How much money do you need to retire in thailand

[Guest]

I had a friend who was about to be retired. He is a Thai in America and he had a house built in process somewhere near Bangkok. He also bought an partment in Seatle. Of course he paid off his house in Long Island. So his retirement would be Thailand-Seattle-New York, Sounds like near heaven to me.
My question is, how much money do you need to afford this lifestyle. Not really the exact replica of this example. Just say, half year in your current country and half year in LOS.
Anyone done it? or at least anyone done the research?

[relpax]

it seems to me that there are too many variables for someone to answer for you. for example, are you a 5 star only kinda guy who needs a huge high rise condo with all modern stuff on an exclusive street in the best building in town? or do you just want to have somewhere to drink a beer and put your feet up and play the guitar? perhaps so more information would be helpful. ... just my 2 cents.

[Looker]

Yes..it all depends..thi topic has already been discussed and roughly, properties purchasing/renting a part, you need anything from 25K baht to 100K baht for living, and if you have to rent a place add another anything from 10K to 50k baht. This goes from a no-frills life to a moderately fancy life.

[olekunde]

depends on wheter you want a one-year visa or go to cambo every month. i think you need to have 200.000b in the bank to obtian a one-year visa and some other stuff for the paper-mill.

you will get a nice apt for 12-15k a month. but acceptable for 5-6K. if you can live with staying in a hotel-like room, you can get one for as low was 3-4K. electricity/water/cable tv is extra.

it all comes down to your living habits. if you eat local food, you will cut down the expenses alot. and also having a inhouse lady will usually be more expensive than short-times.
you could also stop buying lady-drinks to everyone that asks. also there is no shame buying draft beer in the gogos.

i never had any problems staying a month in pty for 50k, and then i fuck everyday and get drunk 4 or 5 times a week. but i eat only local food with the occasional pizza

[Guest]

i never had any problems staying a month in pty for 50k, and then i fuck everyday and get drunk 4 or 5 times a week. but i eat only local food with the occasional pizza

Are you sure only 50K baht. That is only about 1600 a day. Which I doubt would cover alcohol, short time, food, accomodation and other miscellaneous items such as baht bus or motor bike taxi and essentials like condoms?

I know BKK and Phuket are more expensive and this is where I spend all my time but I would nearly spend 50K a week whilst on holiday.

[Guest]

my guestimate is $500,000 in the bank + investments, giving 5% interest a year (after inflation and tax)= $25,000 per year to live on. actually spending around $15,000 a year for a modest lifestyle, giving a $10,000 cushion for bad years/holidays/large purchases.
?

[Mai-Kee]

It only depends on what lifestyle you're used to. Some can do it for 30-50k/m others never for less than 150k/m. Check out the real estate sites for rental costs and look at how you spend usually your time in LOS and then you'll know how much you'll need. But don't forget that in a cheap candy store the temptation to spend way more as you've actually planned, is higher than you might think!
This topic was discussed extensively a couple of times before, maybe someone finds the old threads...?

MK

[olekunde]

Are you sure only 50K baht. That is only about 1600 a day. Which I doubt would cover alcohol, short time, food, accomodation and other miscellaneous items such as baht bus or motor bike taxi and essentials like condoms?

its quite easy:
apartment rental: i have stayed in places where i have paid between 3-6K a month. that is 200 or less a day.

short times. i usually meet up with ladies in discos or in the street, ie usually pay 300,500 or 700b

food. i like to eat local food, cos i like it spicy and the farang food doesnt taste so good in los, so i get away with 100b or less a day.

motorbike rental is about 2800-3000b a month so additional 100b a day. a full tank is about 100b but last 2-4 days.

that leaves the rest for alcohol or other items. im not so much into shopping and i you get 1l vodka for under 200b in the markets(friendship, big c, lotus etc). but since im "off" the bottle 2 or 3 times a day i save up some money there.

i choose this rather for some dull living when i am los, but then again i can afford stay 3-6 months, which i usually do, instead of stay 2-4 weeks and be a big spender.

[dummy_plug]

I guess its not a good time to mention that I go through 50k baht a week.

Livin' the dream, brother, livin' the dream!

[Looker]

my guestimate is $500,000 in the bank + investments, giving 5% interest a year (after inflation and tax)= $25,000 per year to live on. actually spending around $15,000 a year for a modest lifestyle, giving a $10,000 cushion for bad years/holidays/large purchases.
?

Rayton,
probably you could get more than 5% a year by choosing right investemnts, without risking too much I mean.
I've been doing an average of 10-12% and really made plenty of mistakes and lost good opportunities.

[PigDogg]

The key ingedients to living on the cheap in the LOS is a
live-in and low cost housing.

Hey Looker, what are u doing to earn 11%? I'm looking for some new tricks.

The only trick I know is to buy foreign mutual funds before 4PM on days when the American markets are kicking ass. This stale pricing arbitrage can earn you 1% on a good day.
But many mutual funds are now using fair pricing so that this technique won't work with those funds.

But there's still a few funds where you can make a buck this way.

[Guest]

Where is the old thread that discussed this topic?
And I guess diving or whatever one made up for "excuse for thailand trip" might need to be real this time, or retirement can be really boring. Can't fuck 24/7 .... yearround

[Guest]

Here is an old thread about living in Thailand.

[fancylighters]

What's the tax system like in LOS? Is it as informal (read: corrupt) as the rest of the system?

[limpdick]

I would stick with the 5% interest in a CD, as the market is over 11,000 in US there is no such thing as safe 10% to 12% return with safety, take the sure thing!