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Old 11-02-2018, 03:08 PM
 
Location: Miraflores
813 posts, read 1,128,297 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by American Expat View Post
I've known plenty of men that retired to Thailand and love it. I have 1 friend that retired there because he lost his job and had a pension of about $1200/mo....now he's getting his pension plus SS but is not sure if he can afford to move back to the USA with his Thai wife and kids on that income. I've also seen some Western expats that blew their money on girls and alcohol in Thailand and without a social safety net, now they're screwed...so for some it's great, others okay, others it's horrible.


For the record, if I wasn't married, I would probably retire early in Thailand....it's a great place for some and probably would be for me.
Hopefully, he knows that his kids and possibly his Wife also qualify for Social Security?
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Old 11-02-2018, 03:40 PM
 
50,096 posts, read 35,741,641 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alpineprince View Post
Hopefully, he knows that his kids and possibly his Wife also qualify for Social Security?

Why would a child even if a citizen, be eligible for SS while still a child, unless he is disabled? As for the wife, she needs to be over 65, while if they still have a minor child, I highly doubt she is.
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Old 11-02-2018, 04:41 PM
 
Location: SoCal
20,160 posts, read 12,650,485 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
Why would a child even if a citizen, be eligible for SS while still a child, unless he is disabled? As for the wife, she needs to be over 65, while if they still have a minor child, I highly doubt she is.
It’s called the Viagra benefits. Father who is old enough on SS, with children under 18/19, full time student, gets SS income.
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Old 11-02-2018, 05:31 PM
 
50,096 posts, read 35,741,641 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NewbieHere View Post
It’s called the Viagra benefits. Father who is old enough on SS, with children under 18/19, full time student, gets SS income.
Wow, that’s some BS right there, no wonder we’re broke.
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Old 11-02-2018, 05:34 PM
 
12 posts, read 14,131 times
Reputation: 16
We love Thailand and we are retired in the Carolina's. We are thinking going to a Chang Mai which is beautiful and we can live very well and get top rate medical care much cheaper. We have our SS checks and my guess is that it is cheaper to get a policy for my husband and I than we pay for medicare part B, Part D and two supplements. The only thing stopping us is Dengue Fever. It is endemic to Thailand and we are not excited to be wearing Deet or Picardin everyday.
We have had many friends who have gotten Dengue and it is a horrible mosquito borne virus to get. It is also steaming in the summer to melt a door knob. We hate the cold, but boiling temps is not great either in the summer.

We are now looking into Australia around Sydney or in Queensland and we think they will take retired Americas if they have assets in their retirement portfolio. If anyone has info on OZ would much appreciate it!
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Old 11-02-2018, 07:15 PM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,484,790 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
What are you taking such issue with? I never said it’s better to retire in Thailand. I said it was more affordable and that’s a fact. I don’t care about those under 65, that’s not the topic.
I disagree with your assertion that healthcare is as good in Thailand as in the United States. They have very good healthcare, but you won't find any serious medical care rankings that put them on par with USA.

I disagree with your assertion that the only people retiring to Thailand are folks with some savings but not enough to afford Medicare supplemental insurance. I personally know many living in Thailand that would find that pretty amusing.


Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
I’m not just going by articles, we have several posters on these forums who are ex pats.
I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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Old 11-02-2018, 07:30 PM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,484,790 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ohio_peasant View Post
By my reckoning, the main reason for retiring abroad isn’t to reduce one’s cost of living, but to improve one’s quality of life.
This, and there are some people who just like the vibe and way of living in other places. Many people confine their way of thinking regarding where to live to just USA, but if one can get outside that mindset and evaluate the world for what it has to offer it greatly expands the ability to realize what you're looking for, and it doesn't have to be about the cost.

Thais have a "live and let live" attitude that my wife and I find attractive. We like warm weather. We like seeing the monks walking around in the morning receiving alms from shops and residences, then seeing them in turn giving it to homeless folks. We love the food, IMO Thailand has the best food in the world and my freezer is always full of curries I've bought in baggies from the aunties in the neighborhood. There are things we miss about other places we've lived, and we'll be back to 'em since we're pretty transient these days.
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Old 11-02-2018, 07:43 PM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,484,790 times
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and further regarding Thailand...



View from the balcony of our place. The hills around the city can be misty like this in the mornings, it burns off later.





Monks making their morning rounds. The lady in that house will come out with her dogs and put food in the monks' bowls, then kneel on some cardboard while they chant a blessing for her. It's a nice thing to see in the morning when I'm outside drinking coffee.

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Old 11-02-2018, 08:46 PM
 
50,096 posts, read 35,741,641 times
Reputation: 76065
Quote:
Originally Posted by lieqiang View Post
I disagree with your assertion that healthcare is as good in Thailand as in the United States. They have very good healthcare, but you won't find any serious medical care rankings that put them on par with USA.

I disagree with your assertion that the only people retiring to Thailand are folks with some savings but not enough to afford Medicare supplemental insurance. I personally know many living in Thailand that would find that pretty amusing.



I live in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
I never said it was as good, I said it doesn’t matter how good it is if you don’t have access to the best care, which is the case for a good chunk of the population, and many may be able to afford better care there than they can here. I said a top cancer doc there is probably better than a mediocre one here that you’re seeing only because he’s the only one in your plan accepting new patients.

I also never said only people trying to find a lower COL retire to Thailand and other lower. COL countries, I said primarily those are the folks that do because they can live a better retirement on their income there. Supplemental insurance was used as an example of the expense of retirement here.

Last edited by ocnjgirl; 11-02-2018 at 09:09 PM..
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Old 11-03-2018, 12:58 AM
 
Location: Spain
12,722 posts, read 7,484,790 times
Reputation: 22628
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
I never said it was as good, I said it doesn’t matter how good it is if you don’t have access to the best care, which is the case for a good chunk of the population, and many may be able to afford better care there than they can here.
This doesn't make sense given statistics on five year survival rates. If a good chunk of the population couldn't get this good care it would be reflected, instead what we have is an actual representation of survival rates across USA which would include these people you are saying can't get the better care.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl View Post
I also never said only people trying to find a lower COL retire to Thailand and other lower. COL countries, I said primarily those are the folks that do because they can live a better retirement on their income there. Supplemental insurance was used as an example of the expense of retirement here.
This is what you said: "Yes but it’s not wealthy retirees moving there. It’s couples who have savings and income but not enough to afford $800 a month for their supplemental policies."

To me that is a statement implying people who retire to Thailand are not wealthy, but rather cannot afford $800/month for insurance in USA and are thus forced to retire there. I must be interpreting it incorrectly.

Last edited by lieqiang; 11-03-2018 at 01:43 AM..
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