You must be good at sums to read this

[Gus 97]

I would prefer this to be worked out in GBP/Thai Baht but I can always use XE.com if us Limeys are not clever enough.

 

Now I would probably like to move out to LOS, but the same as many other BMs, maybe I do not have enough dough, and I do not really want to finish up splattered over Soi whatever before I get too old:D

 

I am now 60 so I guess at the very best have 25 years left on this planet, but probably less, although father passed away last year age 90, but he lived a cleaner life than I do

 

So my cash would be as near as possible to 100K, if I got 5% interest that would mean living on 5K pa=350,000 baht per year = 30,000 per month which is not enough.

However if I factored in the capital as well, 100K divided by 25 (years) =4K pa (280,000), so that would be 350,000 + 280,000 = 630,000 baht per annum, roughly 50,000 baht per month.

 

When i go I have no children to leave my money too; yet so if I die without a pot to piss in, so what?

 

Do you ex-pats think that 50,000 baht per month is a decent amount to live on comfortably?

I realise there will be interest rate changes and currency changes along the way.

There would be Visa runs, hospital charges and perhaps 1 flight to the UK per annum so it maybe a bit tight.

Any input welcome, TIA Gus

[Tengotodo 52]

Get ready to be flamed

[nidnoyham 30]

Gus

 

My opinion ?

 

If you can only 'just manage it' today with the present exchange/ interest / inflation rates and Bank charges. Don't do it.

If the baht goes from 70- 63 to GPB, it's like a 10% pay cut. If you have had heart problems no one will insure you......................

Edited March 13, 2007 by nidnoyham

[soi unwise 6]

50,000 per month would be ample.......................................if as it seems you are going to live with the Monks in a hill tribe 1000 miles out of Pattaya !!

[ben99 0]

Hi Gus

 

Problem is.........as you draw down your capital, the interest on the remaining amount is less each year......so in the first two or three years, this may not be particulary noticeable.........but after year 10, the amount of interest your getting from your remaining captal will obviously be substantially reduced..................year 11, only £60000 left...........so at 5% that's £3000 a year or 17500 baht a month + whatever capital your brave enough to spunk away in year 11........if the exchange rate goes against you - AND/OR Thailand inflation EXCEEDS the interest rate your getting on your cash in your home country..........God help you...................your spending power could be massively reduced..............what happens to your monthly budget/spending power, if Thailand/Pattaya inflation, runs at 20% for several years? You are then screwed BIG TIME!!!

 

Exchange rates will be a big problem.

 

I've often thought about this myself.........I reckon, 100000 a month (3333 baht a day) would be required........including accomodation, utilities, monthly deposits into an emergency fund..........monthly deposits into an account for flights home etc:

 

However, as you point out.........your 60 years of age.......how long have you got left? This is true, but imagine blowing your cash and having to return to your own country, aged 75, homeless with no cash!

 

Yes, it's possible to live in Pattaya on 50000 baht a month.........but you would be bored out of your mind.........wishing you could afford all the luxurys around you.........the danger is you then start dipping into future years money..............then in say 8 years time it's all gone and you turn into a statistic.......one of those jumpers from the 10th floor and SPLAT!!! your dead at 68.

 

Of course........you have not mentioned where you might live? If your happy to 'slum it' in the sticks...if you are already familiar with various locations, where you know 50000 a month is adequate.....then that is different.........but 100000 a month for Pattaya, is a good, ball park figure.......70000 if exceptionally disciplined.

 

Only my humble opinion.

Edited March 13, 2007 by ben99

[Eneukman 1]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Gus but the exchange rate is now quite a bit lower than 70 to the £. I transferred funds last week and they were converted to baht at 67.7525 to the £.

 

Whilst living on 50,000 baht per month can be done, the problem is that as you draw down on capital, the amount of interest you receive will fall. In addition, as your income will be a lot less than 65,000 baht per month you will need to have 800,000 baht in a Thai bank account for at least 3 months of the year reducing your income even further. If you don't plan on obtaining a retirement visa, you will need to get a multiple entry non-Immigrant O visa in the UK though with careful timing of visa runs you can get almost 15 months in Thailand from this.

 

Is there a pension that you can draw on to supplement your income? The UK state pension will kick in at ae 65 but if you are living in Thailand, it will not be increased at any time in the future.

 

Edit in

 

It's coming up for 2 years since I retired to live here at the age of 50. I'm fortunate in that my income is sufficient to allow me a comfortable life style and the recent fall in the exchange rate won't affect me that much. Until October last year, I allowed myself 80,000 baht including rent of 20,000 baht for routine expenditure though I increased this figure to 90,000 baht in November. My monthly average over the last 12 months is 78,450 baht though for the last 4 months it is 82,000 baht.

 

My total expenditure, which excludes the cost of escaping from Songkran each year but includes the cost of a couple of side trips to Udon Thani comes out at 95,000 baht though this figure has been increased by helping a tg out with medical costs for her mother when she needed hospital treatment for a heart condition from which she sadly died in January and helping her out again this month after her father was tragically killed in a motorbike accident. Without these costs, I would be comfortably below 90,000 baht per month

 

50,000 baht per month can be done but you would need a steady source of income to do so. Also, if money is tight, you ae going to be far more vulnerable to adverse exchange rate movements than I am.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide to do though.

 

Alan

Edited March 13, 2007 by Eneukman

[ben99 0]

Gus

 

If your desperate to enjoy the fruits of LOS, before you grow into an old codger and die/can't get it up anymore.........why not consider this?

 

Assuming you can live on 50000 baht a month (rate70/£).......think about it for another 3/6 months..........then if SURE...........move to Thailand for 5 YEARS ONLY.........following ths cunning plan should leave you say £70000 as a nest egg, when you return to reality, when your 65.

 

Then when you return, the state pension will kick in immediately.

 

Of course, in 5 years that £70000 will be worth less in today's terms, depending on your countrys inflation rates. You may consider investing in high dividend FTSE 100 blue chips, with a broad spread of sectors........over 5 years, this should outperform cash.

 

So if you do go ahead with this madness (LOL)........I'd do it for 5 years........get it out of your system.........at least you will have SOMETHING to come back for +++ a shedload of happy memories.

 

As regards doing it for the rest of your life.................sorry but on that budget.......forget it.............it the 5 year plan at best OR carry on as you are.

 

All in my very humble opinion, do your own research, shares can go down as well as up...........

Edited March 13, 2007 by ben99

[Owen` 2]

Two things:

 

1) Suggest you do a search on various money terms like "retirement", "expenses", "inflation" and "4%" and you will find many threads in the archives that should help you a great deal with your thinking.

 

2)

 

Is there a pension that you can draw on to supplement your income? The UK state pension will kick in at ae 65 but if you are living in Thailand, it will not be increased at any time in the future.

 

Eneuckman needs an answer, as do you and we all.

[Eneukman 1]

Gus

 

If your desperate to enjoy the fruits of LOS, before you grow into an old codger and die/can't get it up anymore.........why not consider this?

 

Assuming you can live on 50000 baht a month (rate70/£).......think about it for another 3/6 months..........then if SURE...........move to Thailand for 5 YEARS ONLY.........following ths cunning plan should leave you say £70000 as a nest egg, when you return to reality, when your 65.

 

Then when you return, the state pension will kick in immediately.

 

Of course, in 5 years that £70000 will be worth less in today's terms, depending on your countrys inflation rates. You may consider investing in high dividend FTSE 100 blue chips, with a broad spread of sectors........over 5 years, this should outperform cash.

 

So if you do go ahead with this madness (LOL)........I'd do it for 5 years........get it out of your system.........at least you will have SOMETHING to come back for +++ a shedload of happy memories.

 

As regards doing it for the rest of your life.................sorry but on that budget.......forget it.............it the 5 year plan at best OR carry on as you are.

 

All in my very humble opinion, do your own research, shares can go down as well as up...........

 

Good advice, Ben

 

The slight downside on investing in the stock market just now is that it is high at the moment so a correction is inevitable at some point in the future. I find the market "corrections" are always overdone whether the correcton us upwards or downwards. I'd be quite happy to see the market a fair bit lower just now but rising steadily.

 

Alan

[ben99 0]

Good advice, Ben

 

The slight downside on investing in the stock market just now is that it is high at the moment so a correction is inevitable at some point in the future. I find the market "corrections" are always overdone whether the correcton us upwards or downwards. I'd be quite happy to see the market a fair bit lower just now but rising steadily.

 

Alan

 

 

Indeed!

 

Gus might consider 'pound cost averaging' - drip feeding his money into the stock market on a monthly basis.

 

So he buys a low charge tracker fund (0.3%)........maybe an all share index? ..............then divides say £70000 by 60 months.......so he invests £1116 a month into the fund.......so any crash will not matter so much.......then during the year 5.........Gus could make strategic safety withdrawals, back into cash, if he considered the market to be expenisve and he had seen decent growth.

 

As his £70000 is slowly invested, he will still be getting his interest from the cash deposit.

 

The BIG problem would be NOT overspending during the 5 years in paradise........could be a disaster waiting to happen..........all depends on personal discipline...............after all, if one is not getting any sex EVER in your own country, what is wrong with once a week in LOS? Or maybe two freelancers? Nothing! What a great life! Depends on whether he can leave the partying to the holidaymakers and tune into living mode.

Edited March 13, 2007 by ben99

[Owen` 2]

FYI as I type this the Dow Jones is in the midst of a 2% mini crash on the day. Expect Europe and Asia to follow suit tonight.

[vegasdave 0]

I think it is possible to live in LOS on 50k a month. But if yoiu think you can live like you do when you are on vacation then you would be in trouble. It is important to consider the exchange rate issue as well as general inflation in LOS. combined in the past few years you are looking at about a 30% rate. I tend to think the notion of trying it out for a set period of time is a good idea. The five year plan mentioned really makes sense. I know that I could get by on 50k but I live very modestly and dont drink and dont have too many vices. I would be fine with a small studio, and would cook in a fair amount of the time. I also liike Thai food so would not end up paying for expensive western food a lot. Regarding a GF I would probably try and find a live in girlfriend (only child, parents dead would be the ideal LOL), and just settle into a simple lifestyle.

[dacah 0]

I think you have got a lot of good advice here

 

This tread also applys to me...so very interested in the knowledge from the BMs

 

I thought of 100000 Baht per month would be OK...however

 

it really depends on your lifestyle,

 

50000Baht per month would get you a good lifestyle in the North of Thailand

 

But not in the south...Pattaya...too many temptations....???

 

Cutting off your ties with home country straight away is not a good idea

 

I think a 5 year plan as suggested is a good idea

 

Good luck which ever way you go

[sinbinjack 243]

Hi all, My opinion, for what its worth, is that you should do what feels right for you.Some guys here expect to live well in the UK or the USA when they retire others like myself realise that when we retire we will be on the breadline at home no matter what.We can see the advantages of living in Pattaya even at a lower rate than some of the well off boardies and still be living better in LOS than we could in the UK .I personally get no sex at home and haven't for some years but ,even on a very tight budget I get all I can handle and more in Pattaya ,and lets be honest that is the main draw for me and many others .we can waffle on about cost of living in the respective places ,but it will always come down to individual needs and wants ,after all do we want to stay in good old UK for 25years and wilt away with little in the way of fun ,existing on a meagre budget or go out with a bang after 20 years of happiness.There is after all the ability to go home (UK)and let the social security take care off you if you do run out of money,that way you get to have your fun and still eke out your last days without resort to swan dives of hotel verrandahs.

PS I always holiday on a budget and last year I was in Pattaya for 4 and a half months (134days) during that time I ate out every meal and every meal was European I took a girl as and when I fancied I didn't frequent go-gos often and drank very little,at the end off my holiday I had spent approx £4200 and that included the £570 air fare a condo a hired bike, and about £150 in souvenirs (also about £75 spent on clothes),so dont let the naysayers get you down it is not an impossible dream.

[Gus 97]

First of all guys, many thanks for all the informative replies, this is pattayatalk at it's best.

 

Unfortunately there are too many tips to reply to each one but the general concensus is I will not have enough money.

I accept your findings 100% as I do spend money rather easily, massage here massage there etc etc and also I was shocked to see how the GBP has nosedived against the baht, now 63.30.

 

I think it was Ben who made a good point about going for 5 years until I have shagged myself into senility

 

One option I have been thinking about is to stay in the UK in the summer and perhaps spend November -March in LOS.

 

What made me think about staying in Thailand permanantly was on my recent trip where I stayed at Na Jomtien, near to the Pinnacle resort, I love it down there for a bit of piece and quiet.

My room had a large balcony, sea view with sea about 20mtrs away, A/C, large bed, fridge, colour TV, decent bathroom, also a maid changes the towels and sheets daily, 950 inc American Breakfast, but wait for this.

It is only 8000 per month April-October, whats that 280 per day?

I put my TR on Bangkoktonite, maybe I will see if I can copy and paste with some images.

 

Thanks for the help guys.

[ben99 0]

One option I have been thinking about is to stay in the UK in the summer and perhaps spend November -March in LOS.

 

 

I think that's a much better long term plan

 

The way global warming is going - May/September is threatening to be consistently decent anyway. Last June/July, while eating in the Pig & Whistle, soi 7, I watched the weather forcast on BBC World news and many days the temps were over 28C, widely accross the U.K................I did wonder what the hell I was doing, spending my dosh, at the height of the English summer, when I could have waited until winter.........this winter has been soooooo depressing for me, I realise it's a much better plan to go for three months..........mid November/mid Feb...........I've noticed that after mid Feb, the extra daylight really starts kicking in and the sun's warmth is felt, even on cool days.

 

So as you say........why not mid Nov/mid March..........living within your means...........but you would still be laughing in that room you mention by the sea, thinking about all the poor buggers in the U.K.

 

I reckon this could be the way forward for you and me

 

PS I always holiday on a budget and last year I was in Pattaya for 4 and a half months (134days) during that time I ate out every meal and every meal was European I took a girl as and when I fancied I didn't frequent go-gos often and drank very little,at the end off my holiday I had spent approx £4200 and that included the £570 air fare a condo a hired bike, and about £150 in souvenirs (also about £75 spent on clothes),so dont let the naysayers get you down it is not an impossible dream.

 

 

Hi sinbinjack

 

If I were staying for 3 months, I'd live my life rather like the 4 and a half months you describe above.

 

After hotel costs.......do you think that you could/did survive on 1500 baht a day OR maybe 2000?

 

On that tight budget.....did you find boredom a problem? What did you do with your time? Walks?

 

Thank you

 

edit: Well I've just worked out that afer paying for your flight........ over 134 days.........you survived on 1880 baht a day and this included hotel.........assuming you were forking out 500 a day for accomodation.........that left you 1380 a day?

Edited March 14, 2007 by ben99

[torrenova 644]

The UK pension is 84.25 which equates to around Bt22,000 per month. If you are still resident in the UK you will have this increased each year.

 

So in answer to the original poster, somehow you're going to have to get through to 65 when this additional income will kick in. You should be able to build up your capital in that time and still have some trips to LOS.

 

If you could get your 100k to 150k then that would be around Bt40,000 per month plus your pension of Bt22,000. Maybe just about doable but still tight especially given the likely inflation rates.

[EnglishPaul 3]

One option I have been thinking about is to stay in the UK in the summer and perhaps spend November -March in LOS.

Hi Gus

Same as I was going to suggest but you beat me to it answering your own post

I`ve met a few people in Pattaya,varying ages that just use their home country as a place to make enough money to then enjoy themselves in Pattaya/Thailand.

If as you are already thinking about it, could compromise on spending some time in the UK working then do the winter months in Pattaya,you should at least be able to protect your capital,or preferably increase it(as I agree with the "money crunching" posts already made that your "permanent move" budget would be tight/eroded by inflation.)

Well worth spending some time considering your own suggestion and how you could make it work.

All the Best

[Gus 97]

Yes, I work for myself looking after sportsgrounds and a few gardens, so it is quite nice in the summer, but this winter i took it really bad in the UK.

This is surprising as November and February were spent in LOS

Christmas was a nightmare, I had the Blues big time, I never even went out for a drink, Xmas eve, christmas Day lunch or New Years eve.

On the infamous skygod thread I can remember him posting an image of UK women in his pub on New Years eve, I would rather stay in

 

I forgot that I am due my pension as well from 2011

I think I will go out in November and see what comes up

It is a bit too hot for me in Thailand, but there is no gain without pain.

Now all I have to do is tell the missus I am selling the house I can move into Council sheltered housing for about £60 per week inclusive, and she can look after herself.

 

I must really find time to post my TR, in Na Jomtien I have the 25 year old Virgin who loves me Mak Mak, we went to EzXite together, plus one of her staff is sweet 17 from Surin, but I told her she has to wait a couple of years, I don't want to spend my holiday in the Bangkok Hilton

[torrenova 644]

So you're going to chuck the UK missus out on the street, you have a relationship with a virgin, but you want an underage girl, you forget about a pension and you think the council will give you somewhere when you deliberately make yourself homeless.

 

I think that rather than us trying to help you out we should perhaps put you on ignore as your story is full of bullshit.

[Guest Fatboyfat]

So you're going to chuck the UK missus out on the street, you have a relationship with a virgin, but you want an underage girl, you forget about a pension and you think the council will give you somewhere when you deliberately make yourself homeless.

 

I think that rather than us trying to help you out we should perhaps put you on ignore as your story is full of bullshit.

Is that balcony beckoning again ???

[Owen` 2]

torrenova is one of the best BMs I have seen on here at spotting issues and I got nothing to add to that.

 

One thing I will add, in a broad sense for BMs on the thread, is the issue of time frame.

 

In various previous discussions that talked about the 4-5% rules for withdrawls from a nestegg that is asset allocated between bank income (bonds, fixed income, CDs, savings accounts, whatever) and equities (stock shares), the focus was a 30 year time frame.

 

The OP on this thread was talking 20 years.

 

Guys, make no mistake about this . . . the shorter the time, the more you can withdraw from your nestegg safely. There is a significant school of thought on this in the US that is concluding that 4-5% is safe for 30 years, and 3% is safe for 40 years. There are MANY guys who are scared to project 30 years. Even at current age 50 they are planning to reach 90 or 100. They are planning accordingly. They either don't retire yet and keep saving, or they just plan to spend less.

 

But the OP was talking 20 years. There are some good quality calculators online (and some bad ones) and if you do your computations on 20 years, you may be pleasantly surprised at how your spending can go up.

[Gus 97]

torre, Bullshitters, it takes one to know one

 

Thank you for your opinions, unfortunately we can all be wrong now and again, as you are now. Next time I come to Pattaya I will come to your bar and buy you a drink and you can grill me as much as you like, and you will soon come to the conclusion that I am not a bullshitter.

 

I am just a complex person and you do not understand complexity.

 

I forget all of the points you raised but I will try and explain as eloquently as I can.

In the UK when you reach 60 you can move into sheltered housing, in my case I can move into Martin Court in my village and depending on the type of room, the costs vary.

If you want I can fax you the bumff from Charnwood council or you can check out their web site.

 

The 25 year old virgin helps run a beach restaurant/ bar at Na Jomtien, PM me and I will tell you the directions and you can chat with the people there about 'Paul', you will soon find out the truth. There are 3 sisters, 1 just seperated, 1, age ye sip sahm with 1 child and Da who is 25 and still a virgin. If you take the time to read my TRs from 2005 and 2006 you will glean more info.

Da has 2 young girls working at the restaurant, I checked their IDs both 2532, one comes from Rayong and one comes from Surin, I did take, and also the girls took piccies but any images after Koh Tao were lost in cyberspace. Time for me to replace my Opito S4i, 3 times I have lost images now.

 

I made it clear that I wouldn't be interested in the girls until they were older, not as though they were available, although maybe the Thai jetski lads have had a grope.

 

Da is very understanding because the restaurant now has about 4 girls 'working bar' in the evening, the night after Exzite I paid the bar for the other girl who had gone with the other farang and had her ST.

This girl was from Rayong in her early 30s with 1 child, she knew me from before Christmas when I took my BKK lady.

 

Finally, the missus, we have been married for 32 years, no children and she has had no feelings for me for the past 10 years or so. We sleep in seperate rooms, she knows why I go to Thailand, she would like to live on her own but realises she cannot afford anywhere as nice as where we live now.

Our 4 bed detached house is worth about 230K with not much owing, so about 100K each to split.

 

My last TR is on BKKtonite, feel free to check it out, I will try and copy paste it and add images and post it on Pattayatalk; believe me, someone with over 1000 posts would not have survived bullshitting on this forum for so long.

When you get a day off nip down to Na Jomtien, you may enjoy it.

[myrtlegolf 0]

Hey Gus. NIce toughts about retiring to LOS. I assume that you do not have a pension

or you would have mentioned it. I hate to sound snotty but you are about 10 or 11 years

short. The dimenishing returns start at about 5 or 6 years, which means you start using

up your capital pronto. If you factored in inflation too that makes it worse. By the way

Don't you have taxes to pay on the 5% income? Then again you also have conversion

issues with the Baht. I'd say you have at a minimum about half what you need. You

can figure this is you are serious on a simple excel spread sheet changing the variables

how you like. I am sure you already know this but you did ask. Sorry about that

[winner 0]

Hey Gus. NIce toughts about retiring to LOS. I assume that you do not have a pension

or you would have mentioned it. I hate to sound snotty but you are about 10 or 11 years

short. The dimenishing returns start at about 5 or 6 years, which means you start using

up your capital pronto. If you factored in inflation too that makes it worse. By the way

Don't you have taxes to pay on the 5% income? Then again you also have conversion

issues with the Baht. I'd say you have at a minimum about half what you need. You

can figure this is you are serious on a simple excel spread sheet changing the variables

how you like. I am sure you already know this but you did ask. Sorry about that

 

50,000 is doable. I live in Bangkok and my monthly expenses run between 40 and 60 per month including a trip home once or twice a year. My Thai gf works (a normal job- teacher) and pays her own spending money and clothes make-up etc. I pay for the rent and all food and other basic living expenses. I have a two bedroom two bath condo with a nice living room and dining room and a western kitchen. The complex has a swimming pool, restaurant and great security I pay 20K per month for it. When my gf has a school holiday we travel around Thailand and stay in very nice places. I save a good amount of money each month and don't drink very much. I would suggest that you stay away from Pattaya because the economy and prices are all geared to the drinking foreigners. A great place for a slip away visit which I do frequently but I would pass on it as a place to live. I don't watch my money closely and only know what I spend each month by checking my bank balance. It can be done.