How much do you need to live in philippines ?

[gregpinton]

Do American employers pay a small amount of money into mandatory Superannuation plans for its workers like what we have here.

If you work in Australia, every employee must contribute a set amount into your Superannuation plan, the amount they pay is determined on how much your salary/wage is, and in my Wife's case, she has worked in the same job here in Australia since 1992 and has accumulated au$200,000 in Super, if she works another 10 years she would get around au$350,000

Our full rate of Aged Pension is $690 per person for a couple = $1380 per fortnight, and for a single person on their own it is $916 per fortnight.

My medically retired pension rate is the same rate as a partner in a retired couple, which is $690 per fortnight, but i usually only get between $150 and $300 because my wife still works, and my payment is means tested depending on her gross income each fortnight, however if we split up, i would then get the full single person pension payment of $916, plus i still get my free medical/dental, and i would also get a rental assistance payment if i have to rent a property to live in.

If i was getting a pension of $916 per fortnight (P35,000) and living in the Philippines, i think i could live quite well.

We also have a wonderful Medicare system here where by every person who earns a taxable income/wage will have 1.5% of their wage put into our Medicare system, which means that if you go to a doctor and pay say $80 for the visit, you get nearly half that back from Medicare, we get free emergency treatment and surgery at public hospitals, and we get most of our pharmaceuticals discounted by up to 90% as well.

We don't have employer funded pensions, so you can work for a company for however many years and if you decide to quit work to retire, you cannot get the Aged Pension until you are 67, so you are required to live off your Superannuation until you reach age 67, and then when you do reach 67, your Aged Pension payment that you will receive from the government will then be means tested against how much money you have at hand, in the bank, investments, superannuation etc, as well as the value of your home if it is valued over $500,000.

 
 

[bigrod]

Greg,

We have multiple pension options in the USA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement_plans_in_the_United_States

Then there is also military retirement pay which is normally after a minimum of 20 years for active duty.  They receive 50% of the base pay at 20 years service and goes up 2.5% per year after 20 years.  I retired in Oct 88 at 40 years old and 22 years service and got 55% of my base pay which increases with the yearly COLA so that has more than doubled in the last 30 years.

Social Security can be started at age 62 at about 75% of the full SS rate you would get at full retirement age.  SS is based on the high 30 years of income and I think the maximum for high wage earners is about $2700 a month.

Chuck

[Kurt]

Lee has hit the nail on the head. You will get ALL the answers you require and then you can plan your retirement with confidence. All the best, Kurt

[David690]

As many have said, it depends on so many factors.

If it helps, I can share a general guide of our monthly expenses

1  Rent, zero as we own our own home
2  Electricity, 5-6000
3  Water 400
4  Food and household expenses 25,000
5  Alcohol 15,000
6  Medicines 6,000
7  Medical insurance 15,600
8  Diesel and petrol 4,000
9  Vehicle maintenance 1,000
10 Vehicle insurance 3,000
11 Vehicle depreciation 20,000 (hadn't realised it was so much until I calculated it at 10% pa)
12 House maintenance 1,000
13 Entertainment 8,000
14 PLDT 2,450
15 Wife allowance for herself and family 10,000
16 House cleaner 4,000
17 Gardener  1,400
18 Air tickets annually to UK 8,000 for wife and I

There are no doubt some items I've not included, clothes, boat maintenance, cigars etc., but apart from those, I think I'm up to about P130K per month. 
Others may well be different, dependant on lifestyle, location etc.  So simple answer to OP question, no I couldn't live on £800 per month.
Anyone that has children and having to pay schooling, college etc, will be needing more obviously.

[gregpinton]

@ David690 ...... P130k per month

You obviously have a fairly decent source of income given your estimated monthly living costs, or have you and your partner got a business there to support your expenses.

If i was to live in Palawan right now, i would have no source of income to live off as my wife would still be working back home, and i wouldn't qualify for any pension because of that, so without any business or investment properties i would have to rely on the Wife, and that would be out of the question, at least for the next 4 years at least, and to be brutally honest, i don't think i could be bothered living in the Philippines unless we had some kind of business (tourism is my passion) that i could be involved with, and also have a couple of investment properties that earn us income as well, because the whole point of living in the Philippines, for me at least, is to be able to invest some of our spare cash into a business and a couple of investment properties so that we can make a good enough income for us to live off (plus some extra)

[David690]

@ David690 ...... P130k per month

You obviously have a fairly decent source of income given your estimated monthly living costs, or have you and your partner got a business there to support your expenses.

If i was to live in Palawan right now, i would have no source of income to live off as my wife would still be working back home, and i wouldn't qualify for any pension because of that, so without any business or investment properties i would have to rely on the Wife, and that would be out of the question, at least for the next 4 years at least, and to be brutally honest, i don't think i could be bothered living in the Philippines unless we had some kind of business (tourism is my passion) that i could be involved with, and also have a couple of investment properties that earn us income as well, because the whole point of living in the Philippines, for me at least, is to be able to invest some of our spare cash into a business and a couple of investment properties so that we can make a good enough income for us to live off (plus some extra)

My only source of direct income is my UK OAP, which covers about 30% of my expenses.
I have only been retired here for 1 year, so still finding my feet.
We have bought my wife a few farm lots close to her family home in Visayas, but that will only ever provide pocket money for her, but the long term benefit will be useful in terms of capital appreciation in the future.
I also took out a couple of long term investments for her, for her future, but they are already paid for and don't figure in my monthly expenses.
We have a nice home on a subdivision which is also a golf course, plus we have bought a beach lot for recreational use, but who knows, maybe like you, I will build one or two cottages for a small income.
I appreciate that my expenses may not reflect those of many who have retired here, but to be honest, I don't see how I can cut back on them.
I could give up my medical insurance with PPP, very risky I think at my age.
I could give up my truck and her car, but that would impact severely on our life style.
Boating is my passion, so my boat is a must have.
Alcohol may seem high, but in reality it's not a lot.  A single bottle of half decent wine in the evening is P500, a couple of G&T's a night with a shot of JD after dinner is not unreasonable, so don't see how I can economise there.
Trips back to the UK, I can't control ticket prices, but I'm always on the look out for special deals.
Believe me, I would love to be able to live on P50K a month, but don't see how that's possible.

I have financially backed a couple of land subdivision projects  here, which gives me a decent return of about 5% a month, but of course, that comes with a risk factor that some will not be happy with.  But there is no point in bank deposits at less than 2% a year, way less than inflation, so some risk is required if you want to get a decent return.
At the end of the day, I live a decent, but not extravagant lifestyle, which I feel is my right after a life of working and putting others first.

I wish you well in your venture, who knows, we may come and stay at your resort one day.

[forextrader]

If I would be able to afford it (successful forex trader), is it possible to live in a hotel permanently, and rent a cheap studio apartment to have a permanent address if someone asks? I make about $10k per month. USD not peso.