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Am I crazy? "retiring" at age 28

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ecto88mph
  1/25/2015 16:29 EST

My wife and I have been kicking around the idea of living overseas.
My Wife and I are both 28. She is a Certified massage therapist and I work in the IT industry (currently at a call center). I am a (disabled) US Navy Vet. I recieve $1,480 a month (so this is what our income would be). However my wife would live to contiue to be a massage therapist, and I would like to find something....less stressful. So we do plan on doing some kind of work, in some capacity.

So yeah, what do you think. Could we make it off $1,480 a month? Are their jobs avalable? Any other tips you might suggest. We are going to Cebu City later this year to check it out.

cheftech
  1/25/2015 17:49 EST

I would.

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sherwood
  1/25/2015 18:52 EST

No you are probably not crazy. My son was 21 and moved from Chicago to San Jose. My advise to him would be the same to you. Try it and see if it works out for you. If not come back.
That was 20 years ago and he loves the area. He is semi-retired. Happily married and has two rug rats.
Let me know when you are in Cebu and maybe we can get together.

chance2013
  1/25/2015 21:01 EST

Is your wife Filipina? If not you need visa's if tourist visas it will cost about 52,000 pesos per year for the two of you, but you cant work. Jobs are very very scarce here and what are around are extremely low paid. A retirememt visa is a possibilty but you would need $50,000 to deposit in a bank here and you can't touch it, and that might be $50,000 each, especially if your wife is also a foreigner. You cant own a house and land, you cant have a business, 60% has to be owned by a Philippine national. Do some really good research ask lots of questions, choose very carefully where to live, may look very pretty and peaceful, but is it on the typhoon path, does it flood in the rainy season, are there any NPA rebels near? And many more. I am now seeing more guys living here in terrible conditions because everything went belly up. You could live on $1400 a month but it would be very tight ask more questions first cover all your basis, find out about work permits then the pay of each job you look at. A call centre op in Manila earns about 30,000 peso a month thats about $650 a month. But you have to have a work permit. If your wife is filipina things will be a bit easier but not a lot. Cebu is nice but very crowded a holiday hot spot hereso tends to be a bit pricey. A province will be cheaper by far but then you have to make sacrifices, like good internet connection, power cuts, long trips to a largish town. Fors and against everything as usual.

annsmart
  1/25/2015 21:10 EST

You don't need a 52,000 pesos to have a 13a visa unless you and your wife filed the 13a visa in the Philippines. Have your wife filed a 13a visa in the Philippine consulate here in the US, it's a lot quicker to do it here in the US than in the PH and less hassle of requirements. As long as you demonstrate to the Philippine Consulate that you have monthly pension, that will take care of your financial well being. With your monthly pension, that's a lot already IF you live in a small town or small city. DO NOT LIVE in big city with that amount because that would just eat up most of your expenses. My cousin's husband only have $1,000 monthly pension but yet lives like well off compared to the locals, well of course they live in a small city in which prices are way lower than big cities.

CAteacher
  1/25/2015 21:38 EST

Another important piece to factor in is inflation. Most of our members will agree that your income will provide you a very basic lifestyle in smaller towns and in rural areas. However, few pensions keep up with the pace of inflation, and you but you and your wife have many decades ahead of you. Living on $1400 a month is just enough to squeak by today. Forty years from now, that amount is not likely to buy groceries, and the two of you won't be able to work forever.

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Nephi
  1/25/2015 21:45 EST

Yes, you can live on that amount and quite well depending on the area.

Problem is that retirement at such an early age is going to get boring very quickly.

The Philippine is a great place but is not foreigner friendly when it comes to employment.

A foreigner can not be hired for a job that a Filipino can do.

If you start and own your own company, it must be majority owned by a Philippine citizen. So in the end you own nothing.

I would advise looking elsewhere for an early retirement.

Nephi
  1/25/2015 21:47 EST

Sorry about the spacing on my last post here. Computer or internet did something weird as it was posting I guess...

nucmedtech62
  1/26/2015 05:09 EST

Just a thought. I too am getting disability money from the VA, but I also get a retired pension. My thought is, since you are getting disability from the VA are you at 100% like me? Are you classified by the VA as unemployable? No matter your percentage, if you are classified as unemployable by the VA you should apply for disability from Social Security. This money from them would double your monthly income. Having both would give you plenty to live in the Philipines. Question, have you looked at living in Panama? A lot of pre-set benefits for Americans to move there. Oh, having those disability checks you would not pay taxes or be required to file on both of them. Check into it, it could help you out a lot.

markolewis69
  1/28/2015 08:02 EST

Starting a new career I mean you are only 28 don’t you want to give your wife and kids a little better life than $1480 living in the PI you know?

cheftech
  1/28/2015 08:42 EST

That's his choice. I'm sure he can find anything with his IT background.

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cheftech
  1/28/2015 08:45 EST

Plus, you don not know the extent of his disability.

chance2013
  1/28/2015 10:22 EST

You can only get a 13a visa if your wife is Filipina if your wife is American born as well you cannot get a 13a visa

markolewis69
  1/29/2015 09:55 EST

Well of course it is his choice to make no one else can. This forum is for discussion, advice and opinions. He said he’s kicking around the idea and asking for opinions about the idea. Are you one of the rotten eggs that I hear about in forums like this that lash out on people when they reply to post’s because you don’t value anyone’s opinion but your own?
mark

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