Advice on making the move from New York to the Philippines

[REC]

After the corona virus calms down, I am looking to live in the Philippines temporarily. I have just been doing day trades and have easily been pulling in 500 USD in untaxed income a week. I would like to live there a year to test out the conditions, life style,  and reduced income before settling. I have already visited Manila on multiple occasions and enjoyed it as a tourist. The heat does get to me so I was looking at staying in Tagaytay or Baguio. However, I might end up staying in Manila because the US embassy is there and the only US banks that have branches there are all in Manila.  

- Does anybody here currently live off the capital gains from stock trades while living in the Philippines? or is that just a pipe dream of mine?

- Has anybody went to the Philippines tourist visa and just paid for extensions to live there? It seems to get pricey doing that,  any I don't know if its a guaranteed way to live there. Is the best alternative to get married there and apply for citizenship?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Freebie]

Sir, you are far from being the first person to think of getting tourist visa and extensions. Thousands of folk do this.

My suggestion is to do a lot of due diligence.... as in do you know how much traffic there is in Baguio which was once a great place but now is a traffic filled mess ( to me anyway).

Day trades can be great, but again, if you can pull in US$500 a week and presumably US$2000 a month do the diligence as to what your lifestyle will be after you pay rent, good internet/wifi, travel / car( 7 hours Baguio to Manila ) flights home now and again, medical insurance, good, drink, social life..

Do not even think of getting married here UNLESS you know the prospective bride extremely well, as in 1-2 years well.... . know her family, know her families attitude to your money etc etc.

You have a lot to learn but theres lots of help on Youtube and sites like this. All will tell you different thigs. Familiarize yourself with the scams that happen here and theres quite a few.

Great place to live and many great islands to explore, IF you know the rules, your own boundaries and limitations but its a steep learning curve at first. Good luck !

[Mike J]

Many here extend their visitor visa for up to three years.  If you do get married you can apply for a 13G visa which is a permanent residence visa.  You can use the search function to look for additional info.  There are many threads discussing options, costs, and how to go about applying.   Keep in mind that the Philippines is  a VERY BAD Place to run out of cash. 

[hk blues]

52 minutes ago, REC said:

- Does anybody here currently live off the capital gains from stock trades while living in the Philippines? or is that just a pipe dream of mine?

- Has anybody went to the Philippines tourist visa and just paid for extensions to live there? It seems to get pricey doing that,  any I don't know if its a guaranteed way to live there. Is the best alternative to get married there and apply for citizenship?

 

My sister-in-law and her husband do day-trading here.  I have no idea how much they make but they seem to get by.  Then again, their needs and wants may be much different to yours. If it were me, I'd want to be sure I could get by on 50% of what I think I can make. 

Plenty of folks use the tourist visa extension system - it may be pricey but for many there is no other alternative.  As for getting married to save the visa costs - I'm not convinced that's the best solution.  A good marriage can be expensive, a bad one much more so.  

Good luck!

 

[REC]

Actually doing my own research the best thing would be a SRRV. There's a required time deposit savings account of 50k USD, which I can do if they allow you to use your traditional 401k for. 

I think I might end up making money if I can live there modestly in the beginning. Cost of living and taxes in New York are insane. 

I do plan on getting married there. I  prefer Filipinas to American women by far. I did want to start a family there too but that's way down the line. I'm aware of the scams too, I've avoided them there when I visited in the past. Just need to call the shots yourself and don't let other people make decisions for you.

Thank you all for the input. 

[LUFCinMakati]

1. Tourist visa for a year not an issue. 
 

2. $2K a month will get you a very basic lifestyle. Food, clothes, electricity is more expensive than the US. 

[Heeb]

2 hours ago, REC said:

After the corona virus calms down, I am looking to live in the Philippines temporarily. I have just been doing day trades and have easily been pulling in 500 USD in untaxed income a week. I would like to live there a year to test out the conditions, life style,  and reduced income before settling. I have already visited Manila on multiple occasions and enjoyed it as a tourist. The heat does get to me so I was looking at staying in Tagaytay or Baguio. However, I might end up staying in Manila because the US embassy is there and the only US banks that have branches there are all in Manila.  

- Does anybody here currently live off the capital gains from stock trades while living in the Philippines? or is that just a pipe dream of mine?

- Has anybody went to the Philippines tourist visa and just paid for extensions to live there? It seems to get pricey doing that,  any I don't know if its a guaranteed way to live there. Is the best alternative to get married there and apply for citizenship?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

How are your capital gains tax free?

[Jollygoodfellow]

3 hours ago, REC said:

I might end up staying in Manila because the US embassy is there and the only US banks that have branches there are all in Manila.  

Cebu has citibank. According to this the other two banks are not for public.  Online banking is available anywhere.

Why do you need an Embassy? 

Quote

The other two US banks — Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase Bank — cater only to corporations, government agencies and other institutions. They do not have ATMs.

https://www.banksphilippines.com/2018/03/us-banks-in-philippines.html

[Tommy T.]

3 hours ago, REC said:

Actually doing my own research the best thing would be a SRRV. There's a required time deposit savings account of 50k USD, which I can do if they allow you to use your traditional 401k for. 

I think I might end up making money if I can live there modestly in the beginning. Cost of living and taxes in New York are insane. 

I do plan on getting married there. I  prefer Filipinas to American women by far. I did want to start a family there too but that's way down the line. I'm aware of the scams too, I've avoided them there when I visited in the past. Just need to call the shots yourself and don't let other people make decisions for you.

Thank you all for the input. 

There is one or more topics for SRRV on this forum. I suggest you search for them and read them from start to finish. There is a lot of good information. But don't trust it to always be current or correct. But it may help give you direction and answer some of your questions.

I have no idea about the 401k. With me, they wanted cash.

Best to go to the PRA official website to verify. If after that, you have questions or need more information, I can try to help you since I just got mine one year ago.

2 hours ago, Heeb said:

How are your capital gains tax free?

Don't count on this, Heeb, but I recall that having an SRRV exempts one from at least some taxes. Best to check the website to be sure...

Edited April 9, 2020 by Tommy T.

[Heeb]

4 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

 

Don't count on this, Heeb, but I recall that having an SRRV exempts one from at least some taxes. Best to check the website to be sure...

I assumed he was talking about paying no U.S. taxes