How Rich Is Rich In The Philippines?

[Mr Lee]

This story says that if you live in a low cost part of the US then $100,000 a year should be enough :D and it also says that at 65 then $2 million is enough to have while living in the US, :bedtime2: so that makes me wonder how much would make a person who lives in the Philippines seem very rich? What would it take to live like the rich and famous in the Philippines?Does $250,000 make you rich? If you live in a low cost part of the country, $100,000 a year should be enough, said Kaye. In that case, you would need savings of about $4 million to retire at 35. But if you're willing to stay in the workforce until age 65, a mere $2 million would be enough. Jon Duncan, a financial planner at Tacoma, Wash.-based Seneschal Advisors, gave numbers similar to Kaye's, and agreed that for most people, the figure would be somewhere in the multi-millions. "I'm from an era when we'd talk about millionaires and say 'Whoa, he's got it made for life,'" said Duncan. "But that's not the case anymore." Indeed, few experts think a million is enough to quit your day job. "Don't retire at 35," he advised this reporter, "you'll need a ton of money."

[Jollygoodfellow]

This story says that if you live in a low cost part of the US then $100,000 a year should be enough :D and it also says that at 65 then $2 million is enough to have while living in the US, :bedtime2: so that makes me wonder how much would make a person who lives in the Philippines seem very rich? What would it take to live like the rich and famous in the Philippines?Does $250,000 make you rich? If you live in a low cost part of the country, $100,000 a year should be enough, said Kaye. In that case, you would need savings of about $4 million to retire at 35. But if you're willing to stay in the workforce until age 65, a mere $2 million would be enough. Jon Duncan, a financial planner at Tacoma, Wash.-based Seneschal Advisors, gave numbers similar to Kaye's, and agreed that for most people, the figure would be somewhere in the multi-millions. "I'm from an era when we'd talk about millionaires and say 'Whoa, he's got it made for life,'" said Duncan. "But that's not the case anymore." Indeed, few experts think a million is enough to quit your day job. "Don't retire at 35," he advised this reporter, "you'll need a ton of money."

Gee,$100.000 a year, I will talk to my boss about this,seems I'm getting ripped off. This explains why its so hard to save,I'm not getting the correct amount.

[ekimswish]

I'm really interested to see what you guys have to say about this.... c'mon people! reply! lol... In giving a response consider a comfortable life in a nice neighborhood in a city, and a comfortable life in the province, just like the article compared Manhattan with smaller town living. Think how much you'd need for one year in either place. All I know is my wife's jaw drops when she hears about someone being a millionaire. For the longest time I thought she meant they were USD millionaires. When I found out she meant pesos I got excited, too, only because we can hit that and join the club, lol.

[Jake]

I'm really interested to see what you guys have to say about this.... c'mon people! reply! lol... In giving a response consider a comfortable life in a nice neighborhood in a city, and a comfortable life in the province, just like the article compared Manhattan with smaller town living. Think how much you'd need for one year in either place. All I know is my wife's jaw drops when she hears about someone being a millionaire. For the longest time I thought she meant they were USD millionaires. When I found out she meant pesos I got excited, too, only because we can hit that and join the club, lol.

I just googled current salary of the new president of the Philippines and found that the recent pay increase from 60k to 95k pesos per month is now in effect. That is equivalent to about $2100 per month. Of course high government positions have access to millions more because of power and greed. Tycoons or Taipans ike Henry Sy of Shoe Mart mega malls are in the stratosphere of making money. Fortunately, he remains humble from his early beginnings as a Chinese immigrant.Let's see -- for example 2K US dollars per month is about 1 million, 80 thousand pesos per year. Does that qualify as a millionaire in Philippines standard of living? Whereas, we expats getting a pension of 2K dollars per month is considered lower middle class if we continue to live under western economy. In some states, you are qualified for food stamps with that fixed income. Go figure......Respectfully -- Jake

[Mr Lee]

My thoughts on this vary depending on if you already own a real concrete and block home or condo, because IMO if you already own a home or condo then you are already considered pretty well off to many in the Philippines and even to many in our home countries since many never achieve home ownership or never wished to. I have had some other Americans as well as others tell me we are rich and above them because we own our own condo in the Philippines and they have to rent, and I have had some in the US say the same thing for the same basic reasons. I do not think owning makes us rich, I think it just means that I made some correct decisions in life, or was lucky during life to be able to have the foresight to buy a home when I was younger and work hard, and work two or three jobs, and luckily keep working, and that has slowly snowballed or pyramided ever since then into sort of a bank account, as the mortgages slowly but surely became paid for and the prices slowly but surely rose along with inflation, and of course without being foolish enough to refinance only to have blown the refi money as many seem to do here, and of course also to have been lucky enough to not have had a major catastrophe befall me or us. IMO the key to being rich is not about how much a person makes (of course they need a job) but how much a person spends. What do I mean by that, I have always lived below my means so I have always been able to save some and while we all have wants and needs, it seems many people allow their wants to exceed their needs, and that to me is the difference between the haves and the have nots. So if a Filipino family can live on a couple of dollars a day, then some of us can also sacrifice for a given period of time and then force themselves to save up the down payment on a condo or home and thus end up owning one (if they have the desire to) but as I have gotten older it has become much more difficult for the younger generation to accomplish this with the ever rising costs of things, and with salaries not keeping up, but again to me it is more about sacrificing to get to where a person wishes to be, while at the same time enjoying their life within reason.So rich to me is having more coming in monthly than we need to live in the Philippines and for each of us that will be a different amount of money based on the lifestyle we each wish to have. My wife and I live in a mediocre middle of the road condo in Cebu and live in the least expensive home in our neighborhood in the US, and had we bought a condo in a high end building in the Philippines or owned a high end home in the US, then we would never have been able to do one or the other. So to me $2000 a month will allow a person to live pretty well in the Philippines if they already own a home or condo, and therefore will no longer have to pay rent, but with the ever changing exchange rate, setting some prices as fixed and living below ones wants would be necessary IMO to live the good life while retired in the Philippines, and to prevent running out of money since I have seen prices rise year to year upon our return and shopping costs has risen a lot as well, so living on a fixed income may come hard for those who have a bad case of the wants rather than the needs. I hope some of that made sense. :e3358:

[ekimswish]

Makes a ton of sense. That's why I don't want to live in the West, as it'll take 20~30 years to pay off a middle class home. The question for me the last few years has been how to make a living in the Philippines even if I have a house paid for. I've always told my wife not to even think of buying or building a house in the Philippines until we have an income there that will allow us to live in it. I don't imagine it's easy to sell once you realize you can't stay. So I'm thinking business first, house second, life third.

[Jake]

IMO the key to being rich is not about how much a person makes (of course they need a job) but how much a person spends. What do I mean by that, I have always lived below my means so I have always been able to save some and while we all have wants and needs, it seems many people allow their wants to exceed their needs, and that to me is the difference between the haves and the have nots.....so living on a fixed income may come hard for those who have a bad case of the wants rather than the needs.

All your points well taken sir. It's really depends on the individual in defining what is considered rich,no matter what economy you live in. Most of the expats living in the Philippines, Panama, Costa RicaVietnam are approaching their senior years and I believe the key of longer and happy life is reducingthe stress level, especially money concerns. Having a solid plan to manage fixed income like a pensionby saving a substantial amount every month is a luxury in itself. Another luxury in our golden years is the having the Mojo of a younger man if we continue to address our health issues, like daily exercise and just chillin' out. Being in the US military for 21 years forced me to deal with extreme stress almost on a daily basis. It took me a full year to teach myself to really shift into retirement mode completely. You may be rich by having a million bucks but wasting away in a death bed before the age 65-70 defeats the purpose of living a good life in your golden years.Respectfully -- Jake

[TERENCE]

hi guys i own my home in phils 2000 sq metres 2 story house swimming pool i dont consider this being rich i consider it material being rich is being happy and content not material things we westerners always look at people how much they worth wat they drive wat clothes they wear my friends in phil just look me like im a friend that to me is worth everything sorry if u guys not agree but that is my feelings about this beautifull country and the friendly people they never question anything.

[Tom in Texas]

hi guys i own my home in phils 2000 sq metres 2 story house swimming pool i dont consider this being rich i consider it material being rich is being happy and content not material things we westerners always look at people how much they worth wat they drive wat clothes they wear my friends in phil just look me like im a friend that to me is worth everything sorry if u guys not agree but that is my feelings about this beautifull country and the friendly people they never question anything.

2,000 sq/meter home? Is the swimming pool 500,000 gal? Tell the butler to keep those poolside drinks coming while you compose your next post. Just kidding.... sometimes we Texans also get carried away when adding on the 000,000,000,s. Tom in Texas

[love2winalot]

Hiya: To me, being Rich, "Money wise", and leaving Fantasy world out of it, is simple. Deciding what you want to do, on a yearly/monthly/weekly/daily basis, and then having the money to do it.This would be YOUR definition. Others will look at Your definition differently, because theirs will be different. Either they don't need as much money, or they need a lot more money, to meet the above requirements. But, at the end of the day it comes down to this question. If you can say, no matter what life style you ar at, YES to both questions, then you are OK.1. Are you Rich? ......................answers yes or no.2. Are you Happy? ..........................the answer to the first question means nothing unless this answer is Yes.To me, the first thing in being, Well Off, is to get rid of Mortage/Rent payments. If you are living in your House/Condo/ect, and your monthly payment is $0.00, then you are well on your way.