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Old 10-28-2018, 07:23 PM
 
2,737 posts, read 5,436,188 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
Ruh? I thought there were still health insurance policies with pre-existing exclusions in the United States.



https://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about...ons/index.html
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Old 10-28-2018, 07:37 PM
 
Location: Flyover Country
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
odanny it's a lot easier to be social these days because the internet makes it possible to discover groups or activities that suit you. In Chiang Mai there are all kinds of organizations that do everything from meet for lunch to chat, hiking in the hills around the city, investment clubs, foodie stuff, board games, etc. There is also volunteer stuff like helping get soi dogs sterilized, treated, and adopted.

My wife often goes to some over-40s expat ladies group that meets in some park where they walk then get coffee, I call it the menopause club which irritates her. I attend a language exchange every Saturday where I get to speak Chinese with folks from China but lots of people there just speak English and enjoy helping others practice while learning new things about other cultures and making friends.

There are modern malls, good movie theaters with same movies as in US played in English with Thai subtitles, and in a big benefit over Latin America endless streets, alleys, and markets to explore on foot without worry about security issues.
That's also great information, thanks for sharing it!

My plan is to get a job as an ESL teacher in Thailand, I enjoy doing it here in the states, and I want to do something that I enjoy doing for a living, for a change. Of course, at my age such a move makes little, if any, financial sense, but I have saved my pennies and, if I have to live "cheap", it will only be for a couple of years before my employer pension kicks in. I'd be traveling over there with an existing nest egg, just in case.

Where I presently live is a cultural wasteland. Most people I know around here have little, or no, curiosity about other cultures, and culturally speaking, there is little diversity. I look forward to learning about new cultures, but I know I'll have to meet ex-pats from the states over there, or I'll get homesick pretty fast.
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Old 10-28-2018, 09:57 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
There are washed up older dudes who spend a lot of their time/livers/money at bars in Thailand because low-budget local chicks hang around trying to pick them up and score a husband. It's actually sad to see, these dudes ending up with some middle-aged woman with a 5th grade education and very little in common.
You don’t need to go to Thailand to get a middle aged woman with a 5th grade education.
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Old 10-28-2018, 10:55 PM
 
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Whenever hear the word "Thailand" cannot stop thinking about that song "One Night in Bangkok" with that catchy sentence "I get my kicks above the waistline Sunshine".


Was still rather young and naïve about Thailand. Only reference points until then were my aunt's Siamese cats and that musical "The King and I". Would be a few years later until someone schooled me (a friend's father who had retired from the British forces) just what many westerners head to Thailand for, well at least the men.
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Old 10-29-2018, 03:28 AM
 
Location: Cebu, Philippines
5,869 posts, read 4,175,618 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Wave View Post
The fly in the ointment for retiring abroad for most Americans would be..... HEALTH INSURANCE.

By the time many people are in their 50s, they have at least a pre-existing condition or two which would make qualifying for international health insurance very difficult.

Medicare also won't cover you if you live overseas.

So what happens if you get cancer or have a heart attack abroad without insurance? You're in deep doo-doo.
I had a stroke in the Philippines. Full self-pay for medical care was less than my co-pay would have been in US under medicare. I pay $15 an hour for professional in-home therapy. I recover at home under the watchful and loving eye of my wife and her sister, who dont have to have full time jobs to pay for their own health insurance.
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Old 10-29-2018, 11:07 AM
 
Location: equator
11,022 posts, read 6,560,358 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
Ruh? I thought there were still health insurance policies with pre-existing exclusions in the United States.
Sure, in the U.S. Which is not "more evolved" as per the health care arena.
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Old 10-29-2018, 11:33 AM
 
50,311 posts, read 35,948,319 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
Ruh? I thought there were still health insurance policies with pre-existing exclusions in the United States.
No that part of Obamacare is still standing, at least for the time being. A lot of Repubs want it dead though, so go vote next week.
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Old 10-29-2018, 01:42 PM
 
Location: Honolulu, HI
24,362 posts, read 9,225,045 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hefe View Post
I actually considered Thailand for retirement for a while before nixing the idea. It does have several advantages for folks with a limited budget & an adventurous nature. First & foremost is financial - someone with only $1K monthly income can live a very acceptable & fine altho modest life. Someone with more money can roughly multiply 3X their net worth once they move there & live quite well in a modern tolerant nation that is a hub for regional travel.

There are pretty large Western expat centers in at least Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin & each has their own character much as The Villages, Las Vegas, Tucson & the Ozarks are reasonable financially but different "cultures" for retirees. The health care is mostly first rate, American trained board certified physicians in the cities, but they typically are cash. The costs are so low though that I have heard of guys having heart surgery, cash first, for less than it would cost in the US with coverage. One can also get international insurance.

The sex tourism is a thing but old dudes with only SS will have to find a real partner soon unless they want to go broke quick, some "older" & uneducated country women (probably with a kid or two) hook up with them for security that is probably impossible to find elsewhere. I think they figure they will outlive the old duffer & have his money for their old age. (I understand the real sex tourism is actually along the border towns by highways with truckers mostly from China.)

There is some tiny percentage of dead-enders that just drink themselves to death or homelessness... some have "accidents" from high-rise condos. But most are fine. I found Hua Hin & Chiang Mai to be hospitable for couples & even single women & lots of younger people are flocking to Chiang Mai in recent years.

I finally decided that hot & humid isn't my first choice & financially things are OK for elsewhere.
Good informed post and it’s clear you’ve been there and/or did your research

Having made multiple trips there, I agree, the humidity can be unbearable at times.
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Old 10-29-2018, 01:59 PM
 
Location: Mount Airy, Maryland
16,147 posts, read 10,284,780 times
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I actually admire people who do this. I visited Thailand as a teen when my dad was living in Malaysia. I can agree the country is beautiful, the people are friendly and the food is tremendous. I do not recall the weather being any different than the summers here in Maryland. I remember we only had AC in the bedroom, the house had giant open doorways with no screens as apparently bugs were not a problem which sounds kind of weird to me.

It's also on the other side of the world and that means saying goodbye to most everything and everyone you know. Takes a lot of courage to make that leap.

As for the health care sure it's inexpensive but this is not like dental work in Mexico. Retirement means aging bodies and that means health care and there is not a chance the health care in Thailand can compare to what is available in the United States.
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Old 10-29-2018, 02:00 PM
 
1,444 posts, read 753,978 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
No that part of Obamacare is still standing, at least for the time being. A lot of Repubs want it dead though, so go vote next week.
Republicans do not want to get rid of pre existing conditions.
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