Getting ready to retire

[warrior64]

Hi guys and girls ,my wife and I are from Brisbane Australia and after many years in the military,we are ready to start our new adventures .
We will both be 53 when we decide to get out of the rat race and have realy thought hard about moving to the philippines .
As I will be on a military pension and should be on around $60,000 per year,what would this annual income be like to retire there ?
We only want to rent in a gated area and basicly use it as a base for our travels . My wife is a nurse so maybe she could do some part time work ?
As for areas to live ,what would be the safest weatherwise ( Cyclones etc) and not too far from a beach .

We look forward to any tips ''

Michael & Connie

[Lee2]

Hi guys and girls ,my wife and I are from Brisbane Australia and after many years in the military,we are ready to start our new adventures .
We will both be 53 when we decide to get out of the rat race and have realy thought hard about moving to the philippines .
As I will be on a military pension and should be on around $60,000 per year,what would this annual income be like to retire there ?
We only want to rent in a gated area and basicly use it as a base for our travels . My wife is a nurse so maybe she could do some part time work ?
As for areas to live ,what would be the safest weatherwise ( Cyclones etc) and not too far from a beach .

We look forward to any tips ''

Michael & Connie

Welcome to the forum Michael and Connie. IMO 60k should be more than enough to live in most places....Weather wise, I do not know all the areas of the Philippines, so I am sure others will chime in but I do know that so far Cebu City general area and surrounding areas have not gotten a direct hit by typhoons that I have known of,they usually go quite a bit north of the city. Another thing to keep in mind might be areas prone to earthquakes.

[JoeLP]

As Mr. Lee has mentioned, $60K is more than enough to live in most areas and probably able to do so comfortably.  As to the other requirements you asked for...good luck.  You want a gated community.  Basically, your asking for, more or less, a metro area.  So Cebu City, Manila, Angeles City, Baguio City, and such. 

Manila you risk floods.  Not floods that will hurt your home most likely, just floods that could knock out your power for a week or so after a typhoon hits.  Cebu City has seemed to avoid the Typhoons.  I'm in Samar just east of Cebu Island(the north end)  and the typhoons that have hit(3 now in almost 3 years) either Leyte or Samar have all missed Cebu City by staying to the north end of Cebu Island.  How long will that luck last? 

Also, a nice sized quake hit on Bohol, south of Cebu.  Basically, what I'm trying to say is between floods, quakes, terrorists, and so on, not sure how many real safe places there are.  Maybe south of Manila in one of the Laguna cities there is an escape from the Manila flooding and all yet still good gated communities. 

Best of luck to you.

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

Welcome Michael & Connie,
Are your and your wife's annual pension USD or AUD?
Here's a comparison, but should be more than enough
to live on here in the Philippines with your combined income.
"Rich Millionaires" by Philippine Standards, but not in our own home country! 

1.00 USD = 46.4407 PHP
60,000 USD a year = 5,000 USD a mo = 232,300 PHP a mo = 2,787,600 PHP a year


1.00 AUD = 35.2207 PHP
60,000 AUD a year = 5,000 AUD a mo = 176,200 PHP a mo = 2,114,400 PHP a year

[bigrod]

Welcome.  I live in Cavite Prov. south of Manila which has many gated subdivisions.  Look up Dasmarinas, General Trias and Tagaytay for housing I live in General Trias but would recommend Tagaytay for the cooler weather because of the elevation.  S&R Store is located in Cavite in Imus, Laguna in Nuvali and Alabang just south of NCR.  They carry Aus/NZ meats and dairy products.

Chuck

[Big Jim]

Aud $5000 per month! It is way more than I need. Although I am sure that if I did have aud $5000 per month to spend that I would find ways to spend it.

My base expenses when i was living on leyte was about aud $500 per month at the time. About aud $600 per month now. That was for 5 people. Living 2.5km from the beach and about 1km to the cafes by the sea.

Cebu City has been mentioned. I used to live there and have otherwise been visiting regularly since 1994. For me to live comfortably in a gated community in Cebu City in a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house, with live in housemaid, my best guess is I would need about P80,000 per month. About aud $2300 per month. That would cover rent, food, electric, gas for cooking, phone, internet, cable TV, eating out a few times a week, socialising with friends every day and having a massage..... EVERY DAY.

Not that I would live in a house in a gated community. My personal retirement plan is to live permanently in a family room in the Cebu Century Hotel, A hotel I used to live in and have been staying in regularly since 1995.  Until I find a Filipina I can trust, anyway.

[Big Jim]

I couldn't post this last night. Here is my reply now.

There is no absolute safe area. You have to contend with typhoons, volcanos, earthquakes and tsunamis.

We were wiped out by typhoon Yolanda (haiyan) at the end of 2013. That was the strongest typhoon, cyclone or hurricane ever recorded. All the clothes were hung up in one bedroom drying. When the roof went, all the clothes went. Every electrical item was damaged. Mattresses, lounge suite etc all stuffed. The fridge was blown over but when it was stood up and plugged in 4 months later, when the power was restored, it was still working. Yolanda just didn't take out Leyte, it took out the top end of the island of Cebu as it passed over.

You can get multiple typhoon info by Googling.

There are many active volcanos in the Philippines. Here is a list
http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57:active-volcanoes&catid=55&Itemid=114

Here are the volcanos that are causing concern at the moment
http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=70&Itemid=500008


There are earthquakes every day. The 3 and 4 on the richter scale earthquakes in Australia that are large enough to make the national news would not even rate a mention in the Philippines. You can see todays earthquakes. There is a 4.1 a 4.2 and a 4.6, just for today.
http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/html/update_SOEPD/EQLatest.html

When I was living permanently in Cebu City, I would feel an earthquake in my 3rd floor accommodation about once a month.

Here is an historical map of tsunamis
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y96mflMWTxA/TYMOYr9KjqI/AAAAAAAACl8/XF_ox6fIpBQ/s640/Tsunami+prone+areas+philippines.jpg

Does this mean all Filipinos worry about volcanos, earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons every day. Not at all. There is a great dis interest. It certainly doesn't bother me either.

If you want a beach lifestyle with nearby facilities, I should think that Panglao Island Bohol, would be a good choice. At the most, you are 30 minutes drive from Tagbilaran City for shopping malls and supermarkets. Such as what is found in the, I think, 7 storey high BQ Mall. And for the big city items, it is about 2 hours by fast ferry from Tagbilaran Bohol to Cebu City with more than 10 fast ferry trips each day from Tagbilaran City to Cebu City. Here is one fast ferry company that does that trip.
http://www.oceanjet.net/ 

Cebu City has the 8th, 24th and 83rd largest shopping malls in the world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_shopping_malls_in_the_world

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

My base expenses when i was living on Leyte was about aud $500 per month at the time. About aud $600 per month now. That was for 5 people. Living 2.5km from the beach and about 1km to the cafes by the sea.

"My hat's off to you" Big Jim for 5 people being able to live on only $600 AUD a month, but then again that's in the province of Leyte near the beach and living like the locals do!
It doesn't surprise me how you can live that cheap, because I've seen and read some of your websites, blogs and videos on YouTube. You are a resourceful kind of guy and I no longer wonder how you can live on only $600 AUD a month.
That truly breaks the record books as to how to live cheap in the Philippines on $600 AUD a month, but it still amazes me when in it's in USD, which is only $454.64 a month, that's already half of our monthly grocery expenses where we live, but we do live in an expensive area which makes a big difference!
Anyway Jim, good luck and best wishes in the future.   

[attymariandupalag]

Here is my honest to goodness advice:

1. Do not rush on buying any property. You can rent and try several cities before you decide where you want to live permanently.
2. Avoid the Manila. I spent many years in US and when I transitioned back in Philippines , my lungs can barely survive the Manila pollution.
   Not until that the authority here can resolve the smoke belching problem, I will not recommend the Manila area for retirement.
3. I am from Dasmarinas Cavite. The city has no taxi system. Most of the area outside the Metro Manila has no taxi system, and even Uber is not yet available. I stay here because I work here. If I have some transactions in Manila, I have to endure the heavy traffic.  I would like to give a fair advice to anyone planning to retire in the Philippines  as part of my advocacy.
4.  I love the weather in Tagaytay. It is also not polluted like Manila. However, the city has an impending water crisis. You can google it up.
5. There is the Global City in Makati which caters so many expats , but the air quality is not so good.
6. Of all the city that I have assessed and studied, if I were to retire now I will pick Cebu.  It is a small city where major hospitals are located. Efficient taxi and they have Uber now. A gateway to other small islands. You can check it out.
7. There are other ideal city to retire, so my advice is to try them first.

[Art, just a re(tired) Fil-Am]

Michael & Connie,
I don't know much about Australia's retirement, but here's a link concerning Australia's old age pension, which is too lengthy to post on here: http://www.ozexpats.com/content/australian-pension-overseas
The Australian Age Pension can be paid overseas permanently, with some estimates suggesting that more than 60,000 Australians are currently receiving their Age pension overseas. However, the rules in this area are both complicated and unclear in certain areas - particularly for current expatriates - and it is suggested you seek advice from both Centrelink and financial advisors regarding your entitlements. Much depends upon the detail of your situation.

My wife is a dual citizen and I recently obtained my "Expanded SRRVisa"(IMHO is a lot easier to process than a 13a Visa) and we have now been retired and living in the Philippines going on 19 years now and plan to stay here indefinite, since we live in a nice, clean, quiet and safe gated subdivision in the suburbs of Sta Rosa, Laguna near Nuvali (30 mins away from Tagaytay), which Nuvali (owned and developed by the Ayala Corp aka AVIDA) now has a new Ayala Mall and an S&R among many other establishments nearby just within a 1/2 mile radius. No taxis here! Best to buy a good decent vehicle or ride the local passenger trikes, which are not allowed into most subdivisions, just outside the entry gates.

Have you also considered which permanent resident visa you will obtain to stay in the Philippines indefinite? For starters, is your wife already a dual citizen? For yourself, there's the "Balikbayan Program" which I'm sure you both used in the past, the 13a permanent resident visa and the "Expanded SRRVisa" for those who served in the military, retired or not with only a $1,500 bank security deposit, $1,400 application fee and $10 a year annual report (optional once every 3 yrs, including SRRV I.D. renewal). Here's the link for the 2015 SRRV Guide, which is still current: http://tinyurl.com/jf6hygb

Anyway, good luck and best wishes on your retirement in the Philippines.

[Jimmy]

Tagaytay or Silang Cavite. just before Tagaytay hill going up to Tagaytay..Lots of very nice Gated sub there ...then if you like the Beach just go down a bit to Nasugbu, Batangas nice Beaches there. Silang sub that is very good ,,,heres an example I hope posting this link to them is ok?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_i1l051kM8

ok the vedeo not to good its mostly a sales Pitch but it does show a very nice place.