How much would you need to retire at 50 to Pattaya?

[jocky king]

Some Party she had "Jockey King" weren't you in LOS for a month or more?

Seven weeks , 11th December to 31 st January . Some party there !!! Oh yeah !!! My next door neighbour called my eldest daughter who lives nearby , about the noise . She kicked all of them out .. Lol. I said to my youngest one , you are coming with me to thailand next time , now I,m regretting it cos she was delighted with my invite . Lol

[overseas516]

Seven weeks , 11th December to 31 st January . Some party there !!! Oh yeah !!! My next door neighbour called my eldest daughter who lives nearby , about the noise . She kicked all of them out .. Lol. I said to my youngest one , you are coming with me to thailand next time , now I,m regretting it cos she was delighted with my invite . Lol

LOL 5555555

[Billy Baht]

Billy

The 'tough going' comment is coming from a two week millionaire.

40000 baht a month does not seem a lot.

Bike,Room,Insurance,Food,Drink,Girls, hobbies, Etc

No problema.

 

I've been a 'Two Week Millionaire' and I've been an expat.

 

Think about it, when you visit for two weeks, you hit the bars every night and bar fine the babes. When you are here for several years straight, the lure of the bars wears off fast. You get girls on speed dial that are happy to stop by for 500 to 1,000 baht.

 

I had a motorcycle and rode all over Thailand, I never felt deprived, but I always had a cash reserve, so if exchange rates went against me I could maintain my lifestyle.

 

A buddy of mine came over and I showed him my room- but it was beneath him. He rented a 25,000 baht/month apartment in Jomtien. He had to have the newest cell phone, liked to ring the bell and only went with stunners. I reckon his cash burn rate was 5 to 7k USD per month.

 

I was taught that you could spend about 4% of your total wealth per year, with reasonable expectation of not out living your money. Another way of stating that is that you need 25 x your annual expenses. so a guy that wants a $40,000 USD annual living budget needs $1 million USD ($40k x 25) invested in the stock market, with a 60/40 allocation between stocks and bonds respectively. I assume a long term average return of about 7%.

 

Interest rates for savings accounts in the USA are less than 1 percent, so a guy needs some exposure to the stock market IMHO.

 

Learn to speak Thai and that will help your money go farther.

 

PS- My buddy that was burning through 5 to 7k monthly went bust and he's back home working again.

 

People back home don't all live on the same budget and its the same in Thailand

[jocky king]

No problema.I've been a 'Two Week Millionaire' and I've been an expat.Think about it, when you visit for two weeks, you hit the bars every night and bar fine the babes. When you are here for several years straight, the lure of the bars wears off fast. You get girls on speed dial that are happy to stop by for 500 to 1,000 baht.I had a motorcycle and rode all over Thailand, I never felt deprived, but I always had a cash reserve, so if exchange rates went against me I could maintain my lifestyle.A buddy of mine came over and I showed him my room- but it was beneath him. He rented a 25,000 baht/month apartment in Jomtien. He had to have the newest cell phone, liked to ring the bell and only went with stunners. I reckon his cash burn rate was 5 to 7k USD per month.I was taught that you could spend about 4% of your total wealth per year, with reasonable expectation of not out living your money. Another way of stating that is that you need 25 x your annual expenses. so a guy that wants a $40,000 USD annual living budget needs $1 million USD ($40k x 25) invested in the stock market, with a 60/40 allocation between stocks and bonds respectively. I assume a long term average return of about 7%.Interest rates for savings accounts in the USA are less than 1 percent, so a guy needs some exposure to the stock market IMHO.Learn to speak Thai and that will help your money go farther.PS- My buddy that was burning through 5 to 7k monthly went bust and he's back home working again.People back home don't all live on the same budget and its the same in Thailand

Thanks for sharing your experience and also about your mate .

[rik696969]

in pattaya budget around 60000 a month...

[Billy Baht]

Thanks for sharing your experience and also about your mate .

My pleasure buddy.

 

My spending is on the low end. Most guys would need about $2,000 USD/month minimum, which would be around 65,000THB.

 

What ever a guy's lifestyle requirements are, keep a reserve, so that if exchange rates go against you, or unforeseen expenses arise, you can maintain your living standard.

 

If I felt I needed a minimum of $2,000 a month, I would actually increase that by one third to $3,000.

 

3k x 12 = 36k/year

 

36k x 25 = $900,000 USD portfolio.

 

Just my 2 satang...

 

PS- Its fun to ride in LOS

 

[westie1]

Thanks for sharing your experience and also about your mate .

 

+1 its great to hear these type of stories.

I'm not a big drinker but I'm a horny fucker, so most of my money goes on women. :-)

[padfoot]

Living in Pattaya for six months is a good idea. That way you are not staying in a hotel, living the tourist life. By staying for six months you have to pay regular bills and do all the regular life stuff. After that you should have a pretty good idea about the cost of living for the style you want to live in.

[Scuba+]

If you wanted to live off the interest and keep the capital intact AND have a very comfortable ex-pat lifestyle in Pattaya, I reckon you'd need 1.5 million Euro in the bank.

 

That would give you 90000 baht a month if rates were 3.5%

what's the point in keeping your capital in tact? you can't take it with you and its questionable whether you should leave it to anyone. I would include some if not all capital in the spending after all you will die eventually.

 

Personally I would work out a budget that would last say 35 years. Then reassess the budget/spending after a few months and keep doing it as required so you won't eventually run out of money.

[chris2004]

Here's a nice round figure US$1,000,000. That would give you a comfortable 30 years of retirement. Any less and you will struggle.

[Garzan]

I transfer over $2500 USD each month from my pension and it's more than enough. The rest of my monthly pension I keep in the US. I just picked the right employer 40 years ago and now I get to reap the benefits of a good decision.

[bigbill340]

I personally think to have a fair level of lifestyle(BFing and drinking a few times a week) and a non luxury lifestyle you would need an income of between 70-100k Baht a month. I think this would be a good level for normal living, I know a friend who supports a family on this and still goes out many nights a week(although no BFing for him)

 

 

 

Bill

[southsidebruce]

So 500k??????? :-)

the other thing that has to be factored in is the exchange rate, and that is outa your control... you could be riding high as the Russians were, and then BAM, all of a sudden your currency is worth half of what it was not that long before... DAMN, YO, DAMN!!!!  that has to hurt BIG TIME!!  

[westie1]

the other thing that has to be factored in is the exchange rate, and that is outa your control... you could be riding high as the Russians were, and then BAM, all of a sudden your currency is worth half of what it was not that long before... DAMN, YO, DAMN!!!!  that has to hurt BIG TIME!!

 

 

So 1,000,000 euro

Fuck it. I'm never retiring to patts :-)

[Sid Levine]

As with all things...it's up to you.

 

I'm looking at retiring (to Thailand) in two years and I'm using a budget of $2,500 dollars per month (75,000 baht).

 

My estimates:

Room -- $500 (15,000 baht) (I've only stayed in hotels, so I don't know how comfortable, safe, or clean a room would be at this price range, but I've talked with expats who say it's a conservative figure)

 

Women -- $500 (15,000 baht) (this is low for a vacation, but I figure when I'm living here I'll probably only fuck 2 or 3 times a week or get a girl to live with me)

 

Food -- $300 (9,000 baht) (basic diet, including street food)

 

Phone/Cable/Internet -- $200 (6,000 baht)

 

Misc -- $1,000 (30,000 baht) (medical, dental, transportation, etc.)

 

We'll see how well it works.....

[Garzan]

Sid. Single family home on the Darkside are readily available in the 8k to 12k range. My 2 bdrm in a walled farang enclave (Holland - Tulip Resort) was 15k furnished and all inclusive except water. 100 Sq meters.

[roger buttmore]

Everybody is different. I've been living here in Pattaya for 3 years now. I don't necessarily consider myself retired but I have no need or Desire to work again. I stopped working just before my 50th birthday and came to SE Asia just after it.

 

My reckoning is:

B25,000 per month

- plus entertainment (girls & drinking).

- plus accommodation.

- plus transport, dependent upon your needs, such as where you choose to stay.

- plus have a decent slush fund in reserve (visas, dentist, internet etc.) and funds for an exit, should you ever need it.

 

 

Some guys are sexually needy, others are not. Some guys drink heavily, others do not. Some guys need farang-style accommodation, others do not.

Both entertainment and accommodation are so subjective and therefor 2 of the biggest variables, only you can truly know what your needs are.

 

The answers to the pluses you should be able to work out by yourself based upon your own experience from previous stays in the country.

 

It is very likely that your costs would initially be higher early in your long-term stay. After a while you learn and refine things and also your holiday-mode is surpassed once you begin living here, not holidaying here.

 

 

If I won the lottery my lifestyle would not change, although I'd probably upgrade my accommodation if I had excessive funds to spare.

[pattayaguy1]

"need"?  Thais can get by on 10k baht a month.  "want" is another story.

[rhodie]

I spent 10 years in Thailand and long term averaged about $1,100 USD/month.

5 in BKK, 3 in Pattaya and 2 in Chiang Mai.

Its doable if you don't live like a two week millionaire

 

Paid 5,000 baht/month for this room on the Dark Side. Even had a nice swimming pool!

__--_-

If it's not too personal, what made you leave after 10 years?

[MayBeLater]

I think 28.000 Baht is enough. Same as my monthly expenses back home.

[jocky king]

I think 28.000 Baht is enough. Same as my monthly expenses back home.

Does that include Condo rent ?

[stanger69]

As scubascuba3 said, why preserve your principal?

I'd factor running that down into the calculations.

Just spending a million alone over 30 yrs with NO interest can be about 2800/mth

No one I want to leave a fortune to.

[loverboy181]

You were living the dream Billy.

Didn't mind your apartment at all. Perhaps a TV upgrade but of course that depends if you watch it or not.

 

Lb

[Justaguy1954]

Topics like this really are the same as asking how deep is a hole. At the same time, answering the question of how much do I need is pretty simple if you can supply some inputs that aren't so simple.

 

1) How much do you want to have available to spend each month?

2) What average rate of return do you get on your investments?

3) How long do you plan to live? (Wouldn't that be a useful piece of information to have)

4) Do you want a residual left at the end?

 

From there it is a simple annuity calculation that anyone can do on a calculator or in a spreadsheet. Notice the question of where isn't asked. because it doesn't matter. Cost of living is the basis of item one, and exchange rates, transfer fees and visa cost if applicable belong there. Fixed income pensions only change the calculations slightly, and don't forget inflation adjustments.

 

People make lots of money doing these calculations for those to lazy to do I themselves, then sell them insurance after scaring them to death. It ain't that hard, if you really know the answers to questions 1 through 4.

[misteregg]

Impossible to answer. You give us no details on your lifestyle, outgoings etc. Ask a serious question and I will try to help