Why do expats continue to move, live, and retire in the Philippines?

bigpearl wrote:

Just noticed your rates here in the Philippines, is that Per month or per year?

Below is the allowable rates that may be set in the Philippines:

    Maximum assessment level rates for Residential property   

Property value                                         Rate          Amount payable PA
PHP 0    PHP 175,000                                   0%       
PHP 175,000    PHP 300,000                          10%        PHP 300
PHP 300,000    PHP 500,000                           20%        PHP 1,000
PHP 500,000    PHP 750,000                           25%        PHP 1,875
PHP 750,000    PHP 1,000,000                   30%        PHP 3,000
    PHP 1,000,000    PHP 2,000,000    35%        PHP 7,000
PHP 2,000,000    PHP 5,000,000          40%        PHP 20,000
PHP 5,000,000    PHP 10,000,000          50%        PHP 50,000


Source:  [link under review

You just noticed or have you been stewing on this for days?

Oh you doubting Thomas, what reason would I have to Lie? As said per annum and even if it was a hundred bucks a year is certainly well short of AU $ 2,800.00 per annum. for a 50 acre lot with house in Oz and should I mention one of our investment properties in high rise that attracts more than 3K in rates and 8K in body corp fees, yes it's on the market back in Oz.
Would you like me to send you a copy our council rates from here in Bacnotan to you in PM? So you can choke it would appear? It certainly seems that given our PHP 1345.00 rates our property is only worth only PHP 600K according to your supplied info. LMAO. The vacant block next door is on the market for PHP 13M and as said vacant. We have a 3 bed 2 bath house on the beach, a detached studio some 40M2 on a seperate bill (still part of the PHP 1,345.00; the studio component, my son it is 24 pesos per annum) You obviously picked the wrong property, location. Research sunshine. Don't b*tch at me and definitely don't insinuate I am telling porky pies as you would have others think, I fail to see your scepticism with regards to our situation and costs even the garbage collection at 20 pesos a month is difficult for foreigners pay,,,,,,,,,, groan.

You see my posts mate and always transparent. Disappointed and then some. I had respect for your posts and opinions but now wonder, never call me or insinuate I am a liar. Bad call that last post pej.

Cheers, Steve.

Ohh dear sir, are you talking to me?  As you will see I don't own property here and never said I did, hmm yes as you said research.  It starts with reading.

I sounds like you have done well with your rates here.  That source I posted is not the only one that will reference the rates applied to land and structures here in the Philippines.  But you doubt me, so be it I will sleep well tonight.

Your terse words will pass, and you will live with them not me.

Some people believe, some question, and some research and some insult. 

By the value of your property here and in the properties you own in Australia you are very rich and yet you feel that you can criticize, the first post made on this topic.  You need to take a step back and appreciate that not every one is rich, as such that will effect they way every one sees that world.  No doubt you have worked hard to obtain your wealth and become rich (enough to own your property in Australia, and your investment property/ies there and your property here) that is how we make out selves rich. 

Work hard get rich, but never forget the people who are not us rich as others.


Enough

Good luck to you.

As said you questioned my integrity and deserved every thing I said, this is off topic sadly so. If you wish to have a whinge send me a scathing PM but let's get back to the OP's topic and not a cat fight totally irrelevant to the original post.
There are bigger fish to fry as you must agree.

Cheers, Steve.

bigpearl wrote:

You just noticed or have you been stewing on this for days?

Oh you doubting Thomas, what reason would I have to Lie?

Don't b*tch at me and definitely don't insinuate I am telling porky pies as you would have others think, I fail to see your scepticism with regards to our situation and costs even the garbage collection at 20 pesos a month is difficult for foreigners pay,,,,,,,,,, groan.

You see my posts mate and always transparent. Disappointed and then some. I had respect for your posts and opinions but now wonder, never call me or insinuate I am a liar. Bad call that last post pej.

Cheers, Steve.

Hi Steve,
I appreciate your posts, and respect your opinion, but I honestly don't believe pej called you a liar, or bitched at you or made insinuations. It appears to me he was just curious (as I was) about the extremely low rates you pay for property taxes (council rates), and was trying to get some facts and clarification. You have to admit it's surprising to pay only $40 per year for property taxes on a developed beachfront property, or any developed property for that matter, and you can't blame anyone for asking about that. I simply assumed that was monthly, or your assessments were behind. If that's the case everywhere it might help explain why things are so run down in many places as municipalities would be starved for revenue if even the best properties paid so little. Who knows.. it would make for an interesting analysis. I see some barangays have excellent roads and others do not. But in any case enjoy your low rates and your beach view. Thanks for sharing the info.

Cheers,
John

lasvegan wrote:

Hi TeeJee4103
It is awesome that you have fared so well! I think that expats here would benefit from your words and methods!! You would help so much if you would do a Blog on living good in the Phil's! I would read every word! I myself was totally scammed from the beginning! I mean things like, "Hon, please send me $1000 immediately, my grandson is in emergency surgery! Please!" LOL! No scars when i finally got here! LOL!! I've of coursed learned not to be such a victim! But other's would benefit from some good advise on a regular basis! Think about it!

Thanks. I used to be an expat advisor on this site and hopefully I helped some members and many helped me.  I received some thanks and also took a lot of grief from the resident sniping dimwits just waiting to ponce on anyone daring to try and help others. 

As to the blog. On YouTube  the expat blogs are everywhere and judging from the expats making the same mistakes over and over again, not many are paying attention to the advice.

The things needed in my estimation are maturity, common sense, a realistic assessment of your needs vs your wants, your financial status and whether it will provide for your needs in a foreign country, an escape plan and just simply being at peace with yourself. 

Choosing where to live here based on availability of resources such as medical, airport, govt offices and reliable utilities may not park you on the beach, though it may give you some peace of mind in not having to deal with brownouts, inadequate medical facilities and a bus and ferry ride just to get to a govt office or an airport.

If like some few here, you are rolling in the dough, then having to be practical in where you hang your hammock takes a back seat to fiscal restraints put on most of us.

You can lead a horse to water, though you can't make him drink.

I help here when I feel I have something to offer, though I'm not very interested in a blog.

Best regards.

Great! Nice to know you're available

"Why do expats continue to move, live, and retire in the Philippines?"

We all have different reasons for moving here. For me and my husband, it was mainly financial. The cost of living back in the states was just too high.

In San Francisco, both parents need to work to support the family. With me getting laid off, and later giving birth, we found our savings slowly being depleted, especially due to the high cost of health insurance (over US$800 / month for me and our child not including co-pays), which one should not be without in the US. I wanted to go back to work, and put our child into daycare. But the cost of a good daycare was just too much.

On top of that, the nice tenants above our rental moved out and were replaced by loud and obnoxious party people who even called the police on us, telling them that we were hurting our child because he was crying. We contemplated on moving to a new place. But with the rising cost of rent, moving to a new and even smaller apartment would cost US$500 more per month. Buying a house would be out of the question.

Though I was paid well in my past two jobs, I felt I was stuck in a dead end job and racially discriminated against by my employers and some of my co-workers. I wanted to go to Berkeley for an MBA. I got 700+ GMAT score required by Berkeley. But with the baby and the looming recession, I could not afford to go there or to any other lesser known school for graduate studies.

We were stressed out. We foresaw at what our future would be. At best, we would be renters for life, work till we're 70 years old to get full SS retirement benefits. So I, my husband and our son moved to the Philippines.

Though I felt wronged by certain people back in the states, I do not hold grudges against America because I've met many wonderful people there. We've moved on. We have a better life here in the Philippines. I received a lot of support and help from my Filipino family specifically my parents.

I cannot deny that I miss the public libraries, the bus system, museums, parks etc. in San Francisco. But here in the Philippines, we now have a daughter. We have our own house. The way things are progressing, I could retire at 60, the full retirement age in the Philippines, even though my daughter would still be in college by then. But I don't plan to retire at 60 for I do like what I do for a living.

I feel truly blessed. I think if you feel good about yourself, it is easier to show kindness and help out.

Kindness begets kindness. Near my shop, I had a annoying neighbor who used to barge in at our office always complaining. One day she asked for help in fixing her window so her ill brother would breathe better. It was no biggie for us so we helped her. She doesn't complain now. Sometimes, she makes us some of her delicious homemade soup. She smiles genuinely and jokes around. It's really pleasant when she visits.

I paid for college tuition for my employee's son. I pledged commute money for my assistant's grandnephew (who used to work at a construction site sifting sand) so he can get home quicker and study. I don't expect anything in return. I am happy that one already has a good job, and the other is now starting high school and was given a sponsorship / scholarship for good grades to a good private school.

I was taken advantage of my one who asked my help. She skimmed money from me. I am more discerning from the experience. But it hasn't stopped me from showing kindness and forgiveness.

Sometimes, I ask myself why I am here really.  I hope when my time comes, God will say that I have done what he intended for me to do.

To the OP, move on. Please do not bash what you called “quality women” whom you seem to think scorn foreigners. We are well-educated and hardworking. We want the better pick of the crop. We don't want a man who makes a big fuss about every little thing, makes condescending remarks such as “Only in the Philippines!”, someone for whom we have to apologize. Life is too short. We don't want to go through it feeling stressed out and exhausted.

Well FilAmMom, I take my hat off to you, Firstly for sharing your story and secondly for the honesties that lay in your return to your country. Is your husband Filipino? If not his reasons for returning if that's not too much of a personal question,,,,,, slap me.

Sounds to me that you have your life and priorities in order and are well grounded unlike many others, well done and prosper.

Cheers, Steve.

pnwcyclist wrote:

Nielsen Flute wrote:

I still have a lot of hate and rage toward that country and those people. The least I can do is warn people about them.

Hate and rage? Wow.

Dude, you need to let go of whatever your personal issue is, instead of bad-mouthing an entire country and all the people because your experience didn't meet your expectations. You continually come on here and disparage the country and the people. That doesn't help anyone. You're upset because it's not the bargain it once was? Or some girls didn't like you? Well what did you do to try and make it a better place? You have taken it personally. It's time to let go and move on.

I remember him. Who  would not? He's been bad-mouthing ever since  his first post.  It's been months since. Now this. He still has not let go and moved on.

Hate and rage towards a country and its people? That's disturbing . . . and scary. I think the OP should get counseling from a professional.

There are so many incidents that have hurt and fallen a lot of innocent people of which the root cause were hate and rage. I'm not going into specifics to avoid certain key words. Most of you, if not all, would know what I'm referring to. According to one news article, there are more of these incidents in 2019 in the US than the number of days so far.

Recently, there were two of these, happening within less than 24 hours. 29 people gone. Prior to that, there was an incident at a produce festival. My husband and I had been to that festival twice before moving here.  SH was the saddest for me back in 2012. When I saw it on the news. I could not help but cry because at that time, my son was the same age as those preschoolers.

Move on. If you can't,  get help.

My 2 cents.

If you earn 50k per month you can stay stable & simple life in Philippines

FilAmericanMom wrote:

pnwcyclist wrote:

Nielsen Flute wrote:

I still have a lot of hate and rage toward that country and those people. The least I can do is warn people about them.

Hate and rage? Wow.

Dude, you need to let go of whatever your personal issue is, instead of bad-mouthing an entire country and all the people because your experience didn't meet your expectations. You continually come on here and disparage the country and the people. That doesn't help anyone. You're upset because it's not the bargain it once was? Or some girls didn't like you? Well what did you do to try and make it a better place? You have taken it personally. It's time to let go and move on.

I remember him. Who  would not? He's been bad-mouthing ever since  his first post.  It's been months since. Now this. He still has not let go and moved on.

Hate and rage towards a country and its people? That's disturbing . . . and scary. I think the OP should get counseling from a professional.

There are so many incidents that have hurt and fallen a lot of innocent people of which the root cause were hate and rage. I'm not going into specifics to avoid certain key words. Most of you, if not all, would know what I'm referring to. According to one news article, there are more of these incidents in 2019 in the US than the number of days so far.

Recently, there were two of these, happening within less than 24 hours. 29 people gone. Prior to that, there was an incident at a produce festival. My husband and I had been to that festival twice before moving here.  SH was the saddest for me back in 2012. When I saw it on the news. I could not help but cry because at that time, my son was the same age as those preschoolers.

Move on. If you can't,  get help.

My 2 cents.

@FilAmericanMom what you are writing is particularly timely as the owner of the website 8chan (where all the hate and rage speeches are free to be expressed) is living in the Philippines since 2004. It is on this platform that the perpetrators of the massacres last weekend started talking about their plans....

bigpearl wrote:

Well FilAmMom, I take my hat off to you, Firstly for sharing your story and secondly for the honesties that lay in your return to your country. Is your husband Filipino? If not his reasons for returning if that's not too much of a personal question,,,,,, slap me.

Sounds to me that you have your life and priorities in order and are well grounded unlike many others, well done and prosper.

Cheers, Steve.

Thanks!

My husband is American. He had been living in California all his life prior to moving here.

One of the things I disliked about living here and being married to a foreigner are preconceptions people have on our relationship. At first I was annoyed. Now I'm now used to them. I laugh and joke about them. Yup, I married him for his money, and we have been living off his pension since 2008, because you know, you can get SS retirement benefits in America at age 34.