Expat-to-be...A few questions

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 minute ago, Rooster said:

My US issued ATM cards and other Expats I know stopped working here months ago and the reason the banks gave is no chip. Now that I have Chip embedded Debit cards, no problem at any ATM machines.

OK, haven't seen a non chipped card from Australia for years and dont even know if there is such a thing as all my cards are chipped, and a bit scratched 

[Tukaram (Tim)]

4 hours ago, ElevenSeries said:

Sounds good. I'll be looking into at least 1 credit union. 

As a vet I would recommend USAA.  They are very understanding of long term overseas living. I have been here over 5 years and have had no problem with my USAA ATM card, or my AmEx from them.

Also, as a bonus they refund the ATM fees from other banks; up to $15 a month per account. The general fee here is p250 per x-action.  BPI allows p20,000 per transaction with a foreign card. The BDO here limits it to p10,000 at a time, unsure of MetroBank.

[sonjack2847]

15 hours ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

That's debatable as my GF is using hers fine but having said that she picked up her new chip card today so I guess they are phasing out the old. 

Yes they are phasing out the old ones I had mine,for PNB, changed a few weeks ago.

[ElevenSeries]

On 5/10/2018 at 8:17 AM, Tukaram (Tim) said:

As a vet I would recommend USAA.  They are very understanding of long term overseas living. I have been here over 5 years and have had no problem with my USAA ATM card, or my AmEx from them.

Also, as a bonus they refund the ATM fees from other banks; up to $15 a month per account. The general fee here is p250 per x-action.  BPI allows p20,000 per transaction with a foreign card. The BDO here limits it to p10,000 at a time, unsure of MetroBank.

Thanks, As a Vet I'll be looking into USAA!

[ElevenSeries]

On 5/10/2018 at 5:18 AM, Rooster said:

Will your Chicago VA issue you months in advance meds? The last time I was at the VA in the States, the max they would issue for any meds was 2 months. Medical care here at The VA Clinic in Manila for Service Connected issues totally changed for FY2018 and beyond and now the VA Clinic is only funded until October 2018. We now are required to be enrolled in The Foreign Medical Program. The VA Manila clinic does sometimes prescribe meds for service connected issues and sometimes they run out of stock. Another consideration is if you are not P&T, and or no future exams, your time spent here could be very short.   

I can have them shipped to me I would assume, since they already do that.  Not sure if they'd give me a bunch in advance, but I already have a decent stockpile of the pills anyways.  P&T. Check. On that as well, I'm not too far off from having my rating "protected" anyways. My PTSD has only gotten worse over the course of the last 10 years. to the point where I have a VA appointed Caregiver. According to https://www.visn21.va.gov/docs/VA_Manila_Benefits_Fact_Sheet.pdf Which you posted earlier, If I am reading it right,  I should be able to recieve treatment and possibly Voc Rehab while in The Philippines which seems odd since that is a job technically. I'll have to ask my VA Rep about these further when I see him.   As a sidenote...I dont take the My VA meds currently.  I use Medical MArijuana in IL for the PTSD. Again, I am 100% aware That is Illegal in Philippines and That's not what I'm going there for.

[lobojohn]

On 5/1/2018 at 8:38 AM, ElevenSeries said:

First of All,  There is no such thing as a "Perfectly Good Airplane"! Second, Thanks for the welcome and for the solid advice.  It's greatly appreciated. 

Tattoos aren't anything near offensive or burn the village.  Jump wings on my left forearm are a dead giveaway though.  You are correct to assume I will not be frequenting the Dare i say it " Muslim " areas. I did that once, made it out by the skin of my teeth. I wont risk it a second time unarmed and without backup. but hey, if its my time then its my time. 

You are also correct to assume that it is my disability.  For the visa renewal fees, that is factored in elsewhere. Remember, its a Soft Budget.  As for a nest egg, not sure what one considers substantial, suppose its what one is comfortable with. mine would only be about 15k US.  Im fine with that.     im also pretty ignorant to the way everything works in the phils..but im a risk taker..lol.  Unless everyone advises completely against that.

Thanks for the info about the beaches not being a super public thing. probably a good thing.  Not a huge fan  of being super crowded by people. so i dont mind paying for the nicer things. ( Funny thing too given where I want to go LOL!)

Does a US atm card do just fine?  I Haven't looked into atms/banks/money exchanges yet really. from searching around it seems lots of people just carry cash on them..

 

Thanks for the info about the beaches not being a super public thing. probably a good thing.  Not a huge fan  of being super crowded by people. so i dont mind paying for the nicer things. ( Funny thing too given where I want to go LOL!)

hmmmm.. be prepared for crowds.. its very crowded here.. almost everywhere you go. 

[Clermont]

On 5/10/2018 at 9:00 PM, Jollygoodfellow said:

OK, haven't seen a non chipped card from Australia for years and dont even know if there is such a thing as all my cards are chipped, and a bit scratched 

Yeah I haven't seen one either, just a query, how do you get on when the expiry date runs out? Thanks for the heads up, something I'll have to look into while overseas. 

[Jollygoodfellow]

7 hours ago, Clermont said:

Yeah I haven't seen one either, just a query, how do you get on when the expiry date runs out? Thanks for the heads up, something I'll have to look into while overseas. 

Well so far I think I still have awhile before they expire but you have reminded me to check that and probably what I will do is change my address to my sisters or something so the new card would be sent there and work it out later.

[virginprune]

2 minutes ago, Jollygoodfellow said:

Well so far I think I still have awhile before they expire but you have reminded me to check that and probably what I will do is change my address to my sisters or something so the new card would be sent there and work it out later.

My bank card, HSBC, expired this month and my credit card with same back in February. When I moved here I changed my bank address to my daughter's, the new cards are sent there which she sends on to me via DHL, takes 5 days. I then activate the new card online, really simple.