How did you decide to move to the Philippines

[sonjack2847]

On 7/9/2018 at 7:27 AM, fototek1 said:

What made you decide to move to the Philippines?

How old were you?

How long have you lived there?

Do you have any regrets? I know some of you will say you regret not retiring earlier and that is why I want to know as much as possible about your situation.

I am 48 and trying to decide if its time to try out early retirement. I have worked more hours than the average 60 year old and its catching up with me. Financially I am above average (for a 50 year old). Not rich by any means but I own a house (no mortgage) and have no debt and also have a decent 401k. The nice thing is my wife is from an above average filipino family and they want her to move home so they offer incentive..... We both want to retire and spend part of the year in the US and part in the Philippines and we don't want to depend on anyone else. I am not sure we have enough money to do that yet but we are considering taking a chance. We are confident that if our current investments preform as expected we can retire in 4 years. We all know things don't always turn out as expected.....

I was going to eventually move away from the UK no matter what it had lost all of it`s shine for me.I have traveled to many countries and when I came here I liked it better than the rest

I got laid off from my job and found it difficult to find any other work in that line.So at the age of 50 in 2011 I moved here and have been here ever since,7 years.

I have no regrets and can tell you that the only real hassle I have had has come from the UK.We all talk about the people here not being able to think outside the box but I can tell you the happenings I have had with the UK gov and some other people over there beggar belief.

I am very happy I moved here and more happy that my wife has not had me bumped off yet. 

[Dave Hounddriver]

52 minutes ago, sonjack2847 said:

I am very happy I moved here and more happy that my wife has not had me bumped off yet. 

AHA.  That's why you keep her allowance low.  She can't afford a hit that way 

[AlwaysRt]

I never did decide to 'move' to the Philippines. I was traveling country to country and the Philippines was just my next stop after 7 months in Hong Kong. Once there, well here, I had the most unique experience - I met a Filipina!!! (ok, not so unique LOL) So I decided to 'stay' in the Philippines and we are now married.

I retired at 44 but was 51 when I got here and have been here for 3 years so far.

I had a construction company and after the 2008 financial BS took away all the home buyers I ended up closing the doors. Went back to school, got another degree, then decided quality of life was more important than quantity of dollars (although I do spend a couple minutes every few months remembering how nice it was making decent money). I then had an estate sale to free me from all my stuff (anchors) and started traveling. Yes I do have the cliche regret of not starting sooner but no others.

[sonjack2847]

22 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

AHA.  That's why you keep her allowance low.  She can't afford a hit that way 

I learned from the master sir

 

[Mike J]

On 7/14/2018 at 8:16 AM, sonjack2847 said:

I am very happy I moved here and more happy that my wife has not had me bumped off yet.

Yet??? 

[fototek1]

Thanks everyone. I am trying to stick to our plan of retiring in 2021 but it is difficult. I was away for work (my wife came for vacation because its a rich people tourist area)7/11 to 7/13 with what I thought was an impossible deadline. I worked 18 hour days (while my wife and dog vacationed) and actually met the deadline.....Anyway I am back at that location Tuesday for another crazy deadline..........If only I could be a lottery jackpot winner. 

At least I was able to enjoy a nice Glenfiddich  for the first time in 5 months due to latent TB treatment. 

[Jack Peterson]

26 minutes ago, Mike J said:

Yet??? 

 They are going through that emotional Time BUILDING 

[intrepid]

On 7/9/2018 at 7:27 AM, fototek1 said:

What made you decide to move to the Philippines?  In 2006 we built a home for my wife's mom and family in San Carlos City, Negros.  After seeing what could be built for the price I decided I wanted to build a retirement home for US.  The original plan was to live 8 months in PI and 4 months in the states.  That was before our daughter came along.  So I decided needed to stay in one place for school.  So after I retired we moved to PI.  Besides the cost of building, many other things we wanted are easier to afford here were another reason for deciding.  Not forgetting the climate with NO snow!

 

How old were you?  55 years old when we relocated here

How long have you lived there?  Approaching our third year now

Do you have any regrets?  No regrets but I will say the move was harder on our daughter than I expected when she was 10 years old.  However, like many people, after she made friends at school,(took almost a year for her), she settled in very well.

 

[sonjack2847]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

Yet??? 

Well hopefully I have a few years left so yes there is still time.

[robert k]

To start with, I find that business drags me back to the US every year, although I try to spend most of the year in the Philippines. I first visited in 2012 at age 47. No regrets. I couldn't have come sooner, some would say I should have waited, but I did it my way and everything turned out okay. I had things slow cooking financially in the US and I couldn't have pushed it faster if I were there and the wait, even on a shoestring was more pleasant in the Philippines.