Opinions Sought - Mid Life Crisis

[kuffki]

Stick the cash somewhere safe at Say 5% interest and you can live like a king on US$75,000 a year!!

Where does one safely get 5% interest these days?

Oz pays about 5%-6% and now could even be more

Turkey was at around 14%

Brokers can handle all of that for a small fee(but need to be aware of the exchange rate, so better find good broker who would move money around in time, then also make extra on exchange rate)

Also can always buy condo's worth $1 million and rent them all out, that would give a stable income of anywhere between 120000baht per month to 150000baht per month and the rest $500 000 put in the bank to get interest.

[Naam]

Stick the cash somewhere safe at Say 5% interest and you can live like a king on US$75,000 a year!!

Where does one safely get 5% interest these days?

Oz pays about 5%-6% and now could even be more

Turkey was at around 14%

Brokers can handle all of that for a small fee(but need to be aware of the exchange rate, so better find good broker who would move money around in time, then also make extra on exchange rate)

Also can always buy condo's worth $1 million and rent them all out, that would give a stable income of anywhere between 120000baht per month to 150000baht per month and the rest $500 000 put in the bank to get interest.

you don't need a broker, banks can handle all currency investments if it's not some freaking building society (much loved by Brits) and beware of brokers who "move money around" thus generating big fees for themselves!

[ExpatJ]

From what i have heard the 6% returns you can supposedly get in aus/NZ are mythical. e.g. Rabo has a cap of AUD 50k, ING and Westpac state "promotional rate 4 months"- Can anyone provide a link to a 6% return account- instant access, no upper limit-???

1.5 million now- id get it out of US dollars asap- you have already lost 150,000 US$ since january as the baht as increased 10% v the $ (i am in the process of moving my $ into Indo rupiah and thai baht and gold bars (small ones:-) ). There is also a big bull run on commodities and in asian stock markets right now because of the quantitative easning in US/ Japan - so id put a chunk of you money (33%??) into those right now and sell in a few months before the bubbles burst.

Also as someone posted earlier- stay away from farang finance advisors in Thailand- stick to the big name institutions only in Thailand if you want financial advice e.g. HSBC, ING etc

Edited November 7, 2010 by ExpatJ

[witold]

You have not mentioned how much money your current lifestyle costs you. Some people live pretty frugally and they could easily retire on this amount. For others, this is hardly enough.

You can't just divide up the current monthly interest by the expected numbers of years you will live. Costs go up every year and they will continue to go up. 100K baht won't last you a week 20 years from now.

Lastly, below is the biggest mistake people make:

So if you invest your money well, you can live off the interest alone.

People confuse 'investing' with 'interest'. You can't safely collect more than ~3%+ interest anywhere in the world unless you are the beneficiary of currency speculation/fluctuation. (which is investing/speculation.)

So you need to invest this money in something you feel comfortable investing in. In general, the riskier the investment, the higher the potential rate of return. (and the higher the chance of losing money.) That's what it comes down to.

The big question is, are you eligible for retirement benefits back in the UK? This is a huge windfall and safety net if you ever find yourself in financial bind.

Personally, I would try to take a job in Asia that pays for my expenses, or at least most of my monthly expenses. Even if you take a crappy teaching job for 40K/month, you can cover rent. That is a huge positive impact that stops the bleeding from your portfolio principle.

[cloudhopper]

Retire immediately and have as much fun as you possibly can!

And ignore all of the financial advice offered as you clearly don't need any IMO.

[witold]

It's utter stupidity to compare interest rates between countries as if 5% in country X meant the same as 5% in country Y. What you will see is that Turkey may offer 15% on their currency, but if you want to earn interest on dollars in Turkey, you are back to the same 3% you get in the States. The diffrence between 15% and 3% is simply Turkey's inflation and currency speculation. At the end of the year, you may have earned 15% on Turkish currency but when you exchange it for dollars you will get even less than 3% equivalent because of transaction costs. If you did end up ahead, it will be strictly because of currency speculation.

[flying]

Retire immediately and have as much fun as you possibly can!

And ignore all of the financial advice offered as you clearly don't need any IMO.

:lol: That is the truth isn't it?

I personally have never known a working guy able to save up 1.5 million USD

So he does have the tools

Enjoy the fruits of your labors

Edited November 7, 2010 by flying

[kuffki]

From what i have heard the 6% returns you can supposedly get in aus/NZ are mythical. e.g. Rabo has a cap of AUD 50k, ING and Westpac state "promotional rate 4 months"- Can anyone provide a link to a 6% return account- instant access, no upper limit-???

1.5 million now- id get it out of US dollars asap- you have already lost 150,000 US$ since january as the baht as increased 10% v the $ (i am in the process of moving my $ into Indo rupiah and thai baht and gold bars (small ones:-) ). There is also a big bull run on commodities and in asian stock markets right now because of the quantitative easning in US/ Japan - so id put a chunk of you money (33%??) into those right now and sell in a few months before the bubbles burst.

Also as someone posted earlier- stay away from farang finance advisors in Thailand- stick to the big name institutions only in Thailand if you want financial advice e.g. HSBC, ING etc

http://www.westpac.c...-deposit-rates/

http://ingdirect.com...rm_deposits.htm

can always make 2,3, 4 term deposits if there is an upper limit. Not to mention when someone wants to make a deposit of such an amount, most banks in OZ not only will offer even better rate then advertised, but be happy to remove the upper limit.

You can also make "special" arrangements if you speak with the bank manager(but that would need to be in person)

Edited November 7, 2010 by kuffki

[kuffki]

Stick the cash somewhere safe at Say 5% interest and you can live like a king on US$75,000 a year!!

Where does one safely get 5% interest these days?

Oz pays about 5%-6% and now could even be more

Turkey was at around 14%

Brokers can handle all of that for a small fee(but need to be aware of the exchange rate, so better find good broker who would move money around in time, then also make extra on exchange rate)

Also can always buy condo's worth $1 million and rent them all out, that would give a stable income of anywhere between 120000baht per month to 150000baht per month and the rest $500 000 put in the bank to get interest.

you don't need a broker, banks can handle all currency investments if it's not some freaking building society (much loved by Brits) and beware of brokers who "move money around" thus generating big fees for themselves!

Thats true, but banks do not always work in the clients best interests. I should say they never do.

Personally i much prefer to pay little more in fees but make much more in profit later.ie because not only one benefits from the interest paid but also from currency fluctuations, and can always ask the broker to consult you prior to making any moves. so if the fees start to outweigh the gains-can always put a limit.

Remember that small fluctuation in currency of even 2% on such a large amount can earn you $25 000 just over night

I guess different things work for different people

[coastwise]

As someone who lives on $707.00 of social security, I find it hard to take this question seriously. If I had 1.5 million at my disposal I could take control of this part of the world. I don't think you need advice, you need a to reset your thinking. Find some way to spend about 10 days totally alone. If you do this you will have a whole different set of questions when you come back. ( go to Madagascar in a sailboat by yourself if you know how to sail, if you don't know how to sail learn.)

[Naam]

banks do not always work in the clients best interests. I should say they never do.

Personally i much prefer to pay little more in fees but make much more in profit later.ie because not only one benefits from the interest paid but also from currency fluctuations, and can always ask the broker to consult you prior to making any moves.

brokers do? :lol:

[Kwasaki]

You can have my opinion and opinions is what you wanted.

Well l have never had that sort of money maybe l have spent it in my lifetime.

Can't see what crisis you have, if you call that a crisis l would like one like it.

l take it you said you've got no family.

You could go to Pattaya find a nice girl get married striaght away, have some kids, then you have someone to leave you money too.

If the relationship didn't work out you could look forward to giving 50% of your wealth away and you would still have plenty left.

You have a British passport so you could pay your NI contributions up to date and you would have a pension at 65 because maybe by then you would of been screwed for the rest of your alleged fortune.

Crisis indeed you are either bragging or very insecure.:jap:

Edited November 8, 2010 by Kwasaki

[Naam]

1. It's utter stupidity to compare interest rates between countries as if 5% in country X meant the same as 5% in country Y. What you will see is that Turkey may offer 15% on their currency, but if you want to earn interest on dollars in Turkey, you are back to the same 3% you get in the States.

2. The diffrence between 15% and 3% is simply Turkey's inflation and currency speculation.

3. At the end of the year, you may have earned 15% on Turkish currency but when you exchange it for dollars you will get even less than 3% equivalent because of transaction costs. If you did end up ahead, it will be strictly because of currency speculation.

1. correct

2. partly correct and partly wrong. no 15% in Turkey, no 3% in the States (except for extremely long maturities).

3. utter nonsense

:jap:

for the record:

-interest rates on cash TRY (Turkish Lira) are 5-6% depending on maturities.

-bonds denominated in TRY issued by AAA rated debtors yield ~8.25-8.75%

-transaction costs do not differ from other currency transaction costs.

-TRY at inception (end 2004) ~72 US-cents and today 72 US-cents (in between big fluctuations).

-TRY gained vs. US-Dollar 28% during the last 20 months.

my opinion: a newbie like the OP should not invest in high yield currencies without professional advice.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Naam

[turgid]

Thanks for the coments. since some questions were raised on the money and my motives here are the answers:-

I stated it in USD because i figured that would be the most familiar and understood currency. Its actually a little over a million pounds of which 800K is in UKP and the rest is split between USD and SGD. 10% is in stocks the rest 80% is in cash and about 10% is in Singapore CPF (which i can withdraw if i dont live there) . In global terms i've probably taken a 30% hit on the UKP and USD in the last 3 years I currently get paid in SGD - that will end in January.

I've been working since I was sixteen and pissed the first 4 years away - I started saving after that and bought a small house when i was 23. I moved around a bit and bought and sold 3 UK houses along the way at a decent profit, and one at a huge loss. Around half my money came from the houses the rest from saving. I sold my UK house about 8 years ago when i figured the UK market had peaked and missed the biggest boom the UK has ever had. I've been lucky enough for half of the years in Asia to have a company paying for my accomodation My worst investments apart from women, drink and cars were in company stock purchase schemes that most IT companies offer. When the company goes bust you dont get paid and the stock is worthless and that has happened twice. One time I doubled up convinced it couldnt go bust and would recover and lost twice as much. Also had two dead cert stocks recommended by a good friend - both of those went bust too.

So my best investments have been houses,and just leaving it the bank. Also one single shining platinum mining stock that covered most of my other stock losses. Up until two years ago i was getting 5% on cash in the Bank while my stock portfolio was struggling to get above 1999 levels . The stock is up a bit but i'm getting 2% in the bank today.

I've been well paid but I've had a total of 1.5 years of unemployment in my 15 working years in Asia the last period was the longest at 9 months - I had a great holiday before i realised it was turning into 9 months and I was spending way too much money. Also I was surprised how much the utility bills went up and how bored I was at the end. I lost complete days doing nothing.

Pensionwise I completed paying my UK NI when I turned 50 (thats one of the good things about starting work at 16) but expect it wont buy me more than a toothbrush a week when i'me 65. Likewise I have 10 years company pension payments in the UK which now seem like they will pay hardly anything.

My work area is IT - i'm a geek and and i have zero non-english language skills. Everyone i work with seems to be about 20 and owns a car, an iphone and wants to buy a condo. This makes me think that the days of living cheaply in Thailand may soon be over. Yes i am risk averse or insecure or both. Yes inflation is the thing most likely to make any long term plan not work.

I need a good hot water shower,air con a clean bed and decent food nearby .

I'd like a decent two bed condo with a weekly maid and a car and the ability to travel well three times a year . Dont really care where.

No i'm not expecting anyone here to make my choices but the sharing of your choices has been helpful. For those that did thank you.

[GuestHouse]

Regardless of what you do with your investment, if you have not already done so make a will.

US$1.5Million is a large amount of money, you yourself are by the nature of your question are seeking advice and help with how to manage that amount of money - This should raise a question, could your dependents reliably manage that amount of money.

This is especially important if you have children, doubly so if like many expats in Thailand you have dependents in Thailand and overseas.

There is no trust law in Thailand so you need to think very carefully about where to domicile your funds and in what jurisdiction to make your will.

The choice I have made is to domicile my funds outside of Thailand covered by a will outside of Thailand which provides long term funds to my dependents (not single cash payout/fund transfer) with assets in Thailand covered by a Thai will.

There are lots of refinements to consider - ie payments conditional on children's attendance to schools etc that you may want to consider depending on personal circumstances.

What I would warn against is leaving a large cash sum that is open to abuse/fraud/theft/wasting.

[anonymouse]

I'd go with the others and take the early retirement route, I'd top up your NI contributions in the UK if you haven't been paying them, at least then you would get a small pension to top up your investment savings when you reach retirement age. If it does go tits up and you manage to blow the million you can always teach English .

As a single guy you are in an enviable position.

[witold]

for the record:

-interest rates on cash TRY (Turkish Lira) are 5-6% depending on maturities.

-bonds denominated in TRY issued by AAA rated debtors yield ~8.25-8.75%

-transaction costs do not differ from other currency transaction costs.

-TRY at inception (end 2004) ~72 US-cents and today 72 US-cents (in between big fluctuations).

-TRY gained vs. US-Dollar 28% during the last 20 months.

my opinion: a newbie like the OP should not invest in high yield currencies without professional advice.

That's exactly my point... It is currency speculation/investing - which has little to do with having a dollar denominated high interest savings account. 

Obviously, I have no idea what Turkish currency is doing, or how it's doing.  My point is, there is nothing 'savings account' about it.  

[Naam]

for the record:

-interest rates on cash TRY (Turkish Lira) are 5-6% depending on maturities.

-bonds denominated in TRY issued by AAA rated debtors yield ~8.25-8.75%

-transaction costs do not differ from other currency transaction costs.

-TRY at inception (end 2004) ~72 US-cents and today 72 US-cents (in between big fluctuations).

-TRY gained vs. US-Dollar 28% during the last 20 months.

my opinion: a newbie like the OP should not invest in high yield currencies without professional advice.

That's exactly my point... It is currency speculation/investing - which has little to do with having a dollar denominated high interest savings account. 

Obviously, I have no idea what Turkish currency is doing, or how it's doing.  My point is, there is nothing 'savings account' about it.  

to each his own. my advice to the OP is "hands off currencies like Turkish Lira" even though i made a big bundle over the last five years investing and trading this currency. every investment is a speculation and based on the speculation that it will be profitable. keeping cash might be prudent but cash is not an investment unless available and applied when assets look promising.

there is no such thing like "savings account" in many assets including cash. what sense does it make for somebody living in Thailand to keep "safe" cash US-Dollars yielding 2% when the inflation rate is double or triple?

and there is also no such thing like a dollar denominated high interest savings account. this is 2010, not the early 80s or 90s with double digit interest rates.

[craigt3365]

Thanks for the coments. since some questions were raised on the money and my motives here are the answers:-

I stated it in USD because i figured that would be the most familiar and understood currency. Its actually a little over a million pounds of which 800K is in UKP and the rest is split between USD and SGD. 10% is in stocks the rest 80% is in cash and about 10% is in Singapore CPF (which i can withdraw if i dont live there) . In global terms i've probably taken a 30% hit on the UKP and USD in the last 3 years I currently get paid in SGD - that will end in January.

I've been working since I was sixteen and pissed the first 4 years away - I started saving after that and bought a small house when i was 23. I moved around a bit and bought and sold 3 UK houses along the way at a decent profit, and one at a huge loss. Around half my money came from the houses the rest from saving. I sold my UK house about 8 years ago when i figured the UK market had peaked and missed the biggest boom the UK has ever had. I've been lucky enough for half of the years in Asia to have a company paying for my accomodation My worst investments apart from women, drink and cars were in company stock purchase schemes that most IT companies offer. When the company goes bust you dont get paid and the stock is worthless and that has happened twice. One time I doubled up convinced it couldnt go bust and would recover and lost twice as much. Also had two dead cert stocks recommended by a good friend - both of those went bust too.

So my best investments have been houses,and just leaving it the bank. Also one single shining platinum mining stock that covered most of my other stock losses. Up until two years ago i was getting 5% on cash in the Bank while my stock portfolio was struggling to get above 1999 levels . The stock is up a bit but i'm getting 2% in the bank today.

I've been well paid but I've had a total of 1.5 years of unemployment in my 15 working years in Asia the last period was the longest at 9 months - I had a great holiday before i realised it was turning into 9 months and I was spending way too much money. Also I was surprised how much the utility bills went up and how bored I was at the end. I lost complete days doing nothing.

Pensionwise I completed paying my UK NI when I turned 50 (thats one of the good things about starting work at 16) but expect it wont buy me more than a toothbrush a week when i'me 65. Likewise I have 10 years company pension payments in the UK which now seem like they will pay hardly anything.

My work area is IT - i'm a geek and and i have zero non-english language skills. Everyone i work with seems to be about 20 and owns a car, an iphone and wants to buy a condo. This makes me think that the days of living cheaply in Thailand may soon be over. Yes i am risk averse or insecure or both. Yes inflation is the thing most likely to make any long term plan not work.

I need a good hot water shower,air con a clean bed and decent food nearby .

I'd like a decent two bed condo with a weekly maid and a car and the ability to travel well three times a year . Dont really care where.

No i'm not expecting anyone here to make my choices but the sharing of your choices has been helpful. For those that did thank you.

Unreal. Your background is almost 100% like mine. Worked in IT companies most of my career. Made 80% of my money in real estate, the rest by savings. I got lucky in New York City and Las Vegas with RE...those days are over. Was worth about 7 million at one point, but it was 80% non-vested options. Then they got caught cooking the books, stock tanked so quick I couldn't get out...and even invested more as it was going down thinking there was no way a 5,000 employee company doubling every year could go bankrupt. It did. Divorced at 40, lost everything and had to start over. I'm also NOT good at investing.

I was in NYC for 9/11. Worked in the World Trade Center 3-4 days a week. It shook me for sure as I actually saw the first tower fall. Then the company went bankrupt. I was 46 and decided to take a few months off...which ended up becoming 2 years. Traveled the world. Went back to work with some friends, invested in a new company, the economy tanked and so did we. So...decided I was better at being retired rather than working. Kept traveling, but that got old, so we bought a house here and really do enjoy it. Contrary to what many say, it is easy to live relatively cheap here...and still have a good quality of life. And you don't have to live in Issan to do that.

We use to have a condo, but I got really bored as there's not much to do in a condo. As you know, hard to get bored with a house. Always something to do...even if it is just to walk around the yard, swim in the pool or watch the butterflies. And our moo baan is really active. Parties every week, plenty to keep us busy. We still travel frequently. About 4 trips a year, 2 back to the US and 2 as a tourist somewhere else in the world.

You might also try lonelyplanet.com. There is a forum for older travelers. I've seen threads like this several times. There are some interesting replies, and quite a few that are worthless...like here. But it might be worth checking it out and seeing what others have done in your same situation. Plenty of early retirees on that forum, living in different parts of the world, and enjoying life.

Again, I have about the same amount of cash as you do. Inflation is a worry for sure. But right now, we are really not spending that much money. House is paid for and we go out about 3 nights every week. So we don't just sit in the house and watch TV.

If you are ever near Pattaya, PM me. Would be interesting to have a beer and chat.

[dustybooky]

Download a few good ebooks on investing.

Put the lump sum in a good HK bank where banking regs. are very liberal - (e.g. invest in stocks, currencies and/or gold from your bank acct online)

Live in Thai or whatever is your fav asian country

Don't get married unless 150% sure and always remember that the most inexpensive (and hopefully cheapest) kind of sex is the kind you pay for.

[craigt3365]

I know you sent a PM, but thought this would be interesting to have "out in the public". You've talked a lot about finances, but not about your interests outside of work or your hobbies. This is a big deal for many who retire. What would you do with your time? Do you have any hobbies that you do on a regular basis? If you are a sailor, for instance, Bangkok is probably not the best place to retire. If you love golf, Pattaya is a great place to be.

For me, travel is my passion. When I retired, I visited around 50 countries over 6 or 7 years. Traveled all over and had a blast. For my father, who was a career military man, he was able to get back into golf, fishing, hunting and camping. He traveled all over N. America and Mexico doing this full time for almost 15 years. And had a fantastic time.

We are now home owners here, as mentioned before, and enjoying it quite a bit. Living out of a suitcase for so many years was getting old. Having the same bed for more than 2 or 3 days in a row now is nice. But we will still be traveling 3-4 times a year.

Do you want to be tied down to one location, say Thailand, or do you want to be able to enjoy other parts of the world? Live in Thailand for 6 months, live in Argentina for 6 months, live on a remote island for some time, etc. So much to do...almost too many options! We spent 3 months in Argentina and Chile. Great steak and wine!

Anyway, just curious as to your thoughts on this....

[cloudhopper]

Here's an interesting expat blog I just ran across-

http://www.sovereignman.com/