Why Americans Are Not Retiring In Philippines

[OnMyWay]

In the few years that i have lived here there are very few American couples (not of Philippine descent) living here .... a few missionaries couples but not any others that I have seen .... and there are lots of reasons why .... not just the visa issue that everyone keeps harping on ..... it doesn't take to long to look around you to figure out why an elderly man and his wife would not or could not live here ..... what are your static figures pointing to as far as single males vs. married males with their wives ..... dropping the visa or other requirements with out drastically changing the infrastructure of the Philippines is NOT going to bring elderly people here in droves ..... a poster above it it right on the head when he said the proximity to the US is Mexico's biggest advantage ..... not a 24 hour trip by plane ..... I also did a study of Thailand before I moved here and although there are a ton of foreign males visiting there or moving there to meet their future wives I found very little evidence of married couples moving there except for holiday ......Having lived in Florida for 40 some years I can tell you with out a doubt that the Philippines will not ever be the destination of thousands of retired COUPLES ...... first and foremost there is NO handicapped facilities of any kind ... just as a starter and secondly I listened to their bitching and complaints about living conditions when the came to Florida for 3 months and how much better it was up north as compared to living down south in the provinces ...... just wait until they visit the REAL provinces here in the Philippines ...... I would give anything to be a mouse in the corner on the plane ride back to hear their tales about their adventures in paradise ......But I admire your tenacity ..... everyone should have a dream and something to strive for ......

Good points Mike! Let's talk reality here. Phils is a great place for a single guy to come to find a wonderful woman to settle down with, and I think the numbers show that many of those come after failed relationships, long or short, in their home country. I just can't see how the couples retirement market would ever materialize. No matter how much marketing is done, any wife who does her research is probably not going to want to move to a place where there are millions of beautiful younger women looking for a good man! Too much competition! The exception to this would probably be when one or both of the retiree couple is a Filipino.

[JJReyes]

Having lived in Florida for 40 some years I can tell you with out a doubt that the Philippines will not ever be the destination of thousands of retired COUPLES ......

Mike S makes a valid point. After the first six months of research, I came to the same conclusion about independent living seniors. No interest by couples in relocating to the Philippines during their retirement years.There are three stages of retirement, "Go-Go," "Slow-Go," and "No-Go." Most of us are prepared for the first stage. We try to live within our retirement income and keep some money in reserve. While the Department of Health & Human Services report that 70% of us will at some point require some form of assisted living, we are not prepared. How many of us have long term care insurance? If you have it, there is a monthly ceiling and a maximum lifetime limit. Even the insurance industry did not expect the rapid increase in costs. Medicare does not pay for custodial care. Many states are changing the rules for Medicaid. If you are indigent, Medicaid in some states will pay for caregiver services, but not room and board. Count the number of elderly homeless living on the street. 30% of Americans in the lower end of the ladder are in deep trouble. They are either at the poverty level, low income or have insuffiicient savings to retire. The upper 20% are doctors, lawyers, accountants, corporate executives, university professors, and the wealthy. Their annual retirement income is $150,000 and up. The middle 50% are okay, provided they never require assisted living or institutional care in a nursing home.True. It is only a theory at this point. I believe the retirement market for the Philippines is "Slow-Go" and "No-Go." In the United States, an untrained caregiver is paid $7.50 per hour for live-in services (clean, cook, drive, do laundry, assist you use the toilet). A trained caregiver will want $10 to $15 an hour. Can you afford the added costs ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 per month? Nursing homes now start at $60,000 a year. Major complaint is the residents die early because of malnutrition and dehydration. The nurse cannot attend to multiple patients at the same time.It will be a simple message. A couple is comfortably retired in the United States at $5,000 per month. If you need one, can they afford to pay an additional $2,500 for an untrained live-in caregiver? For the same $5,000 a month, I can get both of them a nice condo or a home in a gated community in the Philippines plus a live-in medical nurse and domestic helper to do the laundry, cooking and household chores.My conclusion, after participating with this forum for several month, is this group are the lucky ones. You already have access to the professional caregivers should you ever need it. I read that during the 2008 economic collapse, the Philippines deployed overseas 6,000 nurses. That same year, the nursing schools graduated over 90,000 nursing students. Edited April 2, 2012 by JJR

[FlyAway]

Many just cannot stomach the idea of being on a plane for 14 plus hours. Those with prior military backgrounds or with ties to the Philippines would consider it I would think.I am always seeing articles about best foreign places for retiree's. Philippines is never on the list. They break down all the various costs. Those articles online show up about every 2 or 3 months.

[Jake]

Well done JJR!I took the liberty of researching the first summit held in Makati last year. I'm impressed with the international community of trying to kick start government policies to assist the Silver Market. The quotation below is the mandate of the International Chambers of Commerce Retirement and Healthcare Coalition, Inc:An event supported by the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA), the 1st Philippine Retirement & Healthcare Summit 2011 is set to push and promote the country to retirees worldwide, and enable investors to provide a community of services capable of servicing the Silver Market. The event will convene key players in the Philippine Retirement & Healthcare Industry along with the government, international & local organizations, foreign embassies and major stakeholders to:

• Present business opportunities in key growth areas of the retirement sector;
• Provide a platform where participants can share their thoughts and best practices;
• Create alliances and strengthen the synergy and collaboration among the hospitality, healthcare and retirement industries;
• Escalate the level of awareness and urgency in addressing a “tectonic” change in managing retirement and other programs or the 21st century and beyond;
• Arrange for a Hosted Buyer Program specific to the Silver market needs;
• Develop a high-level & pro-active roadmap for the Philippines to create a comprehensive retirement program and provide a retirement haven with managed-care center of excellence for the international retirees or “baby boomers”

I'm very curious what actions were implemented from the 1st summit? Will the secretaries of both the Dept of Tourism and Bureau of Immigration attend the next summit? I really don't see any major speed bumps in totally implementing your proposal(s), which I might add was business like and professional. I think it's a win-win situation with excellent return of investment. But I have this nagging feeling about why the Philippine government is dragging their feet on this. Any further comments......Respectfully -- Jake

[Call me bubba]

:th_thbestpost:dropping the visa or other requirements without drastically changing the infrastructure of the Philippines is NOT going to bring elderly people here in droves .....a poster above it it right on the head when he said the proximity to the US is Mexico's biggest advantage ..... not a 24 hour trip by plane .....I also did a study of Thailand before I moved here and although there are a ton of foreign males visiting there or moving there to meet their future wives I found very little evidence of married couples moving there except for holiday ......Having lived in Florida for 40 some years I can tell you with out a doubt that the Philippines will not ever be the destination of thousands of retired COUPLES ......first and foremost there is NO handicapped facilities of any kind ... just as a starter and secondly I listened to their bitching and complaints about living conditions when the came to Florida for 3 months and how much better it was up north as compared to living down south in the provinces ......just wait until they visit the :no: REAL provinces here in the Philippines ...

:cheersty: your post HIT IT right on TARGET,we cant change these things as its NOT our countryBUT if they did improve it to at least a 2nd world infrastructure than currently the "arrivals" and Positive Publicity would recoup this investment in the long term,yet the mentally(government programs) is not focused on long term I myself not sure if its even focused on any TRUE short term goals

[MikeB]

dropping the visa or other requirements with out drastically changing the infrastructure of the Philippines is NOT going to bring elderly people here in droves

Advertising and visas. I took a bus today from Argao to Carcar and back, should be about 30 minutes each way. Every bus was standing room, maybe Holy Week, but couldn't they plan and put more buses during peak times. Finally got an "off name" ancient bus to stop but got off after 5 minutes because the driver appeared to be either on drugs or insane. Had a strange "faraway" look. Took a jeepney the rest of the way, crowded but not that bad. When I finally got to Carcar the one ATM in the Gaisano "mall" was out of money. Went to the grocey store, wala this wala that, as usual. Tried to use my debit card to purchase groceries as I have many times because the ATM was not working, that also not working so used up what little cash I had left to buy groceries. Going back I had 3 and 4 rotating chicharon salesmen screaming the entire time and had to crawl over them and a huge sack of "something" that was in the middle of the aisle, blocking the exit to get off the damn bus. Oppressively hot, humid, and packed. Older people visiting here from the west are going to get a taste of the real life and go running back in droves to Fl, Az, or Mexico. They will have some funny stories to tell their friends though.

[JJReyes]

Many just cannot stomach the idea of being on a plane for 14 plus hours. Those with prior military backgrounds or with ties to the Philippines would consider it I would think.

I agree. What the Philippines business community wants is one million retirees by 2030. Since the demographic projection is one billion global retirees by 2030, you need only one-in-one thousand.

I took the liberty of researching the first summit held in Makati last year. I'm impressed with the international community of trying to kick start government policies to assist the Silver Market.

Visit the website www.philippineretirementsummit.com for Information about the second one. My original request was to refund the P4,300 registration fee. It has been modified. Instead, an old friend, a Vietnam era U.S. Marine Corp. Force Reconnaissance who resides in Philippines has agreed to be my representative on this project. I will try to bring him up to speed so he can participate in the policy discussions.

BUT if they did improve it to at least a 2nd world infrastructure than currently the "arrivals" and Positive Publicity would recoup this investment in the long term, yet the mentally(government programs) is not focused on long term I myself not sure if its even focused on any TRUE short term goals

President Aquino is a smart man. He knows the limitations of the government bureaucracy. International retirement is now a private sector initiative. The first and second summit conferences are one way to coordinate policy. My understanding is the summit was rescheduled because the government side is not ready. I am only guessing, but it appears they are clustering the retirement communities South of Metro Manila in Laguna, Batangas and Cavite. Santa Rosa seems to be the main hub with the Ayala group purchasing more than 1,500 hectares; the Henry Sy group buying around 600 hectares; and the Gokongwei group another 500 hectares. Guess who won the bid to construct and extend the South Expressway Highway? The Ayala Corp. They actually overpaid for the rights, but Ayala does not care. They will redirect the right of way to go across their property. The Asian Hospital, a world class facility is nearby. They have finished three additonal smaller hospitals. I only saw South Luzon Hospital and Clinic. From the airport, retirees will see very little of the Metro Manila pollution and poverty from their air conditioned buses. My personal preference is to sell Cebu as the retirement destination. You can create a positive brand image around the word, "Cebu." But the government wants to promote "Philippines," which already has a negative image of poverty and corruption.

Older people visiting here from the west are going to get a taste of the real life and go running back in droves to Fl, Az, or Mexico. They will have some funny stories to tell their friends though.

My wife and I are planning a two weeks road trip visiting continuing care retirement communities in California, Nevada and Arizona. I suspect the Philippine tycoons are planning something similar. Once you enter gated CCRC resorts, you are in a different world. There are impoverished communities in all three states except my wife and I won't see them from the freeway between CCRC resorts. Edited April 2, 2012 by JJR

[Tukaram (Tim)]

In my opinion, to make an informed decision requires a stay of more than two or three weeks.

Which is exactly why I plan on making a non-informed decision and retire there anyway! (prior military, love Asia, I'll be fine)

The only reason it is still on the plate for me is that I thought I had read that the SRRV would allow an unmarried retiree to bring in household goods (as in a whole container, not BB boxes) as duty free. However, I can't find anything official on that. Do you know where I might find more information on that aspect?

3. Exemptions from: • Income tax over your pension and annuities; • Exit and re-entry permits of the Bureau of Immigration; • Annual registration requirement of the Bureau of Immigration; --> • Customs Duties and Taxes with regard to the importation of household goods and personal effects up to US$7,000.00; • Travel tax, if you stay in the Philippines is less than one year from the last entry date; and • I-CardList of benefits:http://www.pra.gov.p...ogram2/2?page=1Honestly I just don't see anyplace in Asia really being a major US retirement location without a lot of work by the country in question. South America has some fairly cheap locations, is a lot closer to home, and the culture (or perceived culture) is a lot more similar to westerners expectations. Also you have to remember that in all of Asia everyone is atheistic Buddhist dog-eaters. (perceived culture?) And a lot of the South American locations don't have much better infrastructure than PI so I don't think that is the whole problem either.And quite frankly it was my whore mongering that got me to love Asia. And only then did I realize that I could quit the mongering and still love to live over there. If they came up with enough tourists (advertising?) then the demand for an extended visa would take care of itself. Until the PI's sees a need for a longer visa they probably won't bother with it. How many tourist are asking for a longer stay visa?

[OnMyWay]

3. Exemptions from: • Income tax over your pension and annuities; • Exit and re-entry permits of the Bureau of Immigration; • Annual registration requirement of the Bureau of Immigration; --> • Customs Duties and Taxes with regard to the importation of household goods and personal effects up to US$7,000.00; • Travel tax, if you stay in the Philippines is less than one year from the last entry date; and • I-Card List of benefits: http://www.pra.gov.p...ogram2/2?page=1

Thanks for the link, Tuka! For some reason I could not find that yesterday. :cheersty:

[Jim Sibbick]

The 21 or 30 day thinking is flawed.Do these other countries allow you to stay continuously as a tourist for 2 years without leaving?The Philippines does.The Philippines also offers retirement visas so you never have to leave.What will it matter what the free period is if you are planning to retire in another country?Regards: Jim