Retiring with 16mn Baht

[AlexRich]

1 hour ago, Agent Sumo said:

 

deVere???!!!

 

Is this the same deVere Group recently sanctioned by the Thai SEC?

 

I had some interaction with de Vere a few years ago ... they do not have a good reputation. That would be the last place I would advise anyone to invest their money in. 

[Agent Sumo]

9 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

So many negative posts!

 

If he can make his money last until he can draw his own private pensions, he'll be fine.

 

I tend to agree. £355,000 isn't a small amount of money.

 

Listening to some, you'd think the guy would need a million quid to retire in Thailand and, frankly, I doubt any of them have that much

[AlexRich]

As for the OP, I think it is possible to invest the money in such a way that the income from the investment covers his expenses in Thailand, and possibly offers him some capital gain along the way. I would stick to large blue chip dividend payers (as long as they are currently reasonably priced) and/or reputable investment funds like Woodford or Fundsmith. 

 

So, to answer the question, I think that it is possible to do this as long as the capital is invested sensibly.

[GoDucks]

Get a condo in Metro Park Sathorn.  Not the best central location but its a nice place and a short trip to BTS.    Deck it out for another 200,000.

 

Live on 30,000 per month.  With no rent thats fine.  Thats 9 million over 25 years (of course the prices WILL go up but im not going to calculate that all out--figure he has some investment to make a bit of earning).

 

Its doable for 25.

 

 

 

 

[amykat]

Briggsy, I like your post but how did you figure the friend has so much capital?  He has 16 million baht or 355,000 GBP as far as we know.

[Oxx]

44 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

I don't see any reason to bring into Thailand any more than is necessary. Why?

 

1. Exchange rates (45 Baht to the pound at present) are far more likely to see some strengthening in the £ than further weakening.

2. Exchange rate risk can be managed absolutely fine from Thailand without bringing money here. Simply invest in ETF's, unit trusts, etc which do not track the value of the £.

3. Weak regulation and law enforcement mean that investments turning out to be worthless are far more likely to occur to a noob in Thailand than in the UK.

 

1. Whilst Sterling may strengthen in the short term, who knows where it will be in 10 years' time? (And in the meantime there's still the Brexit fallout to factor in.) At least 1 baht will still be worth 1 baht in 10 years, whatever happens to Sterling, or any other currency for that matter.

 

2. The GBP/THB exchange rate is not the only one of concern.  If one, say, invests in Euro investments, then one is exposed to the EUR/GBP exchange rate.  Whatever currency one invests in which isn't THB exposes one to exchange rate risk.  So, to manage exchange rate risk (without the use of complicated foreign exchange contracts), the baht is the only possible solution.  Simply buying a bunch of non-Sterling collective investments simply doesn't cut it.

 

3. There's no rational reason to think that Thai investments are more or less likely to become worthless than those in the UK.  In the UK I can think of a long list of failed investments.  The SFO current and archived cases is a good place to start and suggests quite the opposite  https://www.sfo.gov.uk/our-cases/  

 

 

[dick dasterdly]

So we're talking about the OP's friend thinking about retiring to Thailand - whilst keeping his 16m bht?

[Johnniey]

3 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

Investment in a UK rental property would be moronic for someone in his situation.  Just look at what recent changes in the FX rate have done to GBP income in THB - let alone the changes since the days of 75 baht to the pound.  With such very limited capital, he can't afford to gamble with exchange rate risk and would need to invest in Thailand.  Realistically speaking, 4% would be on the optimistic side.

75  baht is not a good figure to go on. That was the highest it has ever been. 1992 when I transferred some pounds over I only got 38 t baht to the pound, so it is now relatively good.

My brother rents a house in Scotland for  120,000 baht a month - it has a value of around 12 million baht. That's what I would do if I came upon 12 million baht.

 

[dick dasterdly]

Just now, Johnniey said:

75  baht is not a good figure to go on. That was the highest it has ever been. 1992 when I transferred some pounds over I only got 38 t baht to the pound, so it is now relatively good.

My brother rents a house in Scotland for  120,000 baht a month - it has a value of around 12 million baht. That's what I would do if I came upon 12 million baht.

 

Renting depends on luck as to the tenants.

 

Been there, done that - and would never even consider doing it again, especially if living abroad.

[Johnniey]

1 minute ago, dick dasterdly said:

Renting depends on luck as to the tenants.

 

Been there, done that - and would never even consider doing it again, especially if living abroad.

Why? Can you suggest another way of getting such a return  on such a sum?

Edited August 15, 2016 by Johnniey

[AlexRich]

3 minutes ago, Johnniey said:

Why? Can you suggest another way of getting such a return  on such a sum?

 

A 10% rental yield seems pretty high ... where in Scotland would you get this?

[Johnniey]

It's in the West end of Aberdeen, a 5 minute walk from Rubislaw quarry where there are many Oil Company Headquarters.

[dick dasterdly]

10 minutes ago, Johnniey said:

Why? Can you suggest another way of getting such a return  on such a sum?

No, but the 'return' can easily become a loss.

 

And I'm still assuming the OP's friend is looking to retire to Thailand - and accepting this will eat into his capital?

Edited August 15, 2016 by dick dasterdly

[KhunBENQ]

I browsed through the thread and maybe missed something.

The friend is working in London up to his 50th year.

Did he earn no entitlement to pension at all? (even if small)

 

Just quitting with 50 yr and eating up the 16 mil Baht is indeed a risky business.

Too many imponderabilia.

 

I quit with 54 with much less (less than half).

But I will get an employee pension (from next year) and a state pension (from 2020).

 

Spending disciplined with a stack of cash and no work/ much time on hand is quite difficult !

Sometimes I "envy" the elder mates who have a pension and eat up their money month by month.

No money in pocket, nothing to spend.

Much easier :>)

Edited August 15, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[SOTIRIOS]

...bring it all to Thailand....no.....

 

..place some of it and get a return....
 

...I heard there was a verified Trade Program backed by The Banks...and Legal...that offers 50-75% Returns per year....

 

...but the minimum is $250,000......(8649875.00 Thai Baht)

 

...if it panned out...he could be sitting pretty....$125,000 returns a year... (4324937.50 Thai Baht)

...he would be easily saving 2-3 million baht a year

 

...he should not come over here with more than what he requires for his Retirement Visa and what he needs to live for 1 year...

(800,000 plus 800,000 = 1.6 million baht)

...he could keep the 800,000 in the bank....and live off the rest....and take it from there...

 

...and if possible...get health and accident insurance....

[DUS]

21 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

 

And I'm still assuming the OP's friend is looking to retire to Thailand - and accepting this will eat into his capital?

 

Yes, that´s correct! His attitude is indeed to pass away with nothing left since there are no kids or family. 

 

Re KhunBENQ, I am not too sure about his pension entitlements but as far as I know his pension income will be limited to the state pension, which, I believe, is around 150 pounds a week if you made 40 (?) years in contributions. So with him retiring now, his state pension might be significantly below 150 quid per week.

Edited August 15, 2016 by DUS

[chiang mai]

Those looking for the Pound to strengthen in the short term may be in for quite a wait, markets are suggesting further weakening and for it to be protracted. So bringing money into Thailand is not altogether a bad idea if the motive is to preserve capital and avoid exchange rate risk - in two years time it may well be a different story but not today.

 

And to the poster who suggests that very few members have anything like 16 million in cash assets, you'd be very surprised at the extent of wealth that exists on TVF, most members however have sufficient class and good taste not to talk about it!

[mcfish]

9 minutes ago, DUS said:

 

Yes, that´s correct! His attitude is indeed to pass away with nothing left since there are no kids or family

Thats not how it usually ends up in LOS.Here is what will happen.

After a few years of mungering he will get bored hangin with whores.Next step is internet dating,relationship,she may have kids or she will pressure him,Boom...screaming baby and a family  plenty of 70 year old dads here that didnt see it coming...

[GuestHouse]

50 years old!

 

Bht 16million will probably give him, and whoever he finds to help him spend it, 4 good years together, follwed by 12-18 bad months together, and  futher 6-12 months of him wondering what went wrong, were the money went while he plucks up the courage to go back home.

 

Arriving home at age 55-56 years old, no cash and 5 or 6 years out of the job market.

If he's lucky without kids to take care of.

 

On the otherhand, he could invest now, continue working, enjoy great holidays and an early 'sustainable' retirement in 7 or 8 tears time.

[Chivas]

16 Million at current rates is around £347,000. Christ I do it on half that albeit the money wouldn't  just be at 0.5% interest

Edited August 15, 2016 by Chivas

[Briggsy]

1 hour ago, amykat said:

Briggsy, I like your post but how did you figure the friend has so much capital?  He has 16 million baht or 355,000 GBP as far as we know.

I do apologise.

 

My mental arithmetic let me down, I am afraid. You are quite correct. I carelessly put 16 million Baht at £800,000. This is of course wrong.

[uptoyoumyfriend]

8 hours ago, Henryford said:

CM is right it can be done, living on say 50,000 a month, but it's hard to be disciplined at aged 50. Buying a decent place to live could cost 4 million (or much more in rent). If he has a pension coming in at 65+ he will be OK otherwise he will run out of cash at @ 70.

i live in chiang mai ,my house has two floors and a garden-1.5 mio. monthly fixed costs about 2000.-.

motorbike was 40.000. after that it is basically groceries and drinks.clothes are also real cheap at markets and malls.

girls are another story but otherwise i would never spend 1000 daily.some days yes .

the guy just needs to budget himself at around 400.000 a year and stick to it.

[KhruGin]

Tell him to wait, what's the hurry? Now, right now is not a good time to be coming to Thailand to set yerself up, bad exchange rate and a lot of uncertainty politically where the counrty is going to end up, and that uncertainty applies to us immigrants here too.

 

16 mill though is a good sum if used wisely ...possible is buy 4 condos (farang right to own ones of course) in say a seaside town, rent 3 stay in one, nice little earner with capital to cash out in later life if needed/wanted (yes I know there are legal implications but its still doable as I know someone who basically does this already).

 

Or I could put him in touch with a landlord friend of mine in the Uk (Andover)... for an outlay of 180 to 200k GPB roi 1500 pcm thereabouts after the landlord takes his cut (taxable as legit business mind) ....but Im sure he could find a deal like this via a reputable property management comany in the UK himself. Left with 150k to come over here can set yerself up nicely on that but no ferrari eh, and say 60k baht after tax coming in every month.

 

Don't be the next partying buffalo led to the slaughter here ....heard too many a story in my 13 years permanant here and 5 years before that flitting back and forth. Good luck to yer mate and jai yen yen.

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, chiang mai said:

Agreed, 16 mill. baht at age 50 is not a huge amount, especially in a low interest rate environment. And if he thinks that Thailand is cheap he needs to think again, unless he is prepared to live a fairly quiet lifestyle, frequent casual trips to Europe would not be part of the picture. BUT, if he were to put himself on a budget, stick to it and live a truly "normal" life, it's high risk but dooable.

Yes, a lot would depend on his lifestyle, he could actually live on half that until he reaches pension age, then live quite well after that.

But I am assuming he does not drink much and lives in a very modest rented apartment on the outskirts of Bangkok. He could also

find a girlfriend who is working and share his apartment with.

[alfieconn]

On 8/13/2016 at 2:29 PM, Pat in Pattaya said:

According to..

 

2 minutes ago, chiang mai said:

 

You suggested, "bring it all over", not me.

 

Look at the Emoticon  and the sentence after that !! 

[mcfish]

9 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Yes, a lot would depend on his lifestyle, he could actually live on half that until he reaches pension age, then live quite well after that.

But I am assuming he does not drink much and lives in a very modest rented apartment on the outskirts of Bangkok. He could also

find a girlfriend who is working and share his apartment with.

Bad idea. Coming from Britain to the outskirts of BKK where English is not understood will have him depressed in a few weeks

Stick with expat areas for the first few years untill some clever little dark thing convinces you to build a house on her dads farm

[Pat in Pattaya]

What a vulgar thread.

[yellowboat]

He sounds like the perfect sucker this country attracts and the word "work" is a four letter word in Thailand.  He is far to young to stop working.  At the very least, he can volunteer and have his expenses covered. 

[dotpoom]

I came here 15 years ago with 5 MB. Bought 3 condos, lived in one and rented out the other two. I got married, sold the condo I was living in and bought a house in a nice middle class area about 30 mins. outside Pattaya.. I have a life beyond my wildest dreams today. Myself and the Mrs. want for nothing (we neither drink or smoke). We go on a driving holiday about every 9 or 10 weeks around Thailand for about 2 weeks at a time.

    I still have the house and two different condos from the originals I bought, which would add up to about 5 and a 1/2 MB if I sold all.

   So, with the greatest respect.....anybody who tells me that 16 MB is not enough to live on at 50 years of age is talking a load of horse manure.

    I am 66 years of age now...... If I were to die tomorrow I will have had a far fuller life than I could have ever imagined.....Had I waited till I had at least 16 MB before coming here I would have sold myself so short that I dread to even think about it.

[Pat in Pattaya]

Strange old forum this, most on here would walk an extra 5 mins to another shop if it saved them 5 baht, but now 16 miliion baht isn't that much money?!