Newbie here!... Wife and I planning Philippine retirement...

It is good that you are looking forward to volunteering once you get back to the Philippines.  I am sure there are many things you can share with the Filipinos that you can draw from your work and life experiences. 

I cam across three websites that may give you a bit of information http://cdn.ph/photostore/gallery.php?gid=59http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebuda … ids-begins
and
http://www.volunteerabroad.com/search/philippines

I am partial suggesting that you find the Gawad Kalinga project in Cebu.  This is one organization that is well meaning and truly do a good job at it.  My family helps support the education of one Kid via GK. 

I hope this helps.

Hello my name is Charles Harman I am also American my wife is Filipina. We have been married for 6 years now and have 2 kids with one on the way. I work nights here as I am a  webmaster of 10 web sites, I also do web site design and video edits. We are in Lapu-Lapu city, near the Mactan Gaisano. I have been working on computers since the first IBM came out in the early 80s. Actually earlier than that because I worked with an IBM Mainframe in High School. I think it was a IBM 360. Take a look at my website here, has almost 260 members currently most of which are Americans married to Filipinas. When you are in the area stop by for a cup of coffee. http://abutinangpangarap.ning.com

Thanks for the gey-backs...  On a family weekend but hope to get some time to check out your web sites also shortly....

Welcome, Mr Palasky;  As we are in similar positions regarding imminent retirement in the Phils,  it will be interesting to share information.  Unfortunately, my wife and I will be in central Luzon, whereas you will be in Visayas.  Will you be near your wife's family?  Do they farm or operate any type of business?  Volunteering is always good, but also nice to do something that earns extra income.  With the state of the U.S. economy, it's hard right now to live on S.S. , 401k and IRA retirement funds alone, especially if it involves subsidizing the wife's family, too.  That would be our situation, don'tknow about yours.  Sincerely, Monty

Monty,
Yes, we will be near some of my wife's family.  To answer what may be a difficult question for some, we will not be subsibizing her family.  We will not be in a position to do that, nor, for many reasons, do I believe we would if we could.  Helping out at certain times, if possible and reasonable, is a different story.  Knowing the difference can be extremely difficult.  Most of my wife's family are fisherman or are employed at local jobs.  A couple of their children have married overseas and send some funds home, but still they live at a standard that most people over here might not consider reasonable.  In the 70's I married and went ot live in the P.I. in a fishing village where many of my wife's family lived.  I went with $650 in my pocket, and had no intention of returning to the U.S.  One of my brother-in-laws taught me how to fish.  I bought a small boat, a net,and some miscellaneous stuff, had some kerosene lamps made, and started fishing.  Never did real good but was able to get by with the wife and son, and then had a daughter.  We didn't live high on the hog, but did get downtown for movies and such once in a while, and did some traveling.  The $650 lasted about 15 months or so, during which time some hard financial decisions had to be made by both myself and my wife.  We lived a reality that I believe was advantageous in developing a realistic attitude in dealing with when and what to help with.  In addition, my desires and expectations are fairly simple.  Hope this helps a bit, without being too confusing.  I tend to babble.  Sorry if I did.  Blessings!

It's pretty much the same here although we have helped our in laws, that is my wife's mom an dad with a business they can run themselves, and earn their own income, it is an Internet Cafe with the help of my brother-in-law we have provided them with their main income. It makes them enough for them to live off of. We also let them live in our home free. Therefore we are not having to send large sums of money to them only a little help now and then. We do pay the electric bill and water for the house as it is a large house, and help out with the internet bills if they have a slow month in the internet cafe. Some times the extended family especially the boys want money for travel and we help out when we can. The internet cafe has been in business for more than 10 years maybe 15 by now, and usually makes a profit of nearly 50,000 pesos a month or more, not a lot but for a Filipino it is plenty. And it gives them something to do. My wife has a piggery that brings in some money, we are always expanding it in hopes it will supply us with a nice income some day, and in the case of a complete crash of the dollar in the US and no or worthless SS payments. If it happens as so many have said. One other thing we did in 2008 was to buy 5 hectares of land up north, some day it will be a subdivision and earn us some money right now we are farming it with corn but the crop was not good this year, too dry so we many switch crops. There is no water run out there yet, so as soon as that is in place we can start subdividing it and selling lots. All this is in case there is a crash in the us, we need to be sustainable. By the way the land has double it's value now. Seems the Koreans want the area for factories as it is near the ocean and a river, we hope to supply the homes for workers and managers. So that's our plan... SO if you guys are in Cebu just look me up in Tumulak Village in Lapu-Lapu City Mactan Philippines.

Forgot to mention, we are not living in the big house, that one is in Bogo City, Cebu, we are renting in Lapu Lapu City with our two maids and two kids. You probably ask why two maids we need one each for their first years in school. The maids go with them as they are too young. My wife and I work nights on internet work. and sleep half the day usually until around 4:00 PM before we even get up.

Hi to Palasky and other retirees in Phils. I can't answer your Questions, but I am heading the same way from Australia. Are there any Aussie expats in the Philippines who could tell me how to receive the Aussie pension and live in Phils? Cheers, ssat.

Hey all, I really appreciate the insights.  Got a question on purchasing land and homes and stuff in general.  My wife is a naturalized US citizen, which I believe at the time, caused her to loose her Philippine citizenship.  I know that she can apply to get her Philippine citizenship back and then have dual citizenship.  Can you own land and property without being a Philippine citizen?  If she does not get her Philippine citizenship back, will we have to exit and re-enter the country once a year every year?

There are a couple alternative methods for completing financial transactions between the U.S. and the Philippines.  First of all, don't close your (dollar) checking account in the U.S. You can transfer funds from your dollar account via a Visa or Mastercard debit card directly to yourself at local ATM's, which will dispense the cash in Philippine Pesos.  Very convenient. The drawback is that your bank will likely charge a 3% currency conversion fee plus a charge for using your ATM outside the bank network.

Alternately, I use a cheap and reliable money transfer service called xoom.com, which specializes in forwarding funds from your U.S. bank account to the your bank or directly to your residence in the Phils. Check it out.

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lennie&mark

Charles: I am pretty impressed with what you've done so far for the last couple of years that you are here. Our main goal is to be self-sustaining as well. If I may suggest, you might consider to do some vegetables, herbs farming with your land available for farming. That is if your vacant property is near enough to where you live right now. That way, you can really live on what you toil. Just a suggestion .
I also honor you for helping out your wife's family the right way. You should be an inspiration to a lot of expats as well as Filipinos. THat is how I will do it if I need to as well. We teach people to fish and not just give them fish.
Palasky: If I may suggest, have your wife get a dual citizenship. If you are still in the US< do it there, it is much faster and cheaper. I did mine in half a day. It will be easier for you guys to move around here if she has dual citizenship. You've got nothing to lose, but everything to gain. You need to get a resident visa on the other hand so you can stay here without hassles.
I can help you with purchasing land, or house and lot. It will all depend on your budget and location. We are renovating our house in Alabang area and we intend to buy farm lands in Southern Luzon and Visayas. Let me know how we can assist you. There are a lot of things to consider before you make your final move if you are not here yet.

Sincerely,
Pinaymentor

Thanks for the comments, I really appreciate that. My brother-in-law is expected to arrive in October and he has plans to upgrade the internet cafe so it makes more money. We will put in servers and host web sites on it and do web site design.

As for the land yes the crop of Corn was a disaster this your, climate is too dry. We need to do something that's for sure, maybe vegetables is the answer. Someone else suggested Nara-wood trees, not sure of the spelling, but they take a long time to grow to an age where they can be cut down and used for furniture. I heard the return on investment ROI is good. The land is in north western Cebu near the city of Medellin. It is 5 hectares half of which is crops the other half is undeveloped and will hopefully some day become a subdivision, soon as water reaches that area. We also have the piggery which is doing well.

Again thanks for the comment. Give me a call some time I like to talk. 571-970-9195

Pinaymentor; My wife is definitely doing the dual-citizenship thing.  I know it will definitely make many things easier.  We just have to find the time to get to DC or NY.  I anticipate getting a resident visa closer to the time we make our move.  We will have to spend some time there renting before deciding on a permanent home.  I will keep you in mind.  Blessings all...

In regards to moving $ to the Philippines... I opened up a dollar account and just write myself a check (from my US Account) for deposit. 3-4 weeks later the $ is available for withdrawal and off to the money changer. I deposit every month or sometimes every other month so I stay ahead of the game. Banks only insure deposits here for up to 500,000php (approximately $11000), so I never have more than that in an account here. This method saves you all the fees that the stateside bank is going to charge you (International Transaction fee, conversion fee, etc.). I keep my ATM card for emergency purposes only and never bring it with me unless travelling...

OK..I think I got it...  You have a dollar account in a bank in the P.I.  You have a US bank checking account.  You write yourself a check from the US checking account for deposit into the Philippine bank dollar account.  The check takes a few weeks to clear and then you can withdrawl dollars.  Doing it this way circumvents any conversion transaction fees.  Am I correct thus far?  The dollars then need to be converted to pesos.  Where is the 'best' place to do this?  My main interest is to minimize loss in getting my dollars from the US to the PI and then changed to pesos.  LOL  And here I am trying to simplify my life by moving back to a more laid back environment.

There are many money changer stalls in any city in the Philippines. The malls are the first place to start,  or just ask any locals and they would know. Philippines is kept afloat by the dollar remittance of Filipinos working abroad, hence any locals you ask can point you where to change your dollars. Their rate of exchange is posted in their stalls, and you will end up comparing rates and decide where you would like to do  business.

This is Charles, I have an account in a local credit union in Texas, all I do is go to an ATM in the mall and take out up to 1,000 at a time the ATM allows up to 10,000 pesos per single transaction. My bank charges me $1.00 per transaction. Once the money is in the bank we can get it right away no waiting and no checks only my ATM cards one for backup. We've been doing this all along with no problems so far.

I have a comment on Xoom, I tried to use Xoom 3 times when I was living in the US. Two of the three times, they told me the money would not arrive before 3 to 4 business days due to a security check they randomly do on transactions out of the country. They have to verify with your bank to make sure it is not a scam. Both times I had to cancel as I needed the money right away, one was for airline tickets that could not wait. Both of these times I had to cancel and go with western union. I have not used Xoom since. Also I work with clients in the US they pay me through PayPal which deposits the money into my US bank account, then I simply go to the ATM and draw it out.