First Move To The Philippines

[pokermike]

I hope i learn something from you guys on this. I need to start looking into my medicare costs, so rfhypnos , your medicare is $1,100 per month? I heard if you cancel medicare and then start it up again the costs increase, does anyone know if that is true?

I am also worried about my nest egg which is $600,000 i know the average cost of your medical needs after retirement is supposed to be close to $300,000 and that does not include long term care. Does anyone have personal expierence with a bad medical situation there that cost a lot of money and then required some after care. My monthly income will $7,000 US , but i am still freakin out that that wont let me live the life i want to. Does anyone have large monthly expenses? If so what causes your budget to be high? Please tell me everything,  i want to know if i should have any hidden concerns.

I am married to a Philipino,  her interview is October 3rd. if she passes i will have her come here for a little over six months then we will return there to live 9 months a year there and 3 months a year in Vegas. Funny i have lived a great part of my life worrying about what card will come out on the river and it has worked out for me. But now i am worried to finally just relax and live my life.

[scott h]

but I have a medical problem that will require some follow up and I hear that Tricare has not been a good system for vets there

 

Here in the phil you qualify for tri care standard. Doctors and facilities are certified so you can be fairly confident on quality service. 25% co-pay might seem a bit steep but it works. You can check out the VA web page for a list of providers (if any) in the area your thinking of. Lots of comments on tri care on the forum. You can search the old topics and see what has been written in the past.

[jpbago]

i will never be caught short always arrive with just under $10,000 US , over $10,000 have to report.

 

I did not see that on the Immigration entry form last week. No questions about money on paper form nor in person. There is a new yellow health questionnaire now. My wife had only the yellow form, no questions at all as to what she was bringing in. She had 24 kgs of chocolate and a change of underwear.

 

PS: I always come in with pocket aces.

[pokermike]

Thanks guys, cant wait to join everyone over there. Going to go to all 7,000 islands  well maybe 20 .  They still ask about on the immigration forms about the $10,000 US. i just came back a few  weeks ago on Philippine Airlines.  I did get hassled again when i went through secuirty before boarding the plane in Los Angeles on my way to Manilla. I was wearing loose fitting Columbia hiking pants , the kind that have 6 pockets. Plus a Columbia vest that has 9 pockets. I wear these to carry a lot of weight so i dont have any check in baggage. Well in the vest and pants i was carrying $9,950 and was given a little grief until the boss of the TSA for area came over and said i was ok. Then i was at Clark and planned to jump over to cebu for a few days and security saw my money and i had to slip them 200 pesos to get through. i hung onto my money but one secuirty guard tried to take it so the 200 pesos made the issue go away. i will never do that again i was not paying attention.  Thanks for the medical advice,  i am going to try to get the insurance before i get there.  love them pocket rockets

[robert k]

Curious about why they would try to take your money on an internal flight? I thought only what you could carry in or out of the country was regulated? :rolleyes:

[MikeB]

Then i was at Clark and planned to jump over to cebu for a few days and security saw my money and i had to slip them 200 pesos to get through. i hung onto my money but one secuirty guard tried to take it so the 200 pesos made the issue go away.

I'm curious why you would give p200 to a security guard so he wouldn't take the rest. Was this an outright robbery?

[earthdome]

Well in the vest and pants i was carrying $9,950 and was given a little grief until the boss of the TSA for area came over and said i was ok. Then i was at Clark and planned to jump over to cebu for a few days and security saw my money and i had to slip them 200 pesos to get through. i hung onto my money but one secuirty guard tried to take it so the 200 pesos made the issue go away.

 

Carrying that kind of cash on you in the Philippines could put a huge target on your back. $10,000 USD in cash is a small fortune here.

 

I would encourage you to open up a USD bank account in a Philippines bank and immediately deposit any USD cash you bring into that account on arrival. Also setup a peso savings account with ATM card. I use BPI for this and can transfer USD to peso using the BPI website during business hours. Then I just withdraw pesos from my peso account using my ATM card as needed.

 

I was able to open up BPI accounts within 3 days of arrival.

[pokermike]

I was there for 16 days and planned on giving away and spending that money so i felt there was no need for a bank. Always got hotels that had safes and was carfeul not to flash the money. Thanks earthdome i will make sure i do that, thanks for your help does sound much safer. I will be going back to escort my wife to the states , hopefully in less than two months and will open that account. 

 

Mike B you are correct it was robbery, but i saw it as a quick way out , it was my idea , just did not want them handling my money.

 

Thanks Poker Mike

[davewe]

but I have a medical problem that will require some follow up and I hear that Tricare has not been a good system for vets there.  The biggest question I have is what to do with the $1100 I am paying Medicare if it's not going to be paying for any medical care.  Can I just discontinue it.???  It certainly would be a nice addition to income.

Your Medicare won't be of much value unless you go back to the US to use it. I assume you must be paying for Medicare B, C and supplemental insurance. Am I right? Since they won't bill Medicare from the Philippines, what might your strategy be? It's not for me to say cancel, but in my case when I hit 65 I won't sign up for Medicare B, since I wont be able to use it. I guess I could potentially use Medicare A if I had a big enough surgical issue that I wanted to have dealt with in the US.  BTW, some guys go to Guam for that.

[jpbago]

I was there for 16 days and planned on giving away and spending that money so i felt there was no need for a bank.

 

This should be in the topic posts  "How to live in the Philippines on $10,000 in 16 days."