthy Asians.

2.Cambodia continues to develop and becomes the new Thailand.

3.The generals start to loose their grip on Myanmar and Myanmar becomes the new Cambodia.

4.Laos becomes an industrial zone of China and/or Vietnam.

all hoggwash!

cambodi(aint gonna be no thailand)

[bronto]

Most retired American men I know make fare more than that. Some of my military chums, for example, are now retired and are making anywhere from $5,000 - $7,500 per month at age 51, and that is without private investments and social security. And I know firefighters, policemen, factory workers who are working for solvent companies, pilots, etc, who make similar if not more.

On the other side, there are men who have nothing other than social security. Depending on their work history, they might make $1,500-2,500 per month. And then there are the truly destitute who never even collect their social security for any number of reasons.

So, how does that effect the expat population? Well, the truly destitute aren't going to come here. THey can't get here, for one. THe men on the lower end of the pay scale might come, as they go to the Philippines, Mexico, Columbia, or any number of places where they can stretch out their dollars. But I would imagine that if for no other reason than air fares, most of the men who come here are a little on the higher end of the retirement pay scale.

Even if the dollar/pound/euro/aussie dollar/canadian dollar/you-fill-in-the-blanks-dollar plummets, let's say in half, that means even the person on the low end of the scale would be making the equivalent of 24,000 baht in today's terms, and while not a lot, that is more than the majority of Thai workers.

And for the wealthier, Thais have no problems know ing which Thais have money, and they seem to defer to them, so I doubt they would have a problem understanding that the pensioner living in Roi-et may not be in the same economic class as the guy living in a three-bedroom condo in Silom.

(I am not inferring myself that one or the other is "better," by any means, just keeping this in perspective to the OP's question.)

Good post. There seems to be no shortage of "high-roller" guys coming here to run up and keep up the expectations of the local darlings. They have not stopped asking for 1 million + sin sod or the usual houses, cars, gold, 20K +++ monthly salary. Someone's keeping the game going. However, in the future, I don't see things are going to be quite so in the pink for the next generation of retirees. In USA the chopping has already started on pensions and other benefits.

i doubt high roller guys were coming here in the first place!

not much to interest them here.

its the lower income to middle class men who are attracted to los, for obvious reasons.........noy, noi, nok,jeabs........

[Naam]

i doubt high roller guys were coming here in the first place! not much to interest them here.

its the lower income to middle class men who are attracted to los, for obvious reasons.........noy, noi, nok,jeabs........

your doubts are not warranted my unlearned/uninformed friend the more money you make the more Thailand is of interest because of zero income tax on offshore income.

p.s. perhaps you are not familiar with the expression "income tax" because you never earned enough to cross the threshold?

[JaoPaw]

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Just sensless blabber. Plonker!

i doubt high roller guys were coming here in the first place! not much to interest them here.

its the lower income to middle class men who are attracted to los, for obvious reasons.........noy, noi, nok,jeabs........

your doubts are not warranted my unlearned/uninformed friend the more money you make the more Thailand is of interest because of zero income tax on offshore income.

p.s. perhaps you are not familiar with the expression "income tax" because you never earned enough to cross the threshold?

[Shotime]

anyone who has a percentage of their money coming from a government pension shouldn't expect it in the future. the US gov is going bankrupt. all benefits will be scaled back, if received at all. also, look for many companies to go bankrupt and avoid paying out their promised pensions. all this dead weight will have to be lifted somehow. the balance sheet can't be pushed back forever.

based on the CBO, best case scenario is that in ten years the usa is paying 50% of its tax revenue to interest on its debt.

we are in the end game as i write this.

This is too scary. By the future, and end game, how much time is left? I may have to live with my son, but both he and his wife don't talk to me.

You're watching too much FOX news.

[MONKEYGIRL444]

i doubt high roller guys were coming here in the first place! not much to interest them here.

its the lower income to middle class men who are attracted to los, for obvious reasons.........noy, noi, nok,jeabs........

your doubts are not warranted my unlearned/uninformed friend the more money you make the more Thailand is of interest because of zero income tax on offshore income.

p.s. perhaps you are not familiar with the expression "income tax" because you never earned enough to cross the threshold?

i like this. i make 5m us dollars. so if i move here i dont pay thai income tax.......wonderful. but what about usa income tax?

what kind of nutjob logic is this?

now if i moved here and obama said i didnt need to pay usa income tax, that would be wonderful!

[MONKEYGIRL444]

anyone who has a percentage of their money coming from a government pension shouldn't expect it in the future. the US gov is going bankrupt. all benefits will be scaled back, if received at all. also, look for many companies to go bankrupt and avoid paying out their promised pensions. all this dead weight will have to be lifted somehow. the balance sheet can't be pushed back forever.

based on the CBO, best case scenario is that in ten years the usa is paying 50% of its tax revenue to interest on its debt.

we are in the end game as i write this.

This is too scary. By the future, and end game, how much time is left? I may have to live with my son, but both he and his wife don't talk to me.

You're watching too much FOX news.

the usa is going socialist and its all fox news"s fault!

obama said all along what he wanted to do, and by golly he is doing it. take from the rich and give to govt, keep poor poor and alls good.

having said that i dont think socialism will get very far. theres got to be more than 50% who dont believe in it!

[a2396]

Most retired American men I know make fare more than that. Some of my military chums, for example, are now retired and are making anywhere from $5,000 - $7,500 per month at age 51, and that is without private investments and social security. And I know firefighters, policemen, factory workers who are working for solvent companies, pilots, etc, who make similar if not more.

On the other side, there are men who have nothing other than social security. Depending on their work history, they might make $1,500-2,500 per month. And then there are the truly destitute who never even collect their social security for any number of reasons.

So, how does that effect the expat population? Well, the truly destitute aren't going to come here. THey can't get here, for one. THe men on the lower end of the pay scale might come, as they go to the Philippines, Mexico, Columbia, or any number of places where they can stretch out their dollars. But I would imagine that if for no other reason than air fares, most of the men who come here are a little on the higher end of the retirement pay scale.

Even if the dollar/pound/euro/aussie dollar/canadian dollar/you-fill-in-the-blanks-dollar plummets, let's say in half, that means even the person on the low end of the scale would be making the equivalent of 24,000 baht in today's terms, and while not a lot, that is more than the majority of Thai workers.

And for the wealthier, Thais have no problems know ing which Thais have money, and they seem to defer to them, so I doubt they would have a problem understanding that the pensioner living in Roi-et may not be in the same economic class as the guy living in a three-bedroom condo in Silom.

(I am not inferring myself that one or the other is "better," by any means, just keeping this in perspective to the OP's question.)

Good post. There seems to be no shortage of "high-roller" guys coming here to run up and keep up the expectations of the local darlings. They have not stopped asking for 1 million + sin sod or the usual houses, cars, gold, 20K +++ monthly salary. Someone's keeping the game going. However, in the future, I don't see things are going to be quite so in the pink for the next generation of retirees. In USA the chopping has already started on pensions and other benefits.

i doubt high roller guys were coming here in the first place!

not much to interest them here.

its the lower income to middle class men who are attracted to los, for obvious reasons.........noy, noi, nok,jeabs........

Depends on what we are calling high-roller. Yes, probably the top dogs go to Monte Carlo, etc. But, middle class gents I know don't have 1 million + to blow on sin sod, in addition to the usual house, cars, etc. I know one guy who has been through about 20 million bht in 5 years here. Either these guys have got a lot of money to squander or they are very stupid.

[bonobo]

i doubt high roller guys were coming here in the first place! not much to interest them here.

its the lower income to middle class men who are attracted to los, for obvious reasons.........noy, noi, nok,jeabs........

your doubts are not warranted my unlearned/uninformed friend the more money you make the more Thailand is of interest because of zero income tax on offshore income.

p.s. perhaps you are not familiar with the expression "income tax" because you never earned enough to cross the threshold?

i like this. i make 5m us dollars. so if i move here i dont pay thai income tax.......wonderful. but what about usa income tax?

what kind of nutjob logic is this?

now if i moved here and obama said i didnt need to pay usa income tax, that would be wonderful!

If your income comes from a business in the US or from work you do in the US, then you will have to pay income tax on that whether you live here or not.

However, if you earn the money from let's say, consulting for companies in Europe, or from being a merchant seaman on an other-than-US-or-THai-flagged ship, or on an Nigerian oil rig, you can get paid in your Thai bank account and not be taxed until you repatriate your funds eventually back to the US, should you decide to do that.

(I am not a tax attorney, so don't take that as gospel, but this is how it was explained to me.).

[a2396]

i doubt high roller guys were coming here in the first place! not much to interest them here.

its the lower income to middle class men who are attracted to los, for obvious reasons.........noy, noi, nok,jeabs........

your doubts are not warranted my unlearned/uninformed friend the more money you make the more Thailand is of interest because of zero income tax on offshore income.

p.s. perhaps you are not familiar with the expression "income tax" because you never earned enough to cross the threshold?

Off-shore tax dodges are not legal for Americans, I do believe. Maybe you pay no Thai tax, but you are still liable to pay US tax. People have been getting away with this for a long time. But, probably not going to be so easy in the future.

[MONKEYGIRL444]

no offense, BUT THAILAND IS NOT A TAX HAVEN! just pretty girls........

and some not so pretty..............

and i agree a guy w 1m in assets is not a high roller.

a high roller would have to have an income of at least a cupple of million, and i just dont see what they would find attractive about thailand.

[rgs2001uk]

no offense, BUT THAILAND IS NOT A TAX HAVEN! just pretty girls........

and some not so pretty..............

and i agree a guy w 1m in assets is not a high roller.

a high roller would have to have an income of at least a cupple of million, and i just dont see what they would find attractive about thailand.

Speak for youself, its certainly TAX FREE for me, not all of us are from the good old US of A.

[Gary A]

There are old fools and young fools. Old fools are more pathetic than young fools. At least young fools can make more money. Any retired old fool who drops his life savings without knowing where he stands gets no sympathy from me. The first rule of life in Thailand is NOT to spend more than you can afford to walk away from. I know a guy who spent 20 million baht on a property. He thought he would never run out of money. He HAS run out of money and is now between a rock and a hard place. No income and no pension.

I am happy living in Thailand and I do live comfortably. I may be old but I am NOT a fool. I'm not wealthy either mainly because I was a young fool. I didn't learn quickly but I did learn.

[bonobo]

i doubt high roller guys were coming here in the first place! not much to interest them here.

its the lower income to middle class men who are attracted to los, for obvious reasons.........noy, noi, nok,jeabs........

your doubts are not warranted my unlearned/uninformed friend the more money you make the more Thailand is of interest because of zero income tax on offshore income.

p.s. perhaps you are not familiar with the expression "income tax" because you never earned enough to cross the threshold?

Off-shore tax dodges are not legal for Americans, I do believe. Maybe you pay no Thai tax, but you are still liable to pay US tax. People have been getting away with this for a long time. But, probably not going to be so easy in the future.

"Off-shore tax dodges" are illegal for Americans.  But tax mitigation, done within confines of the law, is legal.  Mitigation can be merely reducing the tax with things such as the foreign exclusion provision, or it can be doing such things as delaying when certain monies are actually taxable.

The IRS customer service agents will even help you with this. 

[Garry9999]

There are old fools and young fools. Old fools are more pathetic than young fools. At least young fools can make more money. Any retired old fool who drops his life savings without knowing where he stands gets no sympathy from me. The first rule of life in Thailand is NOT to spend more than you can afford to walk away from. I know a guy who spent 20 million baht on a property. He thought he would never run out of money. He HAS run out of money and is now between a rock and a hard place. No income and no pension.

I am happy living in Thailand and I do live comfortably. I may be old but I am NOT a fool. I'm not wealthy either mainly because I was a young fool. I didn't learn quickly but I did learn.

The first rule of life in Thailand is NOT to spend more than you can afford to walk away from.Absolutely god dam right. Surprising so many people don't get this one.

[IanForbes]

The first rule of life in Thailand is NOT to spend more than you can afford to walk away from.Absolutely god dam right. Surprising so many people don't get this one.

I've been saying that for years... on many thaivisa posts. I haven't changed my mind in the 14 years I've been coming to Thailand. It is pretty much the same in Canada. I'm too much of a cynic to believe otherwise. Only spend on something you can afford to lose. Take what life offers and ask for nothing in return. Life is like a poker game where your skills can keep you afloat for a while, but eventually you'll run into a spell of bad luck. That includes health, investments and relationships. The only sure thing is death and taxes. Live every day like it is your last and enjoy every minute of it. You never know when it might be your last.

Plan for the future? Certainly, but don't go over board about it. I've known many men who worked too long and too hard thinking that some day they would start having fun. They missed the boat and couldn't enjoy their later years due to health problems.

[geriatrickid]

i doubt high roller guys were coming here in the first place! not much to interest them here.

its the lower income to middle class men who are attracted to los, for obvious reasons.........noy, noi, nok,jeabs........

your doubts are not warranted my unlearned/uninformed friend the more money you make the more Thailand is of interest because of zero income tax on offshore income.

p.s. perhaps you are not familiar with the expression "income tax" because you never earned enough to cross the threshold?

Dearest Naam, you are unduly harsh. I do not know about you, but I continue to pay taxes to my homeland. I have no desire to live here fulltime. For crying out load, I just turned the A/C off and the ambient room temp shot up to 35. If you have set yourself up as a permanent resident, then yes I can see how it works for you, but the very wealthy do not do that. They like to dash about. I base this on my child hood experiences. No I wasn't one of those jet setters, but I knew enough of them from school and my neighborhood to know who's family had the home in Sardinia, who went to the alps for a month, who had the villa in the Carribean and who played street hockey with us. The number of super wealthy from the EU or North America that have relocated to Thailand is negligible compared to other countries. When you have money and have a fancy for some special meat, you send out for it.

As for those that are concerned about the loss of income. Relax. Most of you will be dead or senile by the time the impact is really felt. you won't know the difference. Pensions are secure for at least another generation. I have to wait a few decades to get my pensions, but that's cool. I've mounted death watch 2010 with my siblings. It replaces Deathwatch 2009 where we wait for the parent's demise and our sizeable inheritances. oh sure, there's a chance a surprise may be inorde, but I don't see it being squandered on booze and hookers before that.