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Many of you have lived in Asia as an expats for many years, some of you are Asian but have migrated to North America or Europe or Australian/NZ for school or work reasons. Do you think retiring in Asia is a good idea? Could you handle it? How about an early retirement and being in your 40's or early 50's and living in Asia without a job. Would you get bored? Do you have concerns about healthcare? If you had kids, do you hear they would be too "localized" and your foreign culture or language hasn't influenced them enough?
Do you feel like your missing out on a different or better more purposeful life back home? Can you realistically see yourself growing old and dying in Asia? China? Taiwan? HK? Vietnam? Korea?
Even if your not Japanese? Can you really be part of the local community in Japan if your a foreigner? (depending on if fitting in with the locals was something your interested in as you age).
Even if your not Japanese? Can you really be part of the local community in Japan if your a foreigner? (depending on if fitting in with the locals was something your interested in as you age).
Probably not, but if I’m old enough to retire I doubt I’d care about fitting in. Japan sounds like a good destination because the infrastructure and the overall environment is ideal for the elderly.
My wife and I plan on spending some of our later years in Asia. She is Chinese, so if nothing changes on their immigration policies, I have good access to a visa through marriage. I'm guessing retirement visas are difficult in Japan and S Korea unless one is married to a local. SE Asia is probably the best bet. China is difficult too if your spouse is not Chinese. China will not give work visas to those over 60 and tourist visas only last 6 months per year on a 10 years visa. I know nothing about Taiwan visas.
Japan's old people will soon face more serious problems if the economy does not improve greatly, the birth rate declines, the ratio of old people in the whole population increases and the labor force decreases.
Taiwan may become similar to Japan if people are not moving to Taiwan.
Money and a lot of skilled workers are needed to take care of the old.
Northern Europe and other developed countries with less worries on money and labor supply will surely be better than Japan for the old people.
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Originally Posted by Greysholic
Japan is fantastic for retirement, if you are fluent in Japanese.
Forget about China for retirement. Helps from the government for the old people don't really exist. There is no universal healthcare in China and dishonest medical charges are common. Costs of living in China are increasing a lot. In Japan and S Korea, there are poor old people and the number is increasing in Japan. In the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia etc, old people are very poor and can't afford healthcare if they don't have jobs or their children are poor or they don't have children supporting them, the only good thing is cheap.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattks
My wife and I plan on spending some of our later years in Asia. She is Chinese, so if nothing changes on their immigration policies, I have good access to a visa through marriage. I'm guessing retirement visas are difficult in Japan and S Korea unless one is married to a local. SE Asia is probably the best bet. China is difficult too if your spouse is not Chinese. China will not give work visas to those over 60 and tourist visas only last 6 months per year on a 10 years visa. I know nothing about Taiwan visas.
Japan's old people will soon face more serious problems if the economy does not improve greatly, the birth rate declines, the ratio of old people in the whole population increases and the labor force decreases.
Taiwan may become similar to Japan if people are not moving to Taiwan.
Money and a lot of skilled workers are needed to take care of the old.
Northern Europe and other developed countries with less worries on money and labor supply will surely be better than Japan for the old people.
Forget about China for retirement. Helps from the government for the old people don't really exist. There is no universal healthcare in China and dishonest medical charges are common. Costs of living in China are increasing a lot. In Japan and S Korea, there are poor old people and the number is increasing in Japan. In the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia etc, old people are very poor and can't afford healthcare if they don't have jobs or their children are poor or they don't have children supporting them, the only good thing is cheap.
Medical costs in China are still very low and I've personally had good experiences. Most expats looking to retire overseas should have SS, pensions, and/or savings. As a US retiree, we can get SS sent to anywhere in the world. The only benefit I can think of in China is free buses for those over 60.
Most Latin American countries have excellent retirement visas for expats giving foreigners all the benefits of locals, well it varies country to country. Perhaps some SE Asian country has something similar.
Yes it is low compared to the US, but unnecessary procedures and medicines due to widespread dishonest practices are common. If you are from the US, you probably don't trust the things and people in China. Lots of China bashing in the US, frankly speaking some are true, some are not true. And most Americans don't trust Chinese medicine. It is common to use both Western and Chinese medicine equally in China. The typical American don't believe and don't understand how it works. Chinese have these medicine concepts in their cultures for thousand of years and you should not argue with it. The Vietnamese and Korean also have traditional medicine similar to TCM.
Buses are cheap in China. If it is expensive, China does not provide them free of charge. Recently, free toilet papers can be seen in some Chinese cities. Public toilets were charged at RMB 1 or cheaper, some people sell toilet papers nearby too, ask some older people and they can tell you.
China is going to overtake Mexico, Brazil, Russia and Malaysia soon in GDP per capita. By then, it will be higher than all Southeast Asian countries except Singapore and Brunei. Rents and prices of housing in some Chinese cities are more expensive than the US, rivalling some parts of Hong Kong. You can expect costs of living to be higher than these countries later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mattks
Medical costs in China are still very low and I've personally had good experiences. Most expats looking to retire overseas should have SS, pensions, and/or savings. As a US retiree, we can get SS sent to anywhere in the world. The only benefit I can think of in China is free buses for those over 60.
Most Latin American countries have excellent retirement visas for expats giving foreigners all the benefits of locals, well it varies country to country. Perhaps some SE Asian country has something similar.
Problem with Asian countries are they're not exactly immigration friendly. Unless one has family or ancestral ties in those countries, it is unclear how one gets to be a permanent resident or eventually a citizen. By comparison, there are a number of Latin American, Caribbean or Southern European countries where one can get a visa or sometimes citizenship by just buying real estate or investing in that country. Or there are some visas where you can legally be a resident and just live off one's savings or pension, although not allowed to work in that country. It's not exactly well-documented in Asian countries what are the immigration options available, especially for retirees.
I would've liked to consider retiring in Taiwan, although not sure what options there are. I don't exactly like to work there right now, and without planting seeds earlier, not sure if one can still get in at a later time.
Japan is nice, but due to its cost of living and its aging population, I doubt if the government will encourage foreign retirees to go there. Japan, along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea are also too expensive to qualify as a retirement destination. Why would one want to live in a coffin-sized apartment unless one has no other choice?
I'll never consider retiring in China. Their own citizens are also moving out in droves, if they can afford it. I have an American friend (of HK Chinese ethnic background who can speak fluent Mandarin) whose wife (also HK Chinese) was diagnosed as having appendicitis in Shanghai while visiting there. However, they decided to take a flight to HK rather than had it operated in Shanghai. In the HK hospital, it was found that she merely had food poisoning. They had travel medical insurance, so the doctor in China just wanted to give her an appendectomy and collect from the insurance, despite her not even having appendicitis!
Well. I know several folks who have retired in the Philippines. Mostly retired military. Twenty years in and out in their late 40's with a small pension that goes a long way in that part of the world. Some of them have 20 something girlfriends or wives. Just abut everyone speaks and writes English and most of the country is safe with the exception of Mindanao.
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