Any Alternatives to Philippines?

Agree Peter with your wisdom and agree that Nunbeo gives a "ball in the park" figure and I would agree from personal experience  to be pretty accurate."Boots on the ground" to be true and correct for the Philippines,,,,,,,,, the corruption and frustrations nary get a mention on any site but are a reality and has to be costed into the never ending equation/costs and ones willingness to play the game and yes the CPI increases that will push some away from bringing hard earned cash to a third world/developing  nation with some extremely interesting philosophies, this government could perhaps entertain external dollars into an ailing system with better incentives other than overpriced "investment schemes,,,,, SRRV and SIRV" offers for those not necessarily married legally but willing to partake in a beautiful and somewhat mischievous retirement destination,,,,,,,,,,,.

Cheers, Steve.

Sopt on Bruce
His right

Sopt on Bruce
His right

sure...thailand is a great place to live....i was a teacher there for 10 years....also i stayed on a beach for 6 months last your and the condo there was the same price as here in cebu...but there is fully furnished...3 swimming pools....along with the beach....and what a view of the ocean....joe

JOE CLOUGH wrote:

sure...thailand is a great place to live....i was a teacher there for 10 years....also i stayed on a beach for 6 months last your and the condo there was the same price as here in cebu...but there is fully furnished...3 swimming pools....along with the beach....and what a view of the ocean....joe

Yep, agree Joe, Thailand would be a great place to live but only an observation as a visitor a couple of times as I have never lived there but I closely work with 2 westerners that have their true love/partner in Thailand and hear all the gossip/ins and outs and pitfalls.
The Philippines was where I met my true love some 8 years ago and that is the reason I chose to live here. As said many times if I were a single man the Fils would be way down on my retirement list. Each to their own but if not love and looking for a cheaper destination there are plenty.

Cheers, Steve.

How's it going Steve?  I have been distracted with the holidays and a new game I'm playing...Ark Survival.  For some reason I'm also not always getting a notification when there is a new post.  One thing that I have been thinking about lately is I'm use to gaming a LOT, on a 45" HDTV.  Some countries (like the Philippines) dont let you bring in electronics, so I will have to learn to settle for a laptop.  Not to mention if I am going to travel instead of just staying one place, I would rather have nothing more than a couple suitcases.  It would be a lot cheaper and easier come moving time.  It's almost overwhelming to think about what I'm going to do with all my "stuff". 

I know as Westerners, we have way too much stuff but I really dont want to get rid of books, DVDs, tools, pots and pans, dishes, etc.  Not to mention all my personal stuff, yet storage is so expensive, it would cost more to store than the things are worth.  I am hoping to build a large, very nice shed on my cousin's property and just store my stuff there.  It would only cost about $2000 and when I get back, they get a nice shed for free.

Hope life has been treating you well.

Rob

am european and i wood NEVER go to albania ,i consider it as extreem dangerous ,kosovo no wayyyy,east euro countrys are known for there large meth amfetamine adics man you realy need to get better informed.if you  wood happen to know anny law inforcement agent just ask them about albania and you will be astonist about what you get to hear
africa is out ,why? in alot of african countrys you will find more english speaking ppl than here
i came to the philippines  for several reasons ,
-i always wanted to live in the tropics
- my wife is pinay
-here i found the freedom i was looking for
-here i can do all the things i always wanted to do (have my own workshop,build my own boat(s),go snorkeling diving sailing )
-here i cood buy a nice large peace of land were we can build our house and be at peace becorse we'r a nice distance from the naibours
i retyerd at 37 yrs of age and looked around until i was 54 before making the move,i traveled the world during my 20 yrs in the navy so i had many expieriance to draw on and i am very flexibol in adapting to foreign cultures (during a debriefing after an operation i was told that i was known as "the cameleon")
before making a desision you sood realy realy think hard on what you want and expect or you gonna be verry verry disapointed on what you get.

greets Dirk

fixfireleo wrote:

How's it going Steve?  I have been distracted with the holidays and a new game I'm playing...Ark Survival.  For some reason I'm also not always getting a notification when there is a new post.  One thing that I have been thinking about lately is I'm use to gaming a LOT, on a 45" HDTV.  Some countries (like the Philippines) dont let you bring in electronics, so I will have to learn to settle for a laptop.  Not to mention if I am going to travel instead of just staying one place, I would rather have nothing more than a couple suitcases.  It would be a lot cheaper and easier come moving time.  It's almost overwhelming to think about what I'm going to do with all my "stuff". 

I know as Westerners, we have way too much stuff but I really dont want to get rid of books, DVDs, tools, pots and pans, dishes, etc.  Not to mention all my personal stuff, yet storage is so expensive, it would cost more to store than the things are worth.  I am hoping to build a large, very nice shed on my cousin's property and just store my stuff there.  It would only cost about $2000 and when I get back, they get a nice shed for free.

Hope life has been treating you well.

Rob

All good Rob, busy here as always. stacking the dollars away for a truly enjoyable retirement. Bengie is constantly distracted with his games that he plays in Asia, VPN etc. He does focus on work and and our future also. Gaming will continue in PH. as it did before we left 5 or 6 years ago. All his gear, my stuff and household goods that are suitable will be shipped, we get what we want. You can send your junk also in B/B and have no worries as long as you send it to a Filipino, there should be no taxes and your shipment will be unmolested.
Yes we westerners have way too much sh1t but if that's what rocks your boat and comfort zone do it, forget the cost.
As others have suggested even though you hate work,,,,,,,,, don't we all? Go a few extra years and then relax.
You Rob would die in the ass if you knew what I will throw into a couple of 15M3 rubbish skips before we move, all to the dump, superfluous to our needs in PH. and not worth the effort to sell in Oz. Moving on and forward.
BTW how's your best friend?

Cheers, Steve.

Hey Steve, glad to hear that things are well on your end.  Dont let the government know about your savings, they will figure out a way to get more of it!!    Actually, there is something wrong with Nubie.    My cousin's wife is a vet tech and when I described what's going on, she thinks he has neck pain, which makes sense based on what's been going on.  I am hoping it is just a pulled muscle and will resolve itself because she was talking about a ruptured disk and MRI's, etc.  I know some people will spend tens of thousands of dollars on their dogs but I'm just not that person.  I would be willing to buy him reasonably priced meds to alleviate the pain but not neck surgery.  If it came to that and his quality of life was ruined, I would put him down.  Hell, if I didnt get free medical care from the VA, and I needed a $20,000 surgery, I would put MYSELF down!

I should start figuring out my "stuff" now I suppose.  Get rid of everything I dont need.  I already decided to stop BUYING stuff I dont need.  (I collect these Greek sculptures and artwork for instance.)  The big thing that sucks is electronics because they will be worthless when I come back home (But what if I hate being outside of the USA and come home in 6 months?  Although I doubt it...to me home is wherever I am.)   There is always the possibility of donating stuff rather than throwing it out.  When I lived in the hood, I just put stuff out front and it usually disappeared in a few hours because someone needed it.  As President of the Board at my condo complex, I decided to organize a community yard sale next year, perks of being in charge.   

The big thing about "stuff" is, it would be no big deal to ship it if I were coming to PH and staying but now that I want to go to a fair number of places, I will need to travel light.  There are disadvantages also.  If I were going to be in one place for a long time and the mattress was uncomfortable, I would just go buy a good one and leave it there when I leave but I'm not going to buy 10 different mattresses.  But who knows, I still have about 4 years (Although I have been doing the math lately and maybe I can do this sooner.)  I could still change my plans again.  Maybe I could do all those countries in 1 year then decide which one I want to move to permanently.  You know how life goes...plans change.

Bali.

The people are Hindu and very very nice, even more so than Filipino's I think.

Many Many bars Restaurants to choose from, much more Variety than the Philippines.

Extremely safe,  Safer than the Philippines.  You can go ANYWHERE in Bali and be safe.

Girls are very open to being with an older, foreign man.

Housing and hotels are dirt cheap as is everything else.

Grab Taxi and  Go Jek taxi takes you anywhere for about $1

Bali.

The people are Hindu and very very nice, even more so than Filipino's I think.

Many Many bars Restaurants to choose from, much more Variety than the Philippines.

Extremely safe,  Safer than the Philippines.  You can go ANYWHERE in Bali and be safe.

Girls are very open to being with an older, foreign man.

Housing and hotels are dirt cheap as is everything else.

Grab Taxi and  Go Jek taxi takes you anywhere for about $1

Don't you need a sponsor to get perm res status in Indonesia?

It's apparently very easy.
In Bali they have agencies that do that for you.
Unfortunately, I don't have any details for you.

Sounds like Indonesia is the place for me! MDH have you spent time in both countries? Interested to hear your info on both countries as I will be retiring soon.

Cheers, Steve.

Hi guys I live in bali ,the people are ok, visa for retirement is a yearly thing and requires  an authorized agent , they are quite strict these days re income ,cost rental ,employing staff ,health insurance which could be expensive ,etc .

Im not upto date on agent costs ,an internet search for pension visa agents here would get you in touch .

Bali aint that cheap compared to philipines ,especially for alcohol.