Transitioning to a Philippines Retirement

[Nickleback99]

This old Corona beer commercial sums it all up best....

 

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

9 hours ago, bows00 said:

At 56, retirement is finally a reality.  It hit me yesterday when my boss refused to assign me any new projects, but instead, assigned a new engineer to mentor and pass on 31 years of experience that is packed in my brain - which is currently full of mixed emotions.  I had envisioned this point of my career to be a happy one, especially when I have a plan in place to travel the Philippines, but the psychological ramifications are not that simple.  And the finality of retirement is worth a second thought.  Once I pull the trigger, there is no going back.

Is it just fear of letting go of a structured lifestyle?  Or the fear of possibly experiencing the 3-D's that some men go through in retirement - Depression, Drink and Divorce...

Or is it just cold feet?  I am about 80% sure I will eventually like my new life, but nothing is guaranteed in life.  

Anybody experience something similar?  Or were you absolutely sure of your decision?

What a wonderful post!  It sums up exactly what your life should be!

You had a great career, obviously loved what you were doing.  You want to keep doing it because you are top man on the totem pole now and it feels good.  But you are practical enough to realize life does not last forever and you want to move on to the next phase.  Perfectly logical.  Perfectly normal.  I felt so similar.  I loved my job and I knew that once I let go of my seniority there was no going back.  (Another friend tried to go back but had to start at the bottom of the pay scale and seniority list so he lasted 2 weeks and wondered what the heck he did that for and quit.)

I dreamt of my old job for 2 years after retirement.  I woke up with nightmare wondering if them young guys were OK driving through a night blizzard in the 30 below and feeling guilty that I had not stayed "at my post".  But that went away because I realized this is how life is supposed to work.

I was not sure of my decision.  I visited Philippines and pretended to live here for a couple of months before making up my mind.  Then I went back to work.  After a couple of months more working I was sure of my decision.  Since making that decision I have had some really bad days in Philippines, but never regretted not making the move.  There are times I think about moving back.  Not because I ever regretted the move here but because I sometimes wonder if this place is great for the newly retired folk but not so great for the over 65 crowd (lots of factors to consider there).  I was not sure of my decision because I was 53 the day I officially retired and the boss said that was too young to retire.  And yet I had started the job 10 years younger than most of the other workers so I had as much time in as the average 63 year old.

So I am getting long winded but YES you are making the right decision.  NO you will never be absolutely sure of it.  YES others feel the same way but did it anyway and are happy.

Depression, Drink And Divorce are huge.  Many of us came here when we were already somewhat depressed from a divorce or death of spouse.  This place is a great change of scene to get that out of your system.  Coming here WITH a wife is something I could not speak about.  Drink is the killer.  Many retirees coming her find themselves drinking too much.  Some cope with it and live a couple more decades consuming lots of beer.  Others find things to do with their time that keeps them off the booze.  Still others try to do everything in moderation.  Find your level of tolerance and be very careful.  Drink is the first thing I would be concerned about when retiring and having lots of free time.  Health is the other.  If you can drink moderately, or not at all.  If your health is good, or you can handle any small concerns, If you age is spry, as in you don't yet have one foot in the grave.  If you are willing to take the risk that you will enjoy this adventure, then it is time to start your transition.  Have no doubts!  Do it!

Edited June 14, 2017 by Dave Hounddriver

[Eddie1]

8 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

What a wonderful post!  It sums up exactly what your life should be!

You had a great career, obviously loved what you were doing.  You want to keep doing it because you are top man on the totem pole now and it feels good.  But you are practical enough to realize life does not last forever and you want to move on to the next phase.  Perfectly logical.  Perfectly normal.  I felt so similar.  I loved my job and I knew that once I let go of my seniority there was no going back.  (Another friend tried to go back but had to start at the bottom of the pay scale and seniority list so he lasted 2 weeks and wondered what the heck he did that for and quit.)

I dreamt of my old job for 2 years after retirement.  I woke up with nightmare wondering if them young guys were OK driving through a night blizzard in the 30 below and feeling guilty that I had not stayed "at my post".  But that went away because I realized this is how life is supposed to work.

I was not sure of my decision.  I visited Philippines and pretended to live here for a couple of months before making up my mind.  Then I went back to work.  After a couple of months more working I was sure of my decision.  Since making that decision I have had some really bad days in Philippines, but never regretted not making the move.  There are times I think about moving back.  Not because I ever regretted the move here but because I sometimes wonder if this place is great for the newly retired folk but not so great for the over 65 crowd (lots of factors to consider there).  I was not sure of my decision because I was 53 the day I officially retired and the boss said that was too young to retire.  And yet I had started the job 10 years younger than most of the other workers so I had as much time in as the average 63 year old.

So I am getting long winded but YES you are making the right decision.  NO you will never be absolutely sure of it.  YES others feel the same way but did it anyway and are happy.

Depression, Drink And Divorce are huge.  Many of us came here when we were already somewhat depressed from a divorce or death of spouse.  This place is a great change of scene to get that out of your system.  Coming here WITH a wife is something I could not speak about.  Drink is the killer.  Many retirees coming her find themselves drinking too much.  Some cope with it and live a couple more decades consuming lots of beer.  Others find things to do with their time that keeps them off the booze.  Still others try to do everything in moderation.  Find your level of tolerance and be very careful.  Drink is the first thing I would be concerned about when retiring and having lots of free time.  Health is the other.  If you can drink moderately, or not at all.  If your health is good, or you can handle any small concerns, If you age is spry, as in you don't yet have one foot in the grave.  If you are willing to take the risk that you will enjoy this adventure, then it is time to start your transition.  Have no doubts!  Do it!

Dave,  You have taken the time to compliment 'Bows00' on his wonderful post however I feel I have to compliment you on your post, its one of the best I have ever read on here, a very honest and enlightening post as to how it was for you and how it is for you.  I think that as I am only a few weeks away now from my new life in the Phils that perhaps your words had more of an impact on me, I can certainly identify with some of the feelings that 'bows00' wrote about as I am also flipping between emotions of trepidation at what I am leaving behind and also the excitement of what lies in front. However, all said and done I found your post reassuring. Many thanks my friend for sharing that with us.

[davewe]

18 hours ago, bows00 said:

At 56, retirement is finally a reality.  It hit me yesterday when my boss refused to assign me any new projects, but instead, assigned a new engineer to mentor and pass on 31 years of experience that is packed in my brain - which is currently full of mixed emotions.  I had envisioned this point of my career to be a happy one, especially when I have a plan in place to travel the Philippines, but the psychological ramifications are not that simple.  And the finality of retirement is worth a second thought.  Once I pull the trigger, there is no going back.

Is it just fear of letting go of a structured lifestyle?  Or the fear of possibly experiencing the 3-D's that some men go through in retirement - Depression, Drink and Divorce...

Or is it just cold feet?  I am about 80% sure I will eventually like my new life, but nothing is guaranteed in life.  

Anybody experience something similar?  Or were you absolutely sure of your decision?    

I just pulled the trigger a month ago, so it's pretty darn fresh in my mind. I had planned it for years but I also discovered that the last year at work was difficult; partially because as a short timer I didn't have much "give a damn" left; partially because I was treated like the worthless old guy; and partially because the company was in flux and I didn't know from week to week whether I would still have a job until my retirement. Once I left I have not looked back. I have already begun to forget the names of co-workers, accounts I worked on etc. It's wonderful! 

So do it as soon as you can, enjoy and never look back!

[Dave Hounddriver]

21 minutes ago, davewe said:

I have already begun to forget the names of co-workers

For a long time I did that.  There were people who really pissed me off at work.  Over a decade I have mellowed.  I am now Facebook friends with many of them and its nice to see how they are doing.  Age and retirement will often mellow us.  Well some of us.  I know some cranky old bastards who will never mellow 

[bows00]

14 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Drink is the first thing I would be concerned about when retiring and having lots of free time.  

Totally agree because I love my beer.  This is my No. 1 concern and this is what I see a lot of expats doing there, from 10 in the morning.  

[AlwaysRt]

2 hours ago, bows00 said:

Totally agree because I love my beer.  This is my No. 1 concern and this is what I see a lot of expats doing there, from 10 in the morning.  

Coke here, Pepsi in the US, has been my friggin curse. Addicted to the sugar I suppose. True would be much worse if I was killing my liver but carrying around a sack of concrete worth of extra weight aint exactly doing me any good either.

More to the subject of moving after retirement, I was nervous up to and during my estate sale (got rid of everything in 3 days except for my car) but once it was done I actually relief and the weight of the anchor of 'stuff' was gone. Was much scarier to sell my car as that restricted my movement in the States for the last week I was there. Still the freedom of nothing to worry about 'back home' felt amazing. I also fall into the category of 'no regrets, wish I did it sooner'.

[sonjack2847]

The only regret I had is that I was laid off before I was ready,if I had had 2 more years my financial situation back then would have been much better.I have no other regrets and most of the time I am too busy with life to think of what might have been.

[mogo51]

On 6/14/2017 at 1:30 AM, Huggybearman said:

I think it is only natural to feel apprehension at your impending retirement.  I also had similar feelings as my retirement approached. Despite being very sure it was the right time, I still felt a little regret at leaving behind the security of a long career. Especially as I opted to take retirement five years early.

That was five years ago and those feelings very soon disappeared and I can honestly say I have had no regrets. I suppose that the move to the Philippines was made easier as over the years I had travelled widely with my work, and lived in several countries including India and Cuba so I had a pretty good idea as to what to expect.

The fear of the unknown is always a little unsettling but provided you have a plan 'B' just in case things don't pan out as expected I am sure things will work out for you as well.

If you haven't spent much time in the Philippines then it would be worth living here for, say, six months before you finally decide. 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Ken

Retirement has been a mixed bag for me.  Often get very bored with little to do, but did not fall into the bar fly syndrome, rarely go to these establishments.

I am now at a stage where Thailand is no longer a place I want to live in and in a month, we will be off to Philippines.  Been many times there, but full time occupancy is always different.  I am prepared for that in Phils, as I experienced here in Pattaya.

Apart from that, I am sure all will go well and it will be better for both of us.  

[CoffeeRulzMe]

A great thread. I should have jumped in earlier. All that I was going to say has been stated already.  One point that stands out is how very similar our stories are.  To to OP, you seem like the type who thinks long and hard before making any life-changing decisions. That is your big advantage. I'm the same way.  I walked away from the rat race after thinking long and hard about choices. Then traveled to the PH after a few weeks of walking off the job. Returned home months later just to sell EVERYTHING. Returned to the PH with just 2 suitcases.  Been here 5 years now. NO REGRETS.

 

Edited July 6, 2017 by CoffeeRulzMe