Rich or Poor?

[JJReyes]

Any validity to the claim that you are considered poor in the Philippines if your monthly income is P11,000 per month or less?  At the other end of the spectrum, you are rich with P220,000 or higher.  Although the information is only anecdotal, newly arriving retirees, both foreign nationals and former Filipinos, have retirement income from $2,000 to $4,000 per month.  This places them in the upper middle class (P77,000 to P132,000) to rich bracket.  Retirees who arrived 10 years ago, on average, had $1,250 to $2,500 per month in retirement income.
 

 

 

[earthdome]

When were those numbers from. Like the US there has been higher inflation.

[OnMyWay]

1 hour ago, JJReyes said:

Although the information is only anecdotal, newly arriving retirees, both foreign nationals and former Filipinos, have retirement income from $2,000 to $4,000 per month.  This places them in the upper middle class (P77,000 to P132,000) to rich bracket.

Not sure who came up with the exchange rates there, but $2000 to $4000 is currently 113,000 to 226,000 pesos.  Somethin ain't right.

[BrettGC]

Here's a source from 2024:

Quote

Middle-income and middle-class families are classified according to income. According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), a lower middle class has a monthly income between PHP21,194 and PHP43,828, a middle class between PHP43,828 and PHP76,669, an upper middle income between PHP76,669 and PHP131,484, and a high-income (but not rich) class between PHP131,484 and PHP219,140. You are considered rich if your monthly income is at least PHP219,140 and up.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/opinion/pieces/817-government-assistance-to-middle-income-families#:~:text=According to the Philippine Institute,between PHP131%2C484 and PHP219%2C

These figures haven't changed from those published in mid 2022 by PIDS (Philippine Institute of Developmental Studies) so don't take into account the recent inflationary pressures that just started after Russia invaded The Ukraine as the data would've been collected prior to  that. Not the only cause I'm aware, but it was the initial impetus. 

[scott h]

13 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

Somethin ain't right.

Just for fun, I google the wage for a senior Philippine Airline pilot, using 50 peso per dollar exchange rate comes out to approx. $2500 a month. A Delta pilot gets just under $19K a month.

I am best friends with senior pilot from United, he was defiantly lower/upper class. (at least I thought so)

It is all subjective of coarse, but if a USA pilot is "rich" it stands to reason that a Phil pilot is "rich" also. 

But what do I know, I am just a geezer with nothing better to do than use google.

[MotorSarge]

10 minutes ago, scott h said:

Just for fun, I google the wage for a senior Philippine Airline pilot, using 50 peso per dollar exchange rate comes out to approx. $2500 a month. A Delta pilot gets just under $19K a month.

[MotorSarge]

Rich or Poor....

Too broad of a title for the PI.

Rich or poor in the pocket?

Rich or poor with family?

Rich or poor in health?

Rich or poor in love, marriage etc?

 

Your pretty rich if you have at least those above.

[BrettGC]

5 minutes ago, MotorSarge said:

Rich or Poor....

Too broad of a title for the PI.

Rich or poor in the pocket?

Rich or poor with family?

Rich or poor in health?

Rich or poor in love, marriage etc?

 

Your pretty rich if you have at least those above.

The OP was specifically in regards to income. 

[BrettGC]

27 minutes ago, scott h said:

Just for fun, I google the wage for a senior Philippine Airline pilot, using 50 peso per dollar exchange rate comes out to approx. $2500 a month. A Delta pilot gets just under $19K a month.

I am best friends with senior pilot from United, he was defiantly lower/upper class. (at least I thought so)

It is all subjective of coarse, but if a USA pilot is "rich" it stands to reason that a Phil pilot is "rich" also. 

But what do I know, I am just a geezer with nothing better to do than use google.

I make the same comparison fairly regularly but with high school teachers as our eldest niece just started university studying to become a maths teacher.  

Current state of Queensland in Australia public high school teacher salaries taken from the dept. of education:

For USD on the above, it's approx divide by 3 then multiply by 2.  The exchange rate has been around 1AUD = 0.66USD for a while now.  GBP divide by 2 for Pounds Sterling - the rate hasn't changed much for  years.  For reference, teachers I know live comfortably in the 'burbs if they're a dual income family.  Single income, things are tighter but not horrible. 

Filipino teacher salaries as of the start of 2024:

 

One of our next door neighbours are a couple who are both high school teachers at the local public school here in Guihulgnan.  I know they've both been teaching for at least 15 years each and the wife is head of faculty for the maths department (head teacher III?).  The husband has no ambition to be involved in the administrative side and is happy to focus on the kids but I do know in some weird and convoluted way he does get paid more than his wife.  I can only assume the wife has no longer has any actual teaching responsibilities.  Either way, they live in a nice recently renovated house that I'd be happy to live in, 2 kids, a car that's about 2 years old, 2 motorbikes, 2 TVs, AC, water tanks, solar but no batteries, they have a typical Filipino diet but more than just rice and fish.  You get the picture; a "typical" middle class existence anywhere in the world.  If I had to guess based on conversations with them and the posted pay scales I'd say their household income is around 90-100k Php/month - no I've never asked even obliquely, none of my business.  They have stated that the recent inflation has outpaced their incremental pay rises.  

[Tommy T.]

2 hours ago, BrettGC said:

I make the same comparison fairly regularly but with high school teachers as our eldest niece just started university studying to become a maths teacher.  

Current state of Queensland in Australia public high school teacher salaries taken from the dept. of education:

For USD on the above, it's approx divide by 3 then multiply by 2.  The exchange rate has been around 1AUD = 0.66USD for a while now.  GBP divide by 2 for Pounds Sterling - the rate hasn't changed much for  years.  For reference, teachers I know live comfortably in the 'burbs if they're a dual income family.  Single income, things are tighter but not horrible. 

Filipino teacher salaries as of the start of 2024:

 

One of our next door neighbours are a couple who are both high school teachers at the local public school here in Guihulgnan.  I know they've both been teaching for at least 15 years each and the wife is head of faculty for the maths department (head teacher III?).  The husband has no ambition to be involved in the administrative side and is happy to focus on the kids but I do know in some weird and convoluted way he does get paid more than his wife.  I can only assume the wife has no longer has any actual teaching responsibilities.  Either way, they live in a nice recently renovated house that I'd be happy to live in, 2 kids, a car that's about 2 years old, 2 motorbikes, 2 TVs, AC, water tanks, solar but no batteries, they have a typical Filipino diet but more than just rice and fish.  You get the picture; a "typical" middle class existence anywhere in the world.  If I had to guess based on conversations with them and the posted pay scales I'd say their household income is around 90-100k Php/month - no I've never asked even obliquely, none of my business.  They have stated that the recent inflation has outpaced their incremental pay rises.  

That's all very well and good, Brett. However, as L as illustrated to me, the Philippine government also taxes her and everyone else who are teachers at a rate that seems to be about 25%. I may be wrong about this...

L is a Master Teacher 2. So her salary translated roughly into current US dollars is less than US$1000/month. Then subtract the approximately 25% for taxes? Maybe US$750/month?

 

 

 

Edited September 4 by Tommy T.