World Economy,the Expats Downfall?

[Jollygoodfellow]

With the way the worlds economy is going at the moment and for what looks like the foreseeable future I wonder if it may have an impact on expats and expats to be.I am wondering if those who were thinking of moving to the Philippines are now deciding to wait or perhaps have no choice because of money lost in income or shares etc. Perhaps its the other way around where life in the Philippines is a better option? What about those living in the Philippines,anyone considering going "home" to try to increase their income and recoup their savings?Here in Australia we are faring better than most economy's but every downfall some where else takes a toll as billions get wiped off the share market.Are you tightening your belt? Lets have a discussion on whether the economy has an impact on expats but please no political rants as that is not the subject.

[Dave Hounddriver]

I find it harder each year to live on a fixed income but that is due to normal inflation everywhere. I know a few people who have gone or are going back to the US to work as they just cannot enjoy life the way they want on 1K US a month any more. In my opinion, the more expats who go home from the Philippines, or just don't come, the more the economy here (and thus inflation) does not heat up and raise my cost of living. Example, whenever I look at a medium priced house to rent or car to buy, it is likely that I am competing with other foreigners for it. There is only a small middle class here and a lot of the middle class consist of expats.

[Mr Lee]

I find it harder each year to live on a fixed income but that is due to normal inflation everywhere. I know a few people who have gone or are going back to the US to work as they just cannot enjoy life the way they want on 1K US a month any more. In my opinion, the more expats who go home from the Philippines, or just don't come, the more the economy here (and thus inflation) does not heat up and raise my cost of living. Example, whenever I look at a medium priced house to rent or car to buy, it is likely that I am competing with other foreigners for it. There is only a small middle class here and a lot of the middle class consist of expats.

Great topic Boss Man :mocking: because people should know what they are getting themselves into when moving out of their own country. One important thing which has been told to me via email by one US member who went home was, medicare/health insurance was available to him back in the US but not in the Philippines at that time, and he found it impossible to live on just his social security, so for those who do not have at least the equivalent of $1500 US and a nest egg for emergencies or a higher monthly income, I would say wait until you have more, unless you are willing to give up some of lifes comforts, or are not used to them in the first place. Another important issue for US older people living on a small income, is that the US has food stamps and other forms of financial help that some may be eligible for and they will be on their own in the Philippines. As I have posted before in another topic, for those who wish to buy their own place, and because of the downturn, many places in the US are now much less expensive to buy than in many places in the Philippines. So for me, yes I have put my plans for a full move over on hold for a while because I am finding it is still expensive for us to live our lifestyle while in the Philippines, and that is because I do not wish to change my lifestyle while we are there, my choice. So while we had originally planned to move to our condo full time when I reached 62, I am now 63 and those plans are on hold because of the ever growing cost of living there, the lower exchange rate, and availability of some medicines, as well as that I get other meds in the US for just a co-payment, whereas they are quite expensive in the Philippines and would eat up any savings we might get from the items which do cost less. So if we did not own our own condo and if my wife was one of those who did not wish to live in the Philippines, and us having those wonderful young ladies we consider our daughters who live in Cebu, then I believe at this point in my life, we would have changed our plans to just visiting every few years, but yearly stays keeps my wife happy and keeping her happy feels good to me, and spending time with our daughters is also very important to both of us. Edited August 19, 2011 by Kuya Lee
whoops, I gave the wrong author credit, so I fixed it..

[Art2ro]

Yeah, I know what everyone is saying about the global economy! It seems that it’s not cheap anymore to live in the Philippines with the rate of inflation, where as in the U.S. the recession affected everything! I too am concerned with our medical health benefits here in the Philippines even though we have medical coverage through TRICARE, but it’s still has it’s uncertainties, since everything has to be paid with up front in cash and hopefully get reimbursed after the fact or also maybe denied due to technical errors in the system or policies of TRICARE! For now, my U.S. Government pensions is adequate to live on here in the Philippines, because we own our own home and we don’t have any bills except for our monthly utility and grocery bills, the area we live in isn't cheap either! Fortunately we only spend 50% from my U.S. government pensions monthly and the rest goes into our savings for emergencies! When I was still working, we weren’t able to save a dime before my early retirement! It took everything we had left to pay all of our creditors and sold everything before we retired to the Philippines! We have nothing in U.S. to go home back to, except for my wife’s aging parents living in a 2 bedroom apartment with her younger sister who has a good paying job in a hospital and my older only brother who‘s just making ends meet on his and wife's social security pension during this U.S. recession! Yeah, it seems sad all around due to the global recession! We all just have to do what we can do to survive until the economy recovers!

[sjp52]

I still will be living 6 months in Philly and 6 months in Canada, Only for my wife's sake. Here in my city in Canada you can rent a 1 or 2 bedroom condo for 25,000 pesos and all utilities are included. I have free healthcare in Canada and would hate to give that up especially as I am getting older and may need it in the near future. Its funny how things are getting cheaper in the first world countries and more expensive in the Philippines. I don't understand what supports the ever increasing prices in the Philippines. There must be a lot of rich Filipinos. I must admit when I am in the Philippines I am a lot more active as there are so many interesting places to explore and fairly close by . Also being a foreigner over in the Philippines you are forced to pay cash for most things which I think is a better way to live. We don,t realize but as the cost of things increase in the Philippines it effects the native Filipino a lot more than it does us. I have witnessed it in my wife's family

[RetiredNavyGuy]

Like Art2ro, I have nothing left in the US to go back to. My kids quit talking to me years ago, and my parents have both died. In the US (Phoenix), I had trouble keeping any money in the bank, but here in the RP, I am able to keep about 50% each month, even though I have not been very frugal or careful with the money. So, I am beginning to build up a decent stash, which I haven't had in years. Probably my biggest help in that regard is the fact that I don't have an asawa or a girlfriend yet, so that's an expense stream that hasn't kicked in yet. I've been here almost a year, and the exchange rate has actually held fairly steady (knock on wood). There are other reasons why I wouldn't go back to the US, but those could be considered borderline political, so I will just let that ride. Except for the 16 month visa runs, I'm here for good (at least at the moment).

[Art2ro]

My Aunt and her husband has been living in Cavite for the past 20 yrs of their retirement, but ever since her husband passed away, she has decided to leave all their assets to close relatives and move back to California with her sister for the remainder of her years, because she can no longer fend for herself and her medical condition isn‘t getting any better. At least in the California she will receive better care and no more expensive out of the pocket medical expenses here in the Philippines!I just hope that our fate won't be the same as my Aunt's, because I'm preparing to stick it out here in the Philippines for good come hell or high water! "Knock on wood" like RetiredNavyGuy said!

[scott h]

I might be speaking out of my hat. Having been to our porjected barangay several times. Looked at the services and amenities (or lack of) in our local area and greater Metro Manila, our course is pretty much set. Guaging the local economy in California, the chances of getting decent paying job at age 55 when i retire, we have set our sights on the Philippines. We have already sold our home, banked the equity, built up our nest egg and shooting for the moon. I really dont think I could find a job at my age that would make up the difference between my retirement income and my current salary so as to maintain our standard of living here in the states. We have the advantage of owning land in the Philippines, even though our plan is to tear down the old house and built new. Yes we will be giving up some "comforts" but i believe the gain will make up for it. Arturo makes some good points about extended medical care etc. We are banking on family members to care for us in our advancing years. Granted living in the Philippines might shave a year or two off the total but i believe the pay off will be worth it

[Art2ro]

scot h, You have a good and sound plan for your retirement here in the Philippines, we've been to California on vacation just last year and I didn't like what I saw, not our type of retirement lifestyle! My wife and I have been living here in the Philippines since 1998, we own our own home, no bills and live far enough away from relatives to live a nice quite life in a modern upscale suburban area of Sta. Rosa, Laguna! As long one has an adequate source of income, which I can say we do, nothing can be an obstacle in the way of comfortable living in a 3rd world country such as the Philippines! It's all about location, location, location and the people or relatives you associate or live with and a huge "leap of faith"! Good luck with your retirement here in the Philippines! Actually, luck has nothing to do with it, because it's all in the planning and "life is what we all make it to be"! Life truly is grand when a plan comes together in the end, we're there 90% of the way already!

[Bundy]

We fully intend to push through with our plans to move to Cebu early next year. Our house is now on the market here in Australia and i have purchased a 2 bedroom apartment which we rent out and will keep when we move.My idea was to live in Cebu whilst i'm still relatively young (i will be 54 next January).We will be paying a renewable 12month travel insurance while we are there as it's way cheaper than any medical insurance plan i've seen. When i get older and if i have any health problems, we then have the option to move back to Australia and live in our apartment. The way the economy is at the moment doesn't really bother me as things are tough in EVERY country and all we need be concerned about is what it would cost us to live month to month and as far as that goes, Cebu is a clear winner, costing approx. 1/2 what it costs to live here, and that's allowing for rent which we don't pay here in Oz. I think everyone has different circumstances so it's extremely difficult to give any blanket answer to this post, but for us, we are very much at ease with our decision. The only problem we face is that with the current downturn in the housing market here, it may take some time to sell our house.