Living Off The Power Grid

[Bruce]

Bruce, I am not sure about the numbers, but I was told these nurses, due to experience, seniority and moving up to supervisory positions means they are earning in the $60,000 to $85,000 range as they reach retirement age. Their Social Security benefits will probably be closer to $2,000 a month. New immigrants have a reputation for saving and I am sure the hospitals that employed them offered either a defined benefit or defined contribution pension. In addition, if they had purchased a home with a 30 years mortgage, they can net $125,000 to $250,000 from the sale. Home prices are recovering except for certain pockets like Las Vegas.

 

The key is to FIND them. Unless there is a specialized mailing list for Philippines nurses the same way you can buy a list for dentists (only) in certain locations or there is a widely used news letter targeted to those nurses, you may not be able to reach them to tell them and sell them your project. While you can buy a mailing list for nurses, I am not sure there are more narrow lists of just Philippine nurses. Also, I would expect those returning retired nurses to live in an area where they grew up and now have a much older, but still familiar base of old friends and relatives in that area.

 

While you have an idea that  may work, I think you will sit on a lot of that property for years the same way the big land companies sit on their condos for years looking for a buyer.

 

From a psychological point of view, I think that because you are retiring, you are looking for a 'project' to occupy your time so you do not end up with nothing to do but put the dog on a schedule and your life revolves around waiting for that next dog walk. So..... not that you asked or anything... until you get adjusted to the differences in working and not working, perhaps simply volunteer your time in an organization which will allow you to use your business back ground without risking any of your own money.

 

Since you are sympathetic to the poor / squatter's situation, you might be able to do something in a local area of the Philippines where you act as an independent (non financial) resource to the local government looking for plans to relocate the squatters and can develop raw land into a small but functioning barangay to move the squatters to, freeing up that more valuable land for development by the government officials who secretly own the land. Small budgets of course, but lots of manpower. Sort of a build-to-own project under the government's Urban Poor program.

 

In any case... protect your money and find a way to occupy your time.   

[JJReyes]

The key is to FIND them. Unless there is a specialized mailing list for Philippines nurses the same way you can buy a list for dentists (only) in certain locations or there is a widely used news letter targeted to those nurses, you may not be able to reach them to tell them and sell them your project. While you can buy a mailing list for nurses, I am not sure there are more narrow lists of just Philippine nurses. Also, I would expect those returning retired nurses to live in an area where they grew up and now have a much older, but still familiar base of old friends and relatives in that area.

 

One of the property owners has a leadership role in a US based association of Philippine nurses. She has a mailing list. There are actually several Philippine nursing associations. Studies show that Fil-Ams won't return to the area where they grew up. All their relatives, friends and strangers will beg for money constantly. Their preference is a gated community with some degree of privacy to keep away the beggars, I mean the relatives. The project is not exclusively for retiring nurses. It is one of several niche markets. Everyone is welcome. The property is actually small. The competitors have 50 hectares or more.

 

 

 

While you have an idea that  may work, I think you will sit on a lot of that property for years the same way the big land companies sit on their condos for years looking for a buyer.

 

The reason for all those subdivisions and gated communities sprouting everywhere is because real estate is a hot market triggered by OFWs,  Fil-Ams and increasing prosperity in the Philippines. The problem is the lots or condos are sold and they remain empty because the occupants won't be arriving from overseas for many years. In our situation, while waiting for the owners, the land will be productive by growing organic produce. The property owner has a choice to either sell through a cooperative retail like a farmers' market or give away the produce to a charity for distribution to poor families. 

 

 

 

From a psychological point of view, I think that because you are retiring, you are looking for a 'project' to occupy your time so you do not end up with nothing to do but put the dog on a schedule and your life revolves around waiting for that next dog walk. So..... not that you asked or anything... until you get adjusted to the differences in working and not working, perhaps simply volunteer your time in an organization which will allow you to use your business back ground without risking any of your own money.

 

Guilty! My wife already knows what to do when we retire from the businesses next year. She is a certified yoga and meditation teacher and her plans include volunteer work with seniors. I am looking for projects to occupy my time in a meaningful way. So why not in the Philippines? I have been looking into it since September 2011. 

 

 

 

Since you are sympathetic to the poor / squatter's situation, you might be able to do something in a local area of the Philippines where you act as an independent (non financial) resource to the local government looking for plans to relocate the squatters and can develop raw land into a small but functioning barangay to move the squatters to, freeing up that more valuable land for development by the government officials who secretly own the land. Small budgets of course, but lots of manpower. Sort of a build-to-own project under the government's Urban Poor program.

 

This is another project involving bamboo farming in the poorest provinces. The Japan government will provide both the technical and financial assistance except they want to work with a private sector group rather than local government units because of accountability issues. The project requires more time to work out the details. It is large so my preference is to have someone else take the lead role. Planting and harvesting bamboo is labor intensive. An expert in bamboo treatment, using an environmentally friendly process, will relocate  to the Philippines next year to start teaching the technology. Manufacturing high value products from bamboo is also labor intensive. For our group, the end product is quality bamboo bungalows that termites won't eat, flexes during earthquakes and they can withstand 160 kph typhoon winds. The roof is not grass, nipa or anahaw leaves since these materials are highly flammable. It is artificial thatch roofing that won't burst into flames, won't attract rats and snakes, and guaranteed for 20 years. The carbon credits will be sold to polluting Japanese corporations. 

 

During a Philippine-Japan conference in Davao City last month, one of the presentations involved the building of bamboo desks and chairs for schools. The P250 million initial contract went to a company in Abra. The company could not fulfill the contract due to a lack of bamboo. The Japan government had provided the funding. 

 

My wife and I know several retirees in our complex. They just sit in the park benches doing nothing. They are just waiting to die! I don't want that. 

Edited July 10, 2013 by JJReyes