Transitioning to a Philippines Retirement

[canadamale]

20 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

This sums us all up whether we like it or not:

The Indispensable Man

(by Saxon White Kessinger)

Sometime when you're feeling important;
Sometime when your ego 's in bloom;
Sometime when you take it for granted,
You're the best qualified in the room:
Sometime when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions,
And see how they humble your soul.  

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that's remaining,
Is a measure of how much you'll be missed.
You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you'll find that in no time,
It looks quite the same as before.  

The moral of this quaint example,
Is to do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There's no indispensable man.

I like the Gordon Parson song version of this

[JDDavao II]

At 50, I was semi-forced into retirement. I'd been hearing impaired for years, with double aids, pretty well-honed coping skills, and an understanding Chief Engineer (who even allowed me unprecedented access to the on-call answering service software so that I could READ the incoming problems).

One day, I lost all of the hearing in my "good" ear. Then, management changed my supervisor who brought along his #2 and proceeded to give him control over my area, leaving me to polish doorknobs all day. It was quite a shock the first few times I found out that things I used to handle were going to someone else without my even knowing.

Stressed from the hearing loss, unable to fully perform my duties, and boxed out of my own area, I felt like I was being pushed to the edge.

I looked at life. I could see no way to continue at work. I could see no way to earn an equal income to stay in Seattle (a very expensive city to live in). I could see nowhere in the country that my meager nest egg could be stretched into a comfortable life. So I leaped.

We remodeled and sold our condo. We gave away everything inside of it. We shipped 21 balikbayan boxes of essentials. And we flew.

My main problem now is utter idleness. My job kept me fairly active and my hobbies were the sitting-on-yer-butt kind. After three years here in Davao, I've only recently realized that I've done nothing but sit on my butt the whole time. I can't seem to stay motivated. It's also hard, needing to have my wife with me to be my ears. 

[Jack Peterson]

2 minutes ago, JDDavao said:

It's also hard, needing to have my wife with me to be my ears. 

Is there nothing that can be done for this ?

[stevewool]

Dont know how i missed this thread, but i must say some very good reading from all, and here is me thinking i am the only one with doubts about retiring and moving to another country.

Can i just add this , i am not to sure if it may have to be moved to another thread but i shall leave that to the higher folk to sort out.

Many folk seem to have moved to the Philippines and have found there partner there, but for me my partner is here and working here in England.

Life for her is great compared to how it use to be money wise , so could this be a problem.

I am wanting to retire to the beaches the mountains and living life the way i think it should be, we have worked hard and saved hard and i am sure we will not move anywhere or leave well paid work unless i know we can live that way, but i am taking Emma back to the place where for 30+ years she went without nice things, i do know she wants to look after her father once we are back and again i have budgeted for that too.

She is holding me to the promise i made her, 10 years here in England before we move and its only 18+ months left thats how quicky the time has flown by,

For those who have moved from another country as a couple how did your partner cope after being away for so long.

[bastonjock]

I guess that we all have fears about retirement , im an electrician working within the UK,s National health service ,i attend a great many hospices and rehabilitaion units in the course of my job ,i see people in their 40,s and 50,s or older who have illnesses that are life changing or life ending ,it all leaves you thinking about the quality of life ,i want quality not quantity. My plan at the moment ,depending on house sale is to head over to the phils to see if i like it ,if i do then i intend to spent six months there and six months here ,i can easily get work in the UK as i dont want to start dipping into my nest egg just yet. Ive done the three D,s and these days i dont drink booze anymore ,i put the cork in the jug 23 years ago.

Ive only ever been to Asia once ,that was 33 years ago when i spent three weeks in Phuket , i have many concerns and ill start asking lots of questions once i sell my house ,its taken 4 years to get this close

[Jack Peterson]

17 minutes ago, bastonjock said:

i have many concerns and ill start asking lots of questions once i sell my house ,its taken 4 years to get this close

 Come with a very open Mind My friend, plenty of Humour and a Bucket full of Patience ( Not patients)OH! and a few Bob as well.

3+ years Joined and Post 6 EH? If I did not Greet before  excuse the Humour but some days it keeps us all going

[bastonjock]

1 hour ago, Jack Peterson said:

 Come with a very open Mind My friend, plenty of Humour and a Bucket full of Patience ( Not patients)OH! and a few Bob as well.

3+ years Joined and Post 6 EH? If I did not Greet before  excuse the Humour but some days it keeps us all going

 Yes i joined the forum quite some time ago ,but have only started posting ,ive had a lot of hassle sorting out my divorce since then and two weddings to pay for ,my two children got married and papa had to open the cheque book

[JDDavao II]

2 hours ago, Jack Peterson said:

Is there nothing that can be done for this ?

No, it has to be my wife. She insists that I can't hire the 20-year old nursing student that I want to. 

Or if you meant my ears, not that I know of. An MRI back in the states showed everything on the right side to be normal. Two steroid injections directly into the eardrum and a course of oral steroids did nothing.

I wear a "crossover" aid on the right side now. It picks up sound and feeds it to the left side aid. Helps a bit in conversation but not in locating the direction of that speeding bus.  Most conversations in public are like trying to hear whispering over a one-man band falling down stairs. Some people I can hear, though. Accents make everything harder. I'm really lucky in that my wife has excellent English.

Perhaps cochlear implants would be an answer but there's no money for that.
 

[jpbago]

3 hours ago, bastonjock said:

Ive only ever been to Asia once ,that was 33 years ago when i spent three weeks in Phuket

That must have been a good time, I can't imagine why you never returned. Did you bring a wife back with you?

[bastonjock]

Just now, jpbago said:

That must have been a good time, I can't imagine why you never returned. Did you bring a wife back with you?

no i completely screwed up ,at the rime i was working as a diver in the North sea and was earning a few bob ,i got back to the UK with the sole intent of working long and hard,saving my money and returning to Thailand on a semi permanent basis. Anyhow i met this girl in the UK and got her pregnant and did the honorable thing and got married ,id like to say that it was the biggest mistake of my life,but my son was born and hes the closest human being on this planet that i have . The marriage lasted 18 months and i was left broke.

I dont want to go back to Phuket as its got all touristy now and i have great memories of the place ,i wish to keep them that way.