Retirement Plan

[millionair]

hello all

i am working in Thailand since 6 years,and i have decided to spend my life in thailand,i am 27 years old,i would like to take a good retirement or pension plan in Thailand,so that my old days are secure and i don't have to depend on anybody.

so can anyone advice me on this please.

[jackdawson]

advice me

allow me to advice (sic) u

leave thailand immediately

go to whereever ur from

get a job in sales . learn from a pro . sell . make money . save most of that money .

repeat as necessary .

come back in 20 years

[ESB7]

There are a few companies in the city that offer financial advice for Expats, wouldnt be suprised if you get a PM from one of them, contrary to popular beliefe some are worth going with.

[Khun Jean]

Buy real physical assets with a good return. Not paper with promises.

This needs studying (another good investment).

[thrilled]

There is A merill lynch in bkk.or go to a website schwab.com.They'll give ya A number to call etc.

[Jingthing]

It's great that you are thinking about this so early. How much can you afford to put into a retirement investment this year? If it's a very low figure, well it's better than nothing. Sure, some people can earn more at home, but best not to jump to generalizations as they don't apply to everyone.

[chiangmaibruce]

Starting off by doing some reading and research is definitely a great idea

One useful source of info for you will be the book described here:

www.silkwormbooks.com/catalog/info/investment-guide-thailand

[F4UCorsair]

My advice is:

Set up a company in Thailand to hold the asset. Invest in blue chip shares in Australia, shares in the top 20 listed companies weighted toward mining, BHP, Rio, Woodside, etc. with CBA heading the banks.

You can trade online through Commsec or any numberof other companies, low cost trades.

The advantage of doing it this way is that an offshore company (as opposed to an individual) can hold up to 5% of a listed company's shares (you will never hold that many) and there is no Australian tax on capital gains or dividends.

Just check that there hasn't been a policy change, but I'm sure there hasn't, before embarking.

If there are no taxes on retirement funds in Thailand, then that would be the way to go, nd invest there.

Stay away from managed funds and stick wiht just shares. Managed funds are made up of the same shares you will buy, but fund managers charge ridiculous fees just to keep your money, win lose or draw, so if the value of your investment drops (as it sometimes does on the market), the fund manager still takes his 1 to 3%.

[chainarong]

At your age, the winding road is long, lots can happen over the years including your health, like a previous member stated, go home, take out a super plan,save, study Thaland,come and visit, think about living in thailand over two decades, not two seconds, then make a choice at the ripe old age of around 58

[Naam]

"Set up a company in Thailand to hold the asset."

[expatman]

If you're working in Thailand the best way to save money is by contributing to a Retirement Mutual Fund (RMF) or Long-Term Equity Fund (LTF). Check out major bank websites.

You can contribute up to 15% of your taxable income to RMF and up to 15% to LTF, making a total of 30%.

The main advantage is that anything you contribute is deductible from your taxable income.

If you are making more that 1 million baht a year 30% of anything over that amount is what you pay in tax, so you get a big refund on your next income tax return - doubtful the stock market will go down by more than 30% over several years, so it's hard to lose.

For RMF you must contribute every year (minimum 5,000 Baht), and cannot withdraw money until you are 55.

For LTF only initial contribution required, but must be held for 5 calendar years (even 1 day counts as a calendar year, so if you contibute in Dec 2010 you can withdraw in Jan 2015.

For RMF and LTF capital gains are not taxable.

You can also purchase a savings account / life insurance plan, and up to 100,000 baht is deductible from taxable income. The return on these plans is not great - about the same as an ordinary Thai bank account - but again the main advantage is the tax savings.

[QED]

At your age, the winding road is long, lots can happen over the years including your health, like a previous member stated, go home, take out a super plan,save, study Thaland,come and visit, think about living in thailand over two decades, not two seconds, then make a choice at the ripe old age of around 58

Ummm, the OP said he has been working here 6 years, hardly a snap decision eh?

The OP is 27 not 17, I know it's a long, long time ago for most members here but he is not a kid. What were you all doing at 27? Married, kids, mortgage, career? Give the guy a break.

Kudos OP for thinking about this now, my recommendation would be to work out what you can afford, then save that amount each month into a deposit account. If at the end of 1 year you have not needed to touch it then use this as a lump sum to kick start some kind of investment. The options are endless, best to sit down with a financial advisor in 12 months time.

[millionair]

If you're working in Thailand the best way to save money is by contributing to a Retirement Mutual Fund (RMF) or Long-Term Equity Fund (LTF). Check out major bank websites.

You can contribute up to 15% of your taxable income to RMF and up to 15% to LTF, making a total of 30%.

The main advantage is that anything you contribute is deductible from your taxable income.

If you are making more that 1 million baht a year 30% of anything over that amount is what you pay in tax, so you get a big refund on your next income tax return - doubtful the stock market will go down by more than 30% over several years, so it's hard to lose.

For RMF you must contribute every year (minimum 5,000 Baht), and cannot withdraw money until you are 55.

For LTF only initial contribution required, but must be held for 5 calendar years (even 1 day counts as a calendar year, so if you contibute in Dec 2010 you can withdraw in Jan 2015.

For RMF and LTF capital gains are not taxable.

You can also purchase a savings account / life insurance plan, and up to 100,000 baht is deductible from taxable income. The return on these plans is not great - about the same as an ordinary Thai bank account - but again the main advantage is the tax savings.

Thanks that helps,i will check with banks.

[hhgz]

"i am working in Thailand since 6 years,and i have decided to spend my life in thailand,i am 27 years old,i would like to take a good retirement or pension plan in Thailand,so that my old days are secure and i don't have to depend on anybody."

Hey, me too, and I'm a lot older than you. Have you ever considered using an investment firm in your home country? I'm from the US, and use a company that has offices worldwide. Despite the nearest office in Hong Kong, I use an office in the US. Some US investors in the US think they can outsmart the IRS, and use a foreign office. My advice is not to do so.

[alexanderthai]

Find some return from your country such as saving or Government bonds,then,you can spend your extra cap of return in Thailand.

[gregb]

hello all

i am working in Thailand since 6 years,and i have decided to spend my life in thailand,i am 27 years old,i would like to take a good retirement or pension plan in Thailand,so that my old days are secure and i don't have to depend on anybody.

I'm terribly sorry for you. I'm 40 and I'm terribly sorry for me also. The days when you could expect a retirement or pension plan to give you security in your old age expired several years ago. The current financial crisis is just getting started. The last century where this was possible has been a historical abberation. If you are 27, your old age is going to be spent working until you can no longer work anymore. The global industrial economy is going nowhere but down. There is no point in a pension.

So what should you be doing at 27? First, buy gold. The physical metal, not paper assets. There are several very good gold brokerages here in Thailand. I like Ausiris. Gold will outperform every paper currency going forward.

Second, learn a skill that will be in demand in a low tech future. Study about what happened when the Roman empire went from a high technology civilization to a loose group of fuedal states in only a few hundred years. Get it out of your mind right now you are ever going to retire. We are heading towards our own version of the Middle Ages. My recommendation is small scale energy such as gassification technology and bacterial processes. These can be done without high tech industry, and your services will always be in demand. Not all of us can be organic farmers, but the ones who are terrible at it are going to die early unless they have a highly desireable skill.

Third, build up a social group including a family. You *WILL* need to depend on them for your old age. Nobody except for the very wealthy will be independent in a few decades. You will need a community to survive.

Don't listen to people who say the West is better. The West is in worse shape than Thailand. Stay here, but do it intelligently. Whatever you have today, you will absolutely have less tomorrow. Count on that and plan for it.

If you've got money to throw away on a anachronistic retirement plan, then gold and education are the places that money should go.

[fletchsmile]

LTFs are a great start. Can invest 15% of your earnings. Tax relief at your marginal rate (30% above 1 mio taxable income, 37% above 4 mio taxable income). Disadvantage is mainly invested in Thai equities so a little restricted + need to tie money up for 5 calendar years. After 5 years you could then sell tax free and diversify into other assets, and keep going your regular contributions. Should you need the money earlier you can get it back minus the tax benefit you've received.

RMFs have similar tax breaks to LTF, and you can also invest up to 15% of income. The MASSIVE drawback is the inflexibility of tying your money up until 55. In your case 28 years. You're also a foreigner in Thailand, so there are possibilities you would leave and want something more flexible. What happens if you wanted a deposit on a house or want it back for any other reason? I really wouldn't do that if it were me. Fill up on LTFs first before you even consider an RMF.

See also what your employer offers. They may match your contributions.

BTW Some say a very rough indication of how much to save is divide your age by 2 and save that %. Of course life is much more complicated than that, but it's a starting point to then adjust for people who've no idea where to start.

Insurance products: Very poor value for money in terms of investments, even with tax factored in. Keep insurance and investments in separate products.

[thaibutty]

I am in the very same position as you, 27years, been working and living fulltime in Thailand since 6 years. Now I am married for a year and going to be father for the first time in October.

What I am currently doing is putting away about 20% of my income each month in a separate account. This money I will use for investments in index trackers of the big stock indexes, for medium to longterm growth. Of course, I'll have to monitor them and move them depending on the market situations.

At the same time I am studying about different possibilities of self-investment and educating myself in order to build my wealth for retirement.

After discussing with a lot of people, I came to the conclusion that the only way to build your wealth is to take your destiny in your own hands.

To all the people who think it is the best to work in the west,save and than come to Thailand to retire, I can only say I know a lot of people in Thailand that came here at a young age and managed to build a career here and also save for their retirement.

One of the major advantages of living here is that I can keep most, if not all of my income, as taxes are very low and with creative accounting most people pay only very small amounts in taxes. compared to the west.