Considering early retirement options.

[Smudge]

I will start with an apology if my question has been answered elsewhere, I just cant seem to find any definitive answers unfortunately.

As the post title suggests, I am looking at options and seem to be hitting a lot of brick walls in my particular circumstance. Some details on myself are as follows:

I am a UK citizen

I am single

I am 40 years old

I am drawing a pension

I have saved and invested wisely over the years (that is to say, combined with my pension, I believe that I exceed the minimum income to live in Thailand that I have seen banded about on various webpages/forums).

I have no intension of working

I play golf... a lot!

I have visited Thailand 3 times in the past 4 years and have grown quite attached to the country/people/way of life. Key to note that this is not just a spur of the moment thing, I am fairly well travelled having been around most of Europe, the US and a few trips to Japan among other places over the years.

My question is as follows:

If I wanted to stay in Thailand for a period of 1+ years what would my best options be in terms of getting the appropriate visa with a minimum of fuss?

As I understand It, although I am drawing a pension, I can not get a retirement visa until I am 50? Is there alternatives?

Thanks In Advance

All the best

Smudge

[Satcommlee]

You will be struggling at 40 yr old, unless you want to go for the Thailand elite membership at 500K THB per 5 years

[BKKSnowBird]

Elite card or education visa is your only options until 50. This has been discused MANY times. Search for digital nomads on this forum.

[paz]

You can also do on repeated tourist visa. Not a great solution but Baht for Baht it's the cheapest and many people still hang to it.

[Smudge]

Thanks for the swift replies, I suspected as much.

Elite membership is definately out of the question and although an education visa is an option, as I would be keen to learn the language, I wouldn't want to commit to anything long term in advance where costs are concerned. I guess I'm stuck with the tourist visa rotation option for the meantime.

Cheers

[paz]

ED visa is not much commitment really, some schools offer 6 months course good for one 90 days visa plus one 90 days extension.

[robertthebruce]

Would Cambodia be an option ??? Its easier there to get a visa.... ??? Maybe worth thinking about.

[paz]

Would Cambodia be an option ??? Its easier there to get a visa.... ??? Maybe worth thinking about.

Most people goes to Laos (Savannakhet) because they can issue double entry visa the same day.

Cambodia is not a first choice to go get a visa.

[Maestro]

I am drawing a pension

If it is a UK state pension you are drawing, you could ask the consular section of the Thai embassy in London if they will give you a multiple-entry non-O visa. There have been no reports of their having done so in the past, but a German member reported getting this visa from the Thai consulate in Essen even though he is much younger than 65 but has a German state pension, and to me this looks very much like a valid reason for a non-O visa. Their website, which is in German, confirms this.

[Smudge]

I am drawing a pension

If it is a UK state pension you are drawing, you could ask the consular section of the Thai embassy in London if they will give you a multiple-entry non-O visa. There have been no reports of their having done so in the past, but a German member reported getting this visa from the Thai consulate in Essen even though he is much younger than 65 but has a German state pension, and to me this looks very much like a valid reason for a non-O visa. Their website, which is in German, confirms this.

A very interesting read indeed. I guess my next step is to contact the embassy and see what magic they could work, although I get the feeling I will fall outside of the requirements as I am drawing from an Armed Forces pension and not a state pension. To be blunt, the AF pension is far superior to the state pension which I won't see till im 65+ if I even last that long!

[NeverSure]

Would Cambodia be an option ??? Its easier there to get a visa.... ??? Maybe worth thinking about.

Most people goes to Laos (Savannakhet) because they can issue double entry visa the same day.

Cambodia is not a first choice to go get a visa.

I understood him to mean living in Cambodia as an option because a visa is easy.

[Maestro]

As long as the Royal Air Force is not privatised, any pension it pays is a state pension. In non-O, the letter O stands for Other and because too many consulates were issuing this visa too liberally for the purpose of visiting friends, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs put a stop to it. Most consulates then started limiting the non-O visa to the purpose of visiting the spouse or a child of Thai nationality and consulates that are using a more intelligent and logical approach, like the one in Essen, seem extremely few and far between.

[glegolo]

Maybe a drastic solution, but you will most probably anyhow ends up there.. Fall on your knees and get married,

and than you can just buy a Non Imm O, and extend that yearly until you are 50 years of age,

Glegolo

[Zodiac]

You say you want a minimum of fuss .Plus you sound financially secure and want to enjoy your life. Surely in your case and circumstances the way to go is the Elite card.

[paz]

You say you want a minimum of fuss .Plus you sound financially secure and want to enjoy your life. Surely in your case and circumstances the way to go is the Elite card.

The OP has covered this already:

Elite membership is definately out of the question

[Smudge]

You say you want a minimum of fuss .Plus you sound financially secure and want to enjoy your life. Surely in your case and circumstances the way to go is the Elite card.

The OP has covered this already:

Elite membership is definately out of the question

The only reason it's out of the question is that it's a 5 year commitment (as a minimum) of which I assume is a one off payment of 500,000 baht (equates to about £9500). I would be looking to go for 1-2 years before potentially commiting myself fully and as such the Elite Membership does not seem a wise approach.

I would not completely discount it though as it certainly has potential for the future if I do decide to follow the Thailand plan.

Tx

[chiang mai]

The OP is not eligible for UK State Pension at age 40, neither would he be eligible to draw a private pension at that age so I presume he means something else, exactly what I'm not sure, perhaps he can clarify.

But to cut to the quick on all of this: retirement at age 40 requires a substantial amount of money either in lump sum invested or by way of monthly payments, Conservatively I would estimate the OP needs a pension pot/assets in the order of around £500k/800k at a minimum in order to live even a basic lifestyle here, does the OP have those assets, if not, no point wondering about visa options?

[paz]

The OP is not eligible for UK State Pension at age 40, neither would he be eligible to draw a private pension at that age so I presume he means something else, exactly what I'm not sure, perhaps he can clarify.

OP has answered this above already.

But to cut to the quick on all of this: retirement at age 40 requires a substantial amount of money either in lump sum invested or by way of monthly payments, Conservatively I would estimate the OP needs a pension pot/assets in the order of around £500k/800k at a minimum in order to live even a basic lifestyle here, does the OP have those assets, if not, no point wondering about visa options?

One needs half a million pounds to live in Thailand? Maybe you're talking about a different Thailand.

Edited September 29, 2014 by paz

[chiang mai]

The OP is not eligible for UK State Pension at age 40, neither would he be eligible to draw a private pension at that age so I presume he means something else, exactly what I'm not sure, perhaps he can clarify.

OP has answered this above already.

But to cut to the quick on all of this: retirement at age 40 requires a substantial amount of money either in lump sum invested or by way of monthly payments, Conservatively I would estimate the OP needs a pension pot/assets in the order of around £500k/800k at a minimum in order to live even a basic lifestyle here, does the OP have those assets, if not, no point wondering about visa options?

One needs half a million pounds to live in Thailand? Maybe you're talking about a different Thailand.

Indeed I missed the fact that the OP seems to have an AF pension, presumably this is not a standard pension but is something more akin to a disability pension, presumably (and without wishing to pry into personal matters)?

Half a million Pounds:

The OP is age 40 and can be expected to live until age 80 or beyond, uninvested, half a million Pounds will return him £12,500 a year or THB 55k a month - at current rates of return on bank accounts, combined with inflation over that period, the OP will, unless he gets very very lucky on the investment front, go broke by age 60.

[Smudge]

To be clear, my pension+savings+investments will see me living fairly comfortably in UK for the rest of my days, I would not be living in luxury nor in poverty, just comfortable.

What I want to do is make it go so much further, hence looking at overseas options and oddly enough Thailand always comes up as the place to live well and for a fraction of the cost in UK.

Either way, I have my visa options now and although not ideal I have a better idea of what I can and can not get.

Thank you!

[chiang mai]

One of the most often asked questions on TV over the years has been, "how much does it cost to live in Thailand". The answer of course is variable based on age, lifestyle, state of a persons health, currency exchange rate, inflation rate and many other factors.

My take, based on those past conversations and also based on my personal experience over the past ten years, is that most people seem to agree that an average or comfortable lifestyle here can be had for around THB 65k a month, the correct answer will vary from person to person based on the factors mentioned and more.

[Smudge]

Indeed I missed the fact that the OP seems to have an AF pension, presumably this is not a standard pension but is something more akin to a disability pension, presumably (and without wishing to pry into personal matters)?

Half a million Pounds:

The OP is age 40 and can be expected to live until age 80 or beyond, uninvested, half a million Pounds will return him £12,500 a year or THB 55k a month - at current rates of return on bank accounts, combined with inflation over that period, the OP will, unless he gets very very lucky on the investment front, go broke by age 60.

Just for Info, the AF pension is a pretty standard but unique pension which is going through a bit of a transitional phase (cost saving). The pension scheme that I am part of is called the AFPS 75 which has not been available to new entrants since 2005 and will be phased out completely in 2015 (probably saving the government billions over the years), those already qualified remain on AFPS 75 and its benefits. Those on the new scheme will recieve a departure payment but will unfortunately not see there pension till 65

As it stands the pension is worth £13k per annum and that is before I take savings and investments into account.

If interested the very basics of AFPS 75 can be found here

https://forcespensionsociety.org/pensions-explained/afps-75/

[OJAS]

Thanks for the swift replies, I suspected as much.

Elite membership is definately out of the question and although an education visa is an option, as I would be keen to learn the language, I wouldn't want to commit to anything long term in advance where costs are concerned. I guess I'm stuck with the tourist visa rotation option for the meantime.

Cheers

You may encounter problems with Immigration at some stage if you're planning to live here indefinitely on back-to-back tourist visas.

[Thai Visa Service]

You can get a Triple Entry Tourist, if used correctly it gives you up to 270days.

After that get a Double Entry from Vientiane or Savannakhet, that is another 180days.

At this stage you could travel to other countries to see if you like to stay a year in Cambodia, easy to get yearly extensions, although few golf courses here.

[Thai Visa Service]

Thanks for the swift replies, I suspected as much.

Elite membership is definately out of the question and although an education visa is an option, as I would be keen to learn the language, I wouldn't want to commit to anything long term in advance where costs are concerned. I guess I'm stuck with the tourist visa rotation option for the meantime.

Cheers

You may encounter problems with Immigration at some stage if you're planning to live here indefinitely on back-to-back tourist visas.

Currently no problems if you stay on Tourist Visa