presto3

I have a massage just about every day that I am in Pattaya - helps greatly to un-wind the stress of working in London. I have not had a bad massage yet: every one has been excellent. Tried the oil massage, foot massage and head/shoulders massage. The oil massage is my fav: some of the girls can get you sooooo horny... A tip of 300bht is about the going rate for a 'special message'... Also, I only found out recently (3rd trip to Pats) that some of the massage girls are available for hire. The rates vary but on my next trip I have arranged to LT my favourite massage girl for a few days: the deal includes some boom boom action too. She's a cuite, great with her hands and speaks good English. Good deal for me and she gets a good income for a few days. She pays a small fee to the massage place for taking some extra time off. I love Thailand.

Lots of great advice on this thread. Thanks for starting it, and thanks for all the contributions. You have all got me thinking...

I'm a cautious type of person - sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes bad. In relation to retiring in Thailand I presume it's wise to also consider the currency exchange rate, market performance, inflation and changing tax laws (at home and in Thailand). I would keep most of my assets in the UK (even if I lived in Thailand: I don't - yet) - Thailand's economy has been growing well over the past few years but it's stilll regarded as an emerging economy and who knows what will happen in 10-20 years: the UK should be a more stable environment for the bulk of my assets. What will the pound/thai baht exchange rate be like in 10-20 years: I have no idea... But again hopefully the UK will be a relatively stable home for my assets. If I buy a condo in Thailand (probably after living in LOS for 1-2 years), then I can forget about paying rent. I have no idea how the financial markets will do in 5, 10 or 20 years... But I'll hedge: I'll keep a property in the UK (to get some rental income: hopefully that investment will be relatively 'safe' too), have some hopefully decent market investments (stocks, investment trusts and trackers), keep a large chunk of cash (it's 'safe' but will be eroded by inflation), have a pension fund etc. I'll also have to consider inflation. If I need say 60-80k baht per month to live (and party somewhat) in Pattaya now then how much will I need in 10-20 years? I'll take an approx calc of inflation as of 3% a year. Ie in 10 years, my cost of living 'may' be 30% more. I don't know if it actually will be 30% more but I have to consider the possibility... Am I being too cautious? Don't know... Hopefully my investments/property income will increase in line with inflation (or more) so hopefully all will work out well. The above helps me to the extent that when I calc how much I need, I'm going to make sure I have a good buffer/safety net. It'll probably take me a few extra years of UK working to create such a buffer/safety net, but that's not too long given that my retirement will (hopefully) be much much longer. Just my 20 bahts worth...

That's good advice regarding pumping as much into a pension plan as possible. You can now do the same in the UK - thanks to April 6th 2006, ie Pensions 'A' day. You can now put 100% of earnings into your pension scheme during any given year. Beware, however, that if you're a higher rate (40%) tax payer then you can only claim 40% pension contribution tax relief on the portion of your earnings that you pay higher rate tax relief on. You can also help hedge your bets by ensuring you are paying your National Insurance contributions (to get the UK state pension), and also ensure you are contacted into (not out off) SERPS (ie the state second pension). :