Income Issues

[Bruce]

I am posting this as a result of some of the posted replys to Travis and his leaving the Philippines. Food for thought.... I also am under funded. However I am still working and will not be able to get any retirement check, however small, for another 8 years or so. But since I am still working, I do have a cash flow. And a Plan! None of us can turn back time and redo different things. We can only make the best of the situation and perhaps make a course change for the future. So that is what I am doing..... I have a long term lease on some property that I am building a boarding house on. Small, but still has 6 rooms to a floor and a dirty kitchen. CR in each room which is rare out on Samar. I spend a lot more than I had to in building the foundation and 1st floor as I built it to hold up a 4 story building. But that is the plan. Build as I can fund it. Now, the 2+ floor will take less money as there is no foundation costs. The 1st floor will be rented out in the next 3 months. As I earn more money in the US, I will build the 2nd floor and then the 3rd floor. By the time I am actually ready to sppend some real time in the Philippijes, I will have not only some US pension money (small) but also a greater income from the building rentals. Now I do admit that with my charity work that I do, I could have done NO charity work and then built the whole building by now. But that is not my plan..... I am still working, and still in OK health. And I can wait to follow the plan rather than throw caution to the wind and spend lots of time there now and neglect my US business (Air Con) and then get caught up in a real financial mess and have Art point out to me in great detail what an ass I was! hehehehehe...... So, for those of you still working and thinking of moving to the Philippines, I would suggest a 2-3 week vacation instead. Do this for the next 2 years and find a place you want to try to live in and then build your own building for your future income. Plan your move in stages...... work, play, work and save and work and play and build and work and save and build and then retire when you get a pension check coming in.....

[Bundy]

No two people are the same so we can't all follow the SAME plan. The important thing is that we have one! Sounds as if you are in control of your situation and know exactly what you wish to achieve so stay with it and remain positive. My path is somewhat different in that i'm working to build up an income from my home country which will fund us a good life in Cebu, however once i reach the age when things start going wrong with the body, we will then return to Australia where we will own an apartment. :)

[Mr Lee]

What works for one will not always work for others, so having a plan is a great idea but one thing I have found that rocked my plans, is that things have gotten much more expensive over time. I know that had I not gotten off my butt years ago and bought the condos we bought then, that we would probably not be in a position to buy the same units now, or not wish to, so while it is good to do things slowly, I have found that it is much better to bite the bullet and do them as soon as you can afford to, because the cost of doing them may rise and make it unaffordable to do down the road, or at the very least much more costly.

[Art2ro]

Yes, we all have different backgrounds, careers and lifestyles when we used to work or still working and retirement requirements seems to be at age 55 or 65 for most and mandatory retirement even at age 70! Neither of those age requirements appealed to me and took an early retirement at age 49 with 30 yrs of combined military and civil service! Early civil service retirement only comes once in a blue moon, about once every 50 yrs or so and only 25% of the civil service work force retires at age 55 let alone at age 49! My early retirement came about during the Clinton administration when the military was tasked to down size and close a lot of nonessential military bases and furloughing, transferring or laying off a lot of civilians which the voluntary early retirement program came about for civilian employees eligible with enough time in service regardless of age, which doesn't happen often, but I was fortunate enough to get in on it and so I took it and ran, because I didn't want to work 6 more yrs until I was 55 or older! And plus the fact that I was in a dead end job without any upward mobility or a higher paying position and I worked for a bunch of A__holes! So, retiring at age 49 back in 1997 with only a $1,400 a month pension to start off with and moving to the Philippines was the best decision I ever made and 12 yrs later I started collecting the rest of U.S. Government pensions! It all worked out for us after taking the leap of faith retiring early, but now we are "Happy Campers" in the Philippines which I always say in my posts and it truly is "always a matter of money"! "Life is what we all make it to be"! I wouldn't change anything in my past even given the chance to do so, it probably wouldn't be any better than it is right now in this global recession!

[ekimswish]

Last year we were hoping the pig farm would carry us into the future and allow us to live in the Philippines carefree. Now, I always knew it sounded too good to be true, but we rolled the dice. If it had worked out, it would've been the best decision we ever made. But it didn't work out, and I knew then as I know now, that it only takes me a year of my young life to work us out of the rut. My thinking now has changed towards Canada. Personally, I make and save better in Taiwan, I'm sure, since costs here are low. But I want my wife to work and make her own income in Canada, not to mention my kids and step-kids (eventually) to take advantage of the health care, education, and work opportunities in the frozen north. When they're all doing their thing, I might feel more comfortable doing my thing. A friend I have, who is Filipino-Canadian married to a Filipino-Canadian, as an example, worked dead-end jobs for the last 5 years or more, while his wife worked on getting that nursing stuff sorted out. Now that she's sorted, he's finally doing what he always wanted to do - join the police - and I'm happy for him. If things work out in the future, I'd love to be able to pursue my own goals back home when my wife has a solid income (or solid enough to pay for food, at least), and maybe when we're 50 or so, we can give the Philippines another try. God knows I love living there. Maybe if I'm lucky, we'll get there earlier, but right now it's all about the kids and the wife. I can wait, as long as they're happy.

[gapotwo]

some people work all their lives to have a good retirement income. pinch every penny all their life. and save and save for the rainy days. etc. etc. blah blah. not me i threw everything into the wind. lived the bahala na attitude in america and didnt look back. then my riding days suddenly were over, due to paraplegia. all of a sudden the wind in my face died and i didnt know what i was going to do. till my sister told me about my inheritance in the philippines from my parents that i wanted no part of,so she put it in family trust many years ago. and recently handed it over to me. suddenly i have a city block of real estate, generating rental income. plus my SSDI. i suddenly have better than average retirement income. so planning may work for some. but i guess i just got lucky. :hystery: tanks ej. :)

[twostrokes]

I have mentioned it before in other threads as to my situation and logic. After leaving the philippines in 1993 after a major medical issue nearly killed me, I returned to the states for medical treatment. After a year in the hospital and going through all my savings and adding about 25K in debt, I started work again in a new field. I spent 3 years getting out of debt, 3 years paying off an acre of land, 2 years building a house while supportinga family of four. All the while, I planned on retiring back in the RP if I could keep the medical issues under control. I followed the forums for a few years while getting and keeping my financial life in order. That means getting 100% debt free and staying that way. Also included in that was a paid off mortgage. The few things that kept coming up time and time again was the lack of any legal rights foreigners have and more and more becoming targets. I noticed how so many kept repeating that keeping a low profile, don't argue with locals, don't do this, don't do that, all out of fear of someone making false accusations against you, or having political connections that could get you deported. I know the traffic had doubled from the time I left in 75 until I returned in 87. I know it has probably doubled again and it was bad in 93 when I left. My wife really did not want to go back to live because her family would constantly show up with hands out. It is bad enough here with all their emergencies. So my desire to move back to the RP continued to decrease until I really looked at my financial situation here as compared to there. I have living expenses down to 1600 a month here. Add to that another $500 a month for emergencies, breakdowns, and entertainment. Can I do that in the RP?? Yes, but would I be living in a 3000 sqft home? No, would I have all my driveable toys? No, could I travel all over without problems? No, You get my picture. So, I have decided that there is no longer enough desire to live there to make me make the jump. I may visit again but not sure when. With the world in the situation it is in, who knows where we will all be in a year. Returning to live there is always an option. The things others complain about are probably not an issue with me. I could very easy give up the net, a telepone, and imported food. People pissing in the streeet doesn't bother me. Their dirty, trashy streets don't bother me. The stink sometimes does, but only until I can get past it. The last 6 years I lived there I had no air con and adjusted. I never minded riding jeepneys or busses while there. I delt with the worst of the worst from power outages in the early 90's I have been through earthquakes, typhoons,and valcanos blowing up on top of me. None of those things were factors on me leaving, Only the medical issues forced me out of the country. Unfortunately I still have many of those issues which could raise their ugly head any time. So I stay here for now, keep riding my bike, keep going places all over the USA and eventually Canada. Yes I could ride over there, but lets face it, a Goldwing is not the ideal bike for the RP and I have become accustomed to comfort at 80mph drinking my coffee, listening to my radio leaning back on my backrest enjoying the view. I have ridden up and down Luzon before. Loved it, but I was young and strong. I'm not anymore and would probably get killed in the first month because my body will not support my lifestyle very well anymore and I would be trying to do things I physically can't handle and would do myself in.

[Art2ro]

Well twostrokes, after reading your post and if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't ever return to the Philippines! What for? More added aggravation from the extended family! Don't even chance it! Stay where you are and do what you enjoy doing and if your finances is giving you problems, just do without what you can live with! Having medical issues here in the Philippines may be the last of your existence if you don't have a good medical health coverage that doesn't require a huge one time lump sum up front cash payment before getting admitted or released from a hospital here in the Philippines! So go with your instincts, don't return to the Philippines, even for just a visit! Just MHO if I were in your shoes! I like your lifestyle in the U.S.!

[Art2ro]

some people work all their lives to have a good retirement income. pinch every penny all their life. and save and save for the rainy days. etc. etc. blah blah. not me i threw everything into the wind. lived the bahala na attitude in america and didnt look back. then my riding days suddenly were over, due to paraplegia. all of a sudden the wind in my face died and i didnt know what i was going to do. till my sister told me about my inheritance in the philippines from my parents that i wanted no part of,so she put it in family trust many years ago. and recently handed it over to me. suddenly i have a city block of real estate, generating rental income. plus my SSDI. i suddenly have better than average retirement income. so planning may work for some. but i guess i just got lucky. :unsure: tanks ej. :thumbsup:

You're the man, "Don E.J. Barton"! I like your style!

[Art2ro]

If I didn't retire at age 49 and didn't move to the Philippines, I would still be in California working my ass off or will retire at age 65 or older with a huge mortgage still hanging over our heads and 4 credit cards maxed out with a $25,000 credit limit on each card! That was “ the American Dream” gone bust that happened to a lot people due to the U.S. recession! :cheers: