Starting my planning

[OnMyWay]

@TomG77

You should have a large nest egg to retire at 46.  At 100,000 pesos a month and if you live to be 80, that is 34 years X 100,000 = 40,800,000 pesos.  About 600,000 GBP.  That does not include inflation and your costs will rise as you grow older.  Will you have a pension at some point?

I retired to the Philippines at age 56 with a fairly good plan to get by until my pension kicked in at age 62.  Got married and now have a family of 5, so costs go up.  I think we average around 160,000 a month without rent, because we own our home.  We live in an expensive area and it can be done for a lot less.

You don't want to end up like an expat here in Subic Bay.  30-40 years old.  In the last month, he has been zooming up to people on his motorcycle, asking for donations.  The first one reportedly was for his daughter with leukemia.  The next was for medicine for another family member.  Then he approached us and it was for his sister-in-law who was in the hospital.  He even whipped out his phone and showed my wife a picture of someone in a hospital bed!  He wears a mask and helmet, and zooms away quickly.

[hk blues]

The age old question here is how much is enough to live off - the answer is how long is a piece of string?  Can a single guy live off of 60k a month - yes, but it won't be restaurants or high-end accommodation but it's doable. This will depend on where you live - you have mentioned a couple of places which are tourist destinations and thus likely to be more expensive than a small-medium sized "local" area for most things as well as providing more ways to spend your limited budget.  

I moved here at 50 and the plan was to retire - that was knocked on the head when the exchange rate dropped and also the continued decline in interest rates in the UK impacted my monthly income significantly.  Currently, rates are fine but this isn't a guarantee and inflation is almost certainly going to overtake income over time. I personally wouldn't want to have a limited budget which was dependant too much on things outside my control.

I'm assuming you will be getting some kind of pension at some point - on the basis that such a pension is enough for folk to survive in their own (likely more expensive) country it should be enough to get by here.  Get by being the key words.  If we take the UK state pension as an example, it brings in approx. 56,000 a month.  That would be enough to survive in the Philippines just as it is in the UK.  Survive.  That said, most pensioners say their pension is not enough to live off of so who knows?

I'd finish by saying if your budget is already cutting it fine then it's likely going to fail sooner or later and probably when you least need it to i.e. when your are into your golden years and less flexible in every way.  

P.S. And we haven't even touched on the subject of female companionship - that can blow the budget out of the water very, very quickly. And if you came here to live then it's more than likely it will become relevant. 

 

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 hour ago, hk blues said:

'm assuming you will be getting some kind of pension at some point - on the basis that such a pension is enough for folk to survive in their own (likely more expensive) country it should be enough to get by here.

His country is shown as Australia so he will be looking at 67 to get an old-age pension. He could take his superannuation in a cash sum between 55 and 60 l think but bear in mind Australians living overseas must go back and live there in Australia for two years before applying. If he has an army pension or something it might be different. 

So he will have plenty of time to think about a pension if he is 46.

Also, you dont get the same amount as when living in Australia as certain parts are removed so less in your pocket.

[manofthecoldland]

Given so many unknowns and lacking a guaranteed income stream in the future, you just might be better off by altering your life plan to instead, decide to take a multi-year break from work. Even arranging that would be a challenge for most people your age, given the state of the world, economies, cultures, etc.

Unplug, but prepare to plug back in after your money runs out..... and it will. IMHO

[HappyJack]

It WILL NOT be enough money.  It is NOT cheap to live here.  Highest electric rates in the world.  Rampant inflation. You will spend over 3000 pesos a month on immigration fees and have to leave the country every 36 months.  Of course your rich and guapo here so u will attract females of the pinay kind.  Marry her and you wont have the immigration fees anymore but you will be spending way more on her and her pamily.  Medical expenses?????????

 

[hk blues]

45 minutes ago, HappyJack said:

It WILL NOT be enough money.  It is NOT cheap to live here.  Highest electric rates in the world.  Rampant inflation. You will spend over 3000 pesos a month on immigration fees and have to leave the country every 36 months.  Of course your rich and guapo here so u will attract females of the pinay kind.  Marry her and you wont have the immigration fees anymore but you will be spending way more on her and her pamily.  Medical expenses?????????

 

I will slightly offset this opinion.  It can be cheap to live here if you live a certain lifestyle i.e. simple and low-key.  My electricity fee is nothing like it would be in the UK, for example so - it comes in at around $60 per month and that's for 3 folk living in a moderate-sized house with 2 x A/C all-year around.  Inflation is impacting costs but my taxi fare, food bill and beer are not significantly up so who knows?

I do agree however, that the budget mentioned will be a challenge but possible with a fair wind.

[Jollygoodfellow]

1 hour ago, HappyJack said:

Highest electric rates in the world

Not sure if it's still the same but electric rates here used to be the same as in Australia. 

[Kingpin]

10 hours ago, TomG77 said:

The number one question I am working through is can I afford it. Everyone will have different ideas on the term living comfortably but is $60,000P a realistic monthly budget

In Cebu it's easy to find anything in your budget.

My rent is 45k per month, but I also rented a place for 25k per month, and even 15k per month. 

My food is around half my rent, but I buy a ton of imported goods now. 60k per month is easy, seems like the bigger concern for you is relying on the APY which is never guaranteed:

10 hours ago, TomG77 said:

I won't have an income (except interest rate growth on savings)

 

[Kingpin]

1 hour ago, HappyJack said:

IMarry her and you wont have the immigration fees anymore but you will be spending way more on her and her pamily. 

Can't be stated enough, find a girl with little to no family and that takes care of that problem.

[Viking]

I think it all depends on how you want to live.

For some guys it's impossible to live on less than 100k and others will live happily on half that amount.

I recently made a partial move here. We will spend half year here and half year in Sweden. I was 50 when I voluntarily "retired" from work. Many said that I would regret it but so far I think it is the best decision I ever made. I love being free, owning my time, no stress and do what I feel for.

I think too many focus too much on the future. Work some more years to get a bit more pension, but who knows if we will even reach that age???

We can't live like every day is the last day of our lives but we should enjoy it while we are here.

I Wise man said: