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Why Retire in
the Philippines?
The Philippines is a wonderful place to retire for many reasons.
First is the Filipinos themselves, different from ones you may know in
the your country who have adopted western culture and western values
at least superficially. The true Filipino is a joy to be around,
once you understand a little about the culture and values of these
island, tribal people, and their extended family system.
See the link to Philippine Culture on the left for a pretty full
explanation of the Filipino Culture and the click on the Resource link
and download a free book, "The Filipino Mind," a brilliant free
book by Leonardo Mercado a Filipino cultural anthropologist, or maybe
better said a bi-cultural Filipino anthropologist.
Also the link to the
left,
Living in the Philippines Books Stores,
will show you a book you can buy from Amazon called Culture Shock,
Philippines, almost indispensable. The Insight Guide to the
Philippines is there too. It is a winner! Join the List,
do your homework, ask questions and I believe you are going to come
take a look. And when you go back, if you do, you will
want to return and maybe even live or retire here, or maybe just
travel. You might be bold enough to start a business. Or
you can forget the list, forget the reading and just come over like
I did, roll with the punches and have a wonderful time! When I
did it there was no list of expats to advise, no Internet, few
books and bad information from Filipinos in the States who were very
unhappy here and rather than encourage me to visit the Philippines,
told me, "Don't go der!" Some Filipinos don't make the best
ambassadors for their country they could, since the have bought into
the way of the host country they have adopted. But most still
long to be here in their hearts, from what I see. And the ones
who return are happy to be here. Most just go for the money.
Smart ones get it and come back, in my opinion.
Of course there are the more tangible things. You
can have inexpensive, loyal, honest maids, helpers and nurses
for only small wages, and they live in. You will have to search
for a good one, but they are available. The people here
respect older people and they are honored and appreciated for their
knowledge.
Retiring in the
Philippines is the light of my life, and I have had a good one. I
don't need the nurses yet, but I certainly find the maids, helpers
and cooks a great asset. I don't have to go and pay my bills, do any
chores, not even go to the bank, because I have honest people to
help me.
There are so many things to do doing your retirement here, (See the links, you
can access from Things to Do, on the left) from golf to just sitting in the
modern shopping malls and parks, watching the lovely people go by with their
delightful smiles, warm and from the inside. And they will make eye contact with
you, stop and talk, if they speak pretty good English and even if they don't,
many times.
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Retire Early While You Are Still Alive!
For many reasons, more and more people are retiring at an early age, some
because they find out, they can, in other countries, in comparative luxury. The
growing trend for the retirement is also based on the fact that people are
enticed to retire early than continue working and wait until they reach their
retirement age of 65.
In fact, most of the surveys conducted in the United States asserted that 60 to
65% of the respondents would dearly love to retire early. But they just don't
know how to swing it. They evidently do not know about the Philippines where it
"can be,": and in class. There are many benefits that people can derive when
they retire early despite some of the negative financial consequences some
experience like I did.
Here is a list of some of the reasons why retiring early can be a pretty risky
activity, certainly in a costly country.. If you retire in a low cost country,
were your language is spoken, English for most reading this, the list below is
not so daunting.
1. Social Security Changes:
When people will retire at an early age, there is a great possibility that they
cannot immediately obtain their Social Security benefits. This is because
according to the rules and regulations of Social Security, anyone who is born
after 1938 will have to wait longer than their retirement age of 65 before they
can get their benefits.
Hence, early retirement may only contribute to a negative upshot if the older
people’s finances where not managed properly and the only thing they expect to
help them are the Social Security benefits they can get. Social Security is just
not enough for the States. In the Philippines it "can be" pwede .
2. If people who took early retirement get sick, they
cannot acquire some Medicare benefits.
This is because the age when people can get their Medicare benefits is when they
already turn 65. Hence, if they are hospitalized and they have already filed for
their early retirement, they have to obtain the necessary amount of money in
order to cover the expenses in the hospital without Medicare. If you are in the
Philippines where a visit to a specialist is $3.00, unless you have a serious
illness you may be able to get by very well. Everyone can be financially injured
by serious medical bills, but more likely in a developed country than here.
3. Penalty charges apply to those who retired early and
had withdrawn their IRAs early.
For people who would like to retire at an early age and wish to obtain their
IRAs, they have to face a hefty 10% penalty charge.
Moreover, experts contend that the nest egg of people who wish to retire early
is only 80% of what they should be getting when they retire at the age of 65.
The bottom line is that early retirement is, indeed, a personal choice and
preference of an individual but one must consider the factors that may affect
their life in the end. Some like me feel early retirement in the Philippines is
a really good deal, a new and better life too. But I had visited several times,
been an international traveler and found the spot I wanted. Others should come
over first and check it out.. No country for everyone. You need to be a little
flexible and culturally adaptable to change culture, have tolerance, rejoice in
the differences not fight them.
What
are You Waiting for? Do it Now, Tomorrow never comes.
Alan Watts, The Book.
For unless one is able to live fully in the present, the
future is a hoax. There is no point whatever in making
plans for a future which you will never be able to enjoy.
When your plans mature, you will still be living for some
other future beyond. You will never, never be able to sit
back with full contentment and say, "Now, I've arrived!"
Your entire education has deprived you of this capacity
because it was preparing you for the future, instead of
showing you how to be alive now.
In other words, you have been hypnotized or conditioned by
an educational processing-system arranged in grades or
steps, supposedly leading to some ultimate Success. First
nursery school or kindergarten, then the grades or forms
of elementary school, preparing you for the great moment
of secondary school! But then more steps, up and up to the
coveted goal of the university. Here, if you are clever,
you can stay on indefinitely by getting into graduate
school and becoming a permanent student. Otherwise, you
are headed step by step for the great Outside World of
family-raising, business, and profession. Yet graduation
day is a very temporary fulfillment, for with your first
sales-promotion meeting you are back in the same old
system, being urged to make that quota (and if you do,
they'll give you a higher quota) and so progress up the
ladder to sales manager, vice-president, and, at last,
president of your own show (about forty to forty-five
years old). In the meantime, the insurance and investment
people have been interesting you in plans for
Retirement-that really ultimate goal of being able to sit
back and enjoy the fruits of all your labors. But when
that day comes, your anxieties and exertions will have
left you with a weak heart, false teeth, prostate trouble,
sexual impotence, fuzzy eyesight, and a vile digestion.
All this might have been wonderful if, at every stage, you
had been able to play it as a game, finding your work as
fascinating as poker, chess, or fishing. But for most of
us the day is divided into work-time and playtime, the
work consisting largely of tasks which others pay us to do
because they are abysmally uninteresting.
We therefore work, not for the work's sake, but for
money-and money is supposed to get us what we really want
in our hours of leisure and play. In the United States
even poor people have lots of money compared with the
wretched and skinny millions of India, Africa, and China,
while our middle and upper classes (or should we say
"income groups"?) are as prosperous as princes. Yet, by
and large, they have but slight taste for pleasure. Money
alone cannot buy pleasure, though it can help. For
enjoyment is an art and a skill for which we have little
talent or energy.
What Money Cannot Buy
Money can buy a
bed, but it cannot buy sleep.
Money can
buy books but it cannot by brains.
Money can buy
food but not appetite.
Money can buy
finery, but not beauty.
Money can buy a
house but not a home.
Money can buy
medicine, but not health.
Money can buy
luxuries, but not culture.
Money can buy
amusement, but not happiness.
Money can buy
companions but not friends.
.Money can buy
flattery, but not respect.
If you buy the above can you buy what you have may be enough. Maybe you
have a 10 bedroom house now. How many beds do you sleep in? How many
cars do you have, and do you have time to drive them all. Or are you too
busy making more' money for the future that never comes.
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