Moving to Thailand with the Australian pension

[AlexRRR]

Question for who has done it......Assum you have your pension then you sell up everything invest a good part of it then move to Thailand, having that amount of money will inpact on your payments but after a time you find a condo and buy it then move into it, say in BKK....now do centerlink once notified with proof regard this condo as your place of residence then the amount you paid for it which no longer exsists reduce you assets/income to the point where you can claim and get a few more $ from them?

2cd question....what if you bought/own a condo say in BKK proir to turning 65 as well as your home, of course this condo would be seen as an asset with income proberbility even if i wasnt renting it out, once i sold up and invested the sale of my home after reciving the pension then moved into my condo overseas would centrelink regard this as my new place of residence?

Im not concerned about the actual $ in this im just looking to maxamise and or find a less painful way of dealing with centrelink, an advisor who should know told me to hold my home untill i get aproval for the pension and not to buy a condo untill i move to Thailand for the reason that it just makes the whole process a lot more simple.

Edited February 26, 2015 by AlexRRR

[giddyup]

Centrelink will only know what you care to tell them. I sold up everything (house etc) before I left and told Cetrelink that I was going to retire to Thailand and buy a house here. I advised them I was going to spend $150,000 of the money I had in the bank in Australia and they adjusted my pension accordingly. I don't get a full aged pension because of superannuation plus bank lnterest, but it's still around $800 a month so not to be sneezzed at. If you bought a condo in Thailand and still retained your house in Australia, Centrelink would be none the wiser.

Edited March 5, 2015 by giddyup

[AlexRRR]

Hard to belive they didnt ask for some sort of proof...like a contract of sale, an adviser just got back to me on this seems CL will accept the condo assuming i buy one as my principle place of residence once i move over there.

[TSF]

If you are thinking about selling your home in Australia then buying a condo in Thailand I would advise you against this. The future for foreigners living long term in Thailand is not secure. If things go pear-shape for you in Thailand then you have burned your bridges. IMO much wiser to keep your Australian home, you can rent it out via a property manager and gain additional income (this is what I do) Centrelink will reduce your pension a bit but you will still be pretty well off financially with a pension + rental income. If for any reason it doesn't work out in Thailand - such as illness or tougher immigration regulations - then you have a home in Australia to fall back on.

Way too many farang in Thailand have burned their bridges and painted themselves into a corner with no Plan B. Better to keep that home back home.

[giddyup]

If you are thinking about selling your home in Australia then buying a condo in Thailand I would advise you against this. The future for foreigners living long term in Thailand is not secure. If things go pear-shape for you in Thailand then you have burned your bridges. IMO much wiser to keep your Australian home, you can rent it out via a property manager and gain additional income (this is what I do) Centrelink will reduce your pension a bit but you will still be pretty well off financially with a pension + rental income. If for any reason it doesn't work out in Thailand - such as illness or tougher immigration regulations - then you have a home in Australia to fall back on.

Way too many farang in Thailand have burned their bridges and painted themselves into a corner with no Plan B. Better to keep that home back home.

Too late, already burned my bridge 5 years ago when I bought here in Thailand. Anything is possible, but I can't see a Zimbabwe situation developing in Thailand where they kick all foreigners out. At 73 if I had to return to Australia I would just rent a room or a small flat, my pension plus super, plus bank interest would still see me living reasonably comfortably (certainly not luxuriously) there. I didn't want the hassle of renting my house in Australia, property manager or not, you still get bad tenants, property damage etc, I didn't want the headaches.

[AlexRRR]

I agree with you giddup, the house i am in now i built and rented it out for 5 ys the last four of those to the last tennent, was never meant to be a rental and was far to good as well, when they moved out i had to take them to Vcat for $8000 worth or damages, i took over the manageing of the property due to poor manging by not one but 3 agents over 5 ys when trying to recover costs Vcat knocked back all bar $450 due to previous agents not dating inspection reports....

So tell me how you can keep an eye on your assets from Thailand?

I noticed a lot of guys think like TSF but the reality is retires bring in much needed $, the chances of being thrown out are slim sure the gov could make it a lot harder even a revolution, then i would be a refugge in my own country.

Im very happy about burning my bridges if i need to move from Thailand i will just go somewhere else in Asia.

[georgegeorgia]

As far as I know..you are allowed to own your principle residence and get full pension.

So you tell Centrelink..im selling my house..and i think you have 12 months to buy another and your pension wont be affected.

Im not sure of how much money affects your pension.

As for selling up everything..just be sure that in the future if you get sick...cancer etc that you have enough money for treatment in Thailand.

[teambum]

My advice is to ask to see the financial adviser (FIZ) at centerlink. They can tell you what is the best options for you. you can look at the site for info on what you are allowed to have before your pension is affected. no house means more cash allowed. There is a limit on the house value as well if over then will impact on pension. May be worth your while selling your house and buying a cheaper one, use extra money to buy here but I would advise renting until you are sure you are where you want to be in Thailand. Wish you well.