retirement
 

a lot of filipinos don't plan to move back. i for one never wanted to, until i came back to visit and saw how some people live day to day outside of manila. picture this, my wife and live comfortably on $1,000/month. we go out and eat at least 4 times a week. i play golf once or twice a week. drive up to the mountains or the beach twice a week, go to a mall to food shop, etc, etc. of course my house and car are both fully paid ($200K- brand new 5 bedrooms/4BA/2 car garage in quezon city/ new toyota diesel family van P22K). as i mentioned, i can hire a 24/7 helper but since my wife and i are still able-bodied, we decided to postpone that part. there are hospitals accept and are accredited by blue cross, mayo clinic, etc. worst case, we could leave anytime for the US for treatment anyway.
so at $1,000/month, we're able to save for trips to back to the US, europe and the rest of asia as we've been doing.
living outside manila would be much, much cheaper!

labor is cheap in the philippines and i could not picture myself in a nursing home and paying $6K monthly for a room while waiting for my departure. having a "plan B" is one big advantage for someone like me who came from a poor country and just decided to move back. less stress and a more simple life.
hey! it's not paradise or even close and definitely not for everyone...but if you want your $$$ to go a long way, then it's something that might be worth checking.

I'd be very much interested in moving to Mexico, Philippines, or some other place if it was only me. My retirement plan was to be single and move around wherever I wanted. That went down the drain after I married again, although I have to say I don't mind. I traveled a lot when I was younger. My wife has an aversion to moving away from where we live now - which is darn near ideal. Neither one of us is interested in golf or any of those kinds of activities. My wife's interests are mostly in the direction of art. We spend less because we don't have any bills and are happy with fairly simple lives. That doesn't mean to say I'm not totally uninterested in living abroad.

Benji,
I have had friends in the military that were stationed there and married locals tell me they planned to do as you have. My daughter vacationed there twice recently and loved it but she stayed at very high-end resorts. I might be more interested in wintering in the Philippines or similar. I have heard that there is a serious crime problem against foreigners outside of controlled resort areas and it would seem that older folks would be vulnerable. What is your take on that?

+1 Marv.
My first wife was a flight attendant and we traveled a lot. The second wife not so much.
Interesting what you say about Mexico. A neighbor moved from behind our house to Mexico about 15 years ago. Never heard from her again. She started pulling her trailer and it disconnected twenty yards from her house. A neighbor and I helped her hook it up and off she went never to be heard from again. She would have been a hippy of the sixties. She liked her wine and was single. She would have fit in well in Mexico.

I could not imagine leaving Canada permanently but would certainly like to travel more. I certainly would like to spend more time in Arizona as it is cheap and warm in winter.

After 8 years of retirement, we find we are spending less, and enjoying life more.

Central to our plan was tax avoidance, so we moved out of NY state down to Charlotte NC. We figured the wild card in NY was taxes, only likely going up while our income was reduced and not likely going up. We kept the NY property for a while, but didn't really go back much after a while and sold it. Our overall taxes plummeted, don't buy cold weather clothes or gear, etc. NC state income tax is now right around 5% so that helps, property taxes on a really nice house are $2,500. etc. We are doing much more travel, more eating out (retirement is like that, lots of time to look for new dining opportunities.

Somehow after 8 years of no raises we seem to have more disposable income. So I would say we spend more on fun stuff, but overall less money goes out of here on structural spending. We have many former NY and NJ residents as friends down here and they all arrived at the same conclusion, move out of the high tax zone.

you may find this interesting.
BBC - Future - The small Scottish isle leading the world in electricity

I haven't read any of the past 5 pages, but, yes, you will spend close to the amount you spent prior to you retirement. It will be less, but you will still have the fixed costs of living costs of taxes,maintenance, insurance. Those,alone, are a *****. You want to fish,golf,buy antiques, travel, et al. Plan with those needs in mind. That really is the deal.

retirement
 

flintsone, like anywhere else, one should just avoid problematic areas such as the southern part. but the good thing is, we have a president that vows to eradicate the bad elements. he has been the target of human rights groups but despite that, he does not flinch. drugs and corruption has been prevalent but the numbers have been on a constant decline.
as long as you live simply and avoid unnecessary flaunting and putting a show, you should be ok. shorts, t-shirts and sandals and no rolexes!

Benji,

Yes, I personally have been pleased with the actions of your President. I believe that law and order is primary to a good quality of life. Thanks for the info.

retirement
 

i totally agree!