Is there any kind of pension scheme in Thailand run by the goverment for Thais

[derekwyoung]

I have bean married to a thai lady for 6 years, She doesn't work and we live on my pensions from my country of birth, I am much older than her and will almost certainly die before her.I would like to pay into a pension fund for her so that she will have something after I am gone . One of my pensions allows me to transfer a part of my pension to her but it is a % of this pension and not really enough for her to live on. My total pensions add up to only 55000 baht per month so not really a great deal to spare . Is there a government pension that she can pay into to give her a something in her old age. She is no where near retiring age yet . But cant find a job in the nearest small town despite a bachelor degree and an IQ of 135. Ideally she would like a work at home job, she is very computer literate and can read write, speak fluent and touch type in both English and Thai, Also can use excel. I cant understand why she finds it so difficult to find a job. Even 7/11 don't want her as she is to old for them at 33 any help with knowledge of pension scheme gratefully accepted. we live in Mae Ai in north western Thailand and Have a nice house and don't really want to move.

[CharlieH]

MOVING to money matters forum

[Costas2008]

OP, there is no pension scheme run by the government for unemployed people.

I tried to look in the internet for private pension companies.

Provident came up but nothing satisfactory there.

I would suggest you take a private insurance, so when you die your wife will have some money available.

Again, don't know your age to see if I can help you.

The older you are the higher the premium.

Give it a try and see how it goes.

[mania]

Hi derekwyoung

Just some thoughts but if she is your legal wife does your pension not have a clause for a death benefit

to a legal wife?

If not then the major banks here all have some form of monthly deposit savings plans with decent interest.

You could do as you suggest & pay any amount you want into it monthly from your pension now.

If she is unemployed as you said you may not want to lock it as a retirement only type deal since

when your gone it will likely be a tough time for her at least for awhile regardless of her age.

Also as Costas suggested an insurance policy would be another idea.

Good Luck

Edited April 5, 2015 by mania

[allane]

Check this website: www.sso.go.th

[lopburi3]

It is also incorrect - Furthermore, in 2012 the system was changed from a uniform pension rate — THB500 (less than USD16)1 for all recipients — to a multiple-rate system. Currently, the monthly pension amount varies by age of recipient: THB600 per month for those aged 60–69 years, THB700 per month for 70–79 years, THB800 per month for 80–89 years and THB1000 per month for those 90 years of age and older.

http://www.ipc-undp.org/pub/IPCOnePager217.pdf

[dragonfly94]

Ok so it's gone up to 600 baht, just about covers the electricity and water then. <deleted>

[Sandman77]

We have a 100 year old man in village he got 900 Bhat a month ..

[derekwyoung]

Thanks every one for the nice answers, apreaciated

[apetley]

Ok so it's gone up to 600 baht, just about covers the electricity and water then. <deleted>

Unlikely but have you ever felt love for someone?

[MacWalen]

Ok so it's gone up to 600 baht, just about covers the electricity and water then. <deleted>

You keep making this stupid post. If you love a woman then you marry her, it has nothing to do with her having a job or not! That is why.

[MacWalen]

Some regular retirement plan would help. You could ask at some banks, I'm sure they have something to offer you.

[MacWalen]

I like your thinking, you care about people you love and you think how to help them when you are not around anymore. You have my respect.

[Pib]

In addition to the reference lopburi3 I've attached a brief document that summarizes the various social insurance/pension programs in Thailand excluding the various civil service and military benefit/pension programs. Probably the social insurance safety net most people are use to hearing about is social security old age benefits/pension which a person can earn after working for person who has worked/contributed for 180 months (15 yrs) and is at least 55. Basically a person could get a max of 20% of a max monthly earnings of Bt15K, which works out to a monthly pension of Bt3K...not a whole lot. The social insurance programs/safety net in Thailand is nothing to brag about. In Thailand and most third world nations the social insurance program is your kids...hopefully they will take care of your when old...of course this only works if you have kids or the kids make enough to support you and want to support you.

If you want to leave her something for after you pass you are probably going to have to look at leaving her a lump sum of money and hope she don't blow it...or possibly buy some type of insurance monthly annuity for her.

Thailand Social Security.pdf

Edited April 5, 2015 by Pib

[CharlieH]

An unhelpful inflammatory remark and responses to it removed.

[lopburi3]

Actually poster mentions another option -

One of my pensions allows me to transfer a part of my pension to her but it is a % of this pension and not really enough for her to live on.

It may not be enough in itself for her to live on and it may cause a bit less current income - but it may be more cost effective in the long run than any new self funded pension plan. With a younger wife believe this should be a priority to change that pension to survivor benefit.

[sirineou]

It would also help to know what country you are from

In the US there are survivor benefits for Wife under Social Security, but she needs to beet certain residency requirements, also if you had a child, the child receives benefits until it reaches adult age. If not American, perhaps your country has similar provisions

[xylophone]

That's a lovely thought "derekwyoung" and good on you for some forward thinking.

As has been stated here, it looks like any government pension scheme is out of the question so you have to find another means to provide for your wife, and if this is the case may I offer a few snippets of information that you may find useful.

There are plenty of investment vehicles out in the marketplace, and somethings you should look out for are high management fees which can eat into your returns quite markedly in a low interest rate environment (even providing "negative returns"); unit pricing structures which can also include management fees as well as others; built in life insurance cover which doesn't amount to much but can eat into the amount which is actually saved.......... and sometimes the fact that your investment/savings are locked in for a period of time, so that if anything should happen to you, your wife would have to wait to see out this period. Oh and of course, early withdrawal penalties, should anything unforeseen happen to you and the investment needs to be cashed up.

Other folk may say invest in the sharemarket to get dividend payments from good stocks, however this can be a rollercoaster ride and is certainly not a place for the uninitiated.

Perhaps the simplest way is for you to visit your bank and see what they have in the way of pure/plain investment vehicles like time/term deposits etc, and certainly pick the option where the interest is reinvested if it is possible. As I said, it is a low interest rate environment at the moment and from what I can see, interest rates of around 3% are about the highest available, with possibly longer term rates being a little better.

Using this method you will get compound interest and over time this will make a difference.

Just one point, and that is that investments which offer high returns will mean high risk and the old adage, "if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is" needs to be remembered.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

[lopburi3]

Again would strongly urge to provide survivor benefit for whatever pension allows it (do confirm details of what is required in the event of your death as you may be able to get paperwork in order and anything missing obtained) - this age difference will make it, in most probability, an excellent value and much more cost effective than any new investment with no added risk. I understand it will slightly reduce current pension in most cases but with this much of an age difference there is a strong possibility she would be collecting long after the death of sponsor so return would be positive.

[Pib]

Just to expand on my earlier post, the Thai Old Age Social Security Pension by most western pension standards is not that much due to that max Bt15K/month salary calculation. I expect most farangs make a quite a bit more than Bt15K/month.

The old age benefit (a.k.a., retirement pension) is equal to 20% of the average monthly wage of the last 60 months and the salary base used to calculate must range between 1,650 and 15,000 baht. The old-age pension is increased by 1.5% of the insured's average monthly wage in the last 60 months for each 12-month period of contributions exceeding 180 months (15 years) according to the two weblinks below.

So, if I understand above right, say a person worked 25 years...that means he earns and extra 1.5% per year for the 10 years (totals to 15%) above the 15 year basic period which earns 20%.....15% plus 20% gets a person to 35%. Then multiply 35% by a max Bt15K/month (assuming the average of your last 60 months was that much) and you'll get Bt5,250/mo. .

Or say you work 40 years....an extra 1.5% for the 25 years above the 15 year minimum earns you another 37.5% to be added to the 20% basic for a total of 57.5%....57.5% of Bt15K is Bt8,625/month.

The benefit is also tax exempt which is good. In many other countries social security is not tax exempt...like in the U.S. usually 85% of the monthly social security pension is taxable....if you are getting a $1,000 monthly pension then usually only $850 of that is taxable income.

But for the typical Thai who say did draw pretty much the minimum monthly wage during much of his/her 40 year work life but was able to reach Bt15K/mo during the last 60 months/5 years of his work life and considering the current monthly minimum wage is approx Bt10K then he is basically retiring with well over half his normal salary. But keep in mind the current Thai Social Security law only came into effect around 1990/25 years ago so above 40 year retiree example is for future 40 work year retirees, not current-day 40 work year retirees. And of course I'm sure there is fine print in the law that can affect the pension calculation.

Yeap, it's that max Bt15K/mo portion that's the "got-you" part for a person who is earning much more than Bt15K/month. I also expect (would hope) they do not apply any social security tax deduction for the portion of a person's salary above Bt15K/month, but I can't say for sure.

http://www.thaipvd.com/content_en.php?content_id=00313

http://www.issa.int/country-details?countryId=TH&regionId=ASI&filtered=false

Cash benefits for insured workers (except permanent disability)
Old-age pension

Old-age pension (formal-sector system): 20% of the insured's average monthly wage in the last 60 months before retirement is paid.

The minimum monthly earnings used to calculate benefits are 1,650 baht.

The maximum monthly earnings used to calculate benefits are 15,000 baht.

Old-age pension increment: The old-age pension is increased by 1.5% of the insured's average monthly wage in the last 60 months for each 12-month period of contributions exceeding 180 months.

There is no minimum pension.

Deferred pension: The old-age pension is increased by 1.5% of the insured's average monthly wage in the last 60 months for each 12-month period of contributions exceeding 180 months.

Old-age settlement (formal-sector system): A benefit is paid.

Old-age lump sum (informal-sector system): A lump sum plus the balance of any additional contributions is paid.