retiring overseas?

Patriotic , to hell with that what's good for the goose is even better for the ganders my modo.

The way they drive our best away and tax us here , they deserve whatever they get I reckon.

Cheers
 
Great idea, it's a magical part of the world.
I'm going there in July/August (will also be driving through Switzerland and italy).

Long term I think it will be hard for us to live overseas permanently
but I'm planning to maintain a holiday place in Greece and 1 in Sweden and will be spending some time in both countries.



My sister said to me after coming back from a 6 mth stint in the Greek islands , this was when I was 18 , Blaster - did ya like that , Naa blaster , you'd absolutely love it there it's so you . Never went , maybe I can chuck that one on the old list too .
Been watching this Vietnam cooking show too , it looks like such a cool place.
Fresh food straight from garden or sea in the markets everyday , no BS or fancy Coles wrapping over 12 mth old super cooled supposedly fresh food, simple lovely people . Gonna get there to one of these days.

Cheers
 
My sister said to me after coming back from a 6 mth stint in the Greek islands , this was when I was 18 , Blaster - did ya like that , Naa blaster , you'd absolutely love it there it's so you . Never went , maybe I can chuck that one on the old list too .
Been watching this Vietnam cooking show too , it looks like such a cool place.
Fresh food straight from garden or sea in the markets everyday , no BS or fancy Coles wrapping over 12 mth old super cooled supposedly fresh food, simple lovely people . Gonna get there to one of these days.

Cheers

seen that show too. The food was great. I know the poverty there is bad but boy do they eat far better than we could. Fresh, Cheap, cooked on demand, no waste no plastic wrap.
It made the trip look very tempting.
cheers
yadreamin
 
I now live on approx AU$3,000 a month and the average wage here is AU$280 a month which means i'm on about 10.7 times the avearage wage. To put it in perspective that would be like living in Oz on AU$660,000 pa or AU$1,800 a day (10.7 times the average wage = about 10.7 x $62k).
Living in Oz on an annual income of $40k a year would be pretty ordinary but over here i'm very wealthy and don't have to worry about my finances as much.[/QUOTE]

Where is here shuggy?
and where does your income come from?
 
I was planning on going to either SEA or Central/South America in a few years time, to live, well... basically the same lifestyle I live now for about 1/3 the price. With no wife/kids holding me back, it was a done deal.

Probably not going to happen as it looks like I might be moving to The States.
 
I feel it is unpatriotic... you work here and live off the economy and save your bucks and then go live somewhere else because the booze is cheaper then head back here for the cheap hospital system that everyone else is paying for?

Patriotism is the refuge of a scoundrel. - Samuel Jackson

You can keep your patriotism, friend. I'm off to enjoy the world. I feel no ties or obligation to stay in Australia just because I was born here. I'll still be paying taxes on investments I hold here, so if I want to come back to use the cheap hospital system, I will, because my taxes pay for it.
 
Hi all,

This question may be a bit premature for some folk here, but is anyone planning or contemplating retiring overseas?

I'm not talking about retirement at age 60-70, but semi retirement at a much earlier age while "enjoying" passive income from your investments.

I am planning on doing this in about 5 years time......

Yes!!! We have been talking about it a lot the past 6 months. Our timeframe is similar, in about 6 years. We are moving to the US this year for 3 yrs, returning for 3 yrs, then planning to live & travel extensively abroad.

Asia is at the top of our list currently, as it is affordable, close to Aust., very diverse & beautiful. We could live in Aust. but would have to keep working at the 6 yr mark to maintain our lifestyle, or we can really semi retire with a good lifestyle abroad.

We plan to keep/buy a place here in Aust. should we ever want/need a 'home' base. We haven't decided on a place abroad yet, and will let our wanderings in the next few years be our compass. ;)
 
Wanaka, NZ for us, I think. Beautiful area, great lifestyle. Only problem is a lack of work meaning we'd want to be able access to super early and there's a tax agreement preventing that. :(
 
I feel it is unpatriotic... you work here and live off the economy and save your bucks and then go live somewhere else because the booze is cheaper then head back here for the cheap hospital system that everyone else is paying for?

I wonder what other countries think when they lose their young and educated to Aus?
 
Where is here shuggy?
and where does your income come from?

'Here' is thailand and 90% of my income comes from rent, the rest from shares and capital. My earlier comparison of my income to the average local income is probably not the fairest way to compare because the locals are accustomed to living on far less.

My life here is very comfortable but i should've mentioned my average annual expenses of ~$40k are only that high because of all the travelling i do, the hobbies i spend money on plus i eat in restaurants 7 days a week. I also give a monthly allowance to my partner and we have a maid that comes in 3 times a week to clean and do the laundry.

If i didn't travel as much and only ate out 3-4 times a week i could easily do it for AU$25k a year. I know a few guys here who live comfortably on AU$12-15k a year. Thailand isn't as cheap as it used to be when i first holidayed here in 1989 but food, accomodation, women and dentists are still the biggest bargains of living here.
 
Patriotism is the refuge of a scoundrel. - Samuel Jackson

You can keep your patriotism, friend. I'm off to enjoy the world. I feel no ties or obligation to stay in Australia just because I was born here. I'll still be paying taxes on investments I hold here, so if I want to come back to use the cheap hospital system, I will, because my taxes pay for it.

Amen: i still pay taxes in Oz on rental income and share div's so i think i'm entitled to use the services here. In fact i had my swine flu (H1N1) shot last week plus a full battery of blood and urine tests as well as a dodgy mole cut out all for free by flashing my Medicare card.

There's nothing wrong with people who choose to work until they're in their 50's-60's but if you value your lifestyle and can think outside the box, you're much better off retiring at a young age to a place that's much cheaper to live.
 
Well Thailand is sounding better and better all the time and I could actually afford to retire there tomorrow. What a pity Mr Natmarie can't :(
 
'Here' is thailand

Hi Shuggy

Last time I was there (10 years or so ago) the humidity was unbearable, the pollution was very high and Bangkok traffic was chaotic.
We had a few good nights there but outdoors in the daytime wasn't fun.

Is it still the same?

I also remember going into one of those night clubs where at the entrance they were telling us come in the show is free but as we later found out they wouldn't let us leave if we didn't pay for the show.

My Scotch companion refused to pay and after a lot of arguments they eventually let us go but it wasn't a pleasant experience...:eek:

I never went back after that
 
Well, my plan is to make my money online and have few physical ties to anywhere. Through leveraging the net, I can have a product or service that I charge for in Pounds, Yen, Euros, Dollars or Yuan, I compensate my workers in Rupees or the Dong and I personally live off the Bhat or Peso.

That's the gift of the internet. I love Aus, but I'm not that in love with our taxation system, customer service culture or duopolies. I'm currently working to get to that place. And if I chose to stay in Aus, I at least want to know that I can go wherever I want at the drop of a hat.

Like Jack Reacher in Lee Childs' books, only with a bit more well roundedness to the whole equation.
 
Hi Mark, whereabouts in the USA?
Have you thought about movingto New Hampshire for the freedom project thingy?
My husband would very much like to move to the US but too many ties here at the moment, maybe later ... bought a book recently lonley planet guide to usa, coffee table type of book, fantastic photos, they have so much wilderness, would love to go exploring.
Not retiring though.
 
Rob and I will move overseas starting in Sept.Stay for 8 months and return to Canada to manage our IP's and visit the kids.
Until we decide where we want to live in Aust, we plan on doing the housesitting thing. Thought we would start with WA this year.Probably buy an inexpensive vehicle, park it at the MIL's house in VIC, when we return to Canada, and pick it when we return again.
We are frugal and more interested in how others live and their country towns than spending a lot of money on restaurants and fancy hotels.How much better can it be than staying at a 3 bedroom house with pets, for free?Lots of times they say eat the eggs and help yourself to the veggie patch.
At the moment I am waiting for my Permanent Residence to be approved.
We are just getting ready for Rob to apply for Canadian Citizenship.

We plan on doing this on about $20K a year.
As the properties are being paid off, our income will only increase.Chances are, we will continue to buy more.:)

Life is good.
 
Hi gg1965,

I personally plan / have set my goals to fully retire by the age of 40.
I have double citizenship, I am both an Australian citizen and Turkish citizen.
So by the age of 40, I plan to have multiple IP's in australia (hopefully all paid off by that time). $50,000 with todays money is the pay that politicians get paid in turkey. I think i'll need approx 600-800k worth of IP's in order to retire overseas and live my dream life :D
 
living overseas as a foreigner can be quite difficult, not my cup of tea but each to their own. it certainly made me more understanding towards immigrants here
 
Ausprop is correct. Living overseas as a foreigner is not everyone's cup of tea. IT all depends on your confidence, your acceptance of other things and ideas, your ability to mix and absorb new ways of doing things, different food etc. And also the simple things in not being able to watch Derryn Hinch, Ray Martin or Bert Newton (that alone is probably why many people leave Australia).

I've already spent a number of years living in Taiwan and in HK. Plus i have travelled extensively in the region.

I enjoyed my time in Taiwan because of the lifestyle and the costs associated with that lifestyle. A 3 course meal (which includes a large fish) can be had for $6 AU and add an extra $1 for a long neck beer to go with it. You couldn't even think of buying the ingredients in Asutralia for that amount.

Plus, as someone has already said, the food (veges, fruit etc) are fresher and are widely available 7 days a week. I don't know about Thailand, but in Taiwan, the health services are free and there is no waiting period for basic services and basic operations - and i speak from experience there. The taxes are 6% for the average person and the public transport systems are super cheap and super frequent - and an even more important aspect, it is safe to walk the streets.

The triads keep to themselves and as long as you don't interfere with them then they don't interfere with you. The triad society, although violent in it's own world, respects people who don't interfere or don't infringe in their world or their business operations. This is a very different aspect of crime in both Taiwan and HK - that is, they keep to themselves. Here though, you can be mugged or attacked at random.

In Thailand, i believe the northern districts could be a bit of a bother if you are a hiker or a person who likes to travel the countryside. You don't want to accidently come across anyone in the golden triangle as you may not come out alive. T'is the same as the old stories about accidently coming across a still while traversing the mountains around Tennesee. This is the same as Laos and Cambodia.

The bottom line though, if you the kind of person who can adapt and accept things that are slightly different, then retiring overseas is an option. As i said at the beginning of this thread, i am looking at doing it in about 5 years time. I already have a fully owned, debt free apartment in Taipei, but that is not my destination point. I am mainly looking at East coast Taiwan as the temperature, lifestyle, cost of that lifestyle, available services, quick access to major city (Taipei) etc are all met there. It is laid back place where the scenery and climate are perfect for a comfortable lifestyle.

My plan is to have about 30k a year or thereabouts to live off, but still have at least 50k a year coming in on top of that for further investments and savings.



Thanks


g
 
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