How To Make A Budget For Living In Ph

[Snappo]

Background:  I presently live in NY and am saving towards retirement.  In USA,  I figure you need about $1M USD to retire. I worked for a short time in PH back in 2010 and thought it seemed like a nice place to retire to.  I figure I need to find a place to live that has moderate temperatures and access to good medical care as I get older.  I prefer a more rural lifestyle as compared to a big city.  Any guidance as to places to consider would be appreciated,  and here is what I figured a budget would look like (though I have no idea what things cost in PH.  Also,  I am unsure how much money is needed in a bank to allow for the below items.  In USA you are lucky to get 5% on your money.   So it seems to me to retire on 100K PHP a month (1.2M PHP a year) you might need like 30 million PHP to retire.  Sadly I think I will be lucky to come to PH with a third of that,  and I have no idea if USA will send Social Security to PH when I reach age 62.   If anyone could put some numbers to the below items and tell me if I am missing important items,  I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Rent

Renters insurance

Credit Card payments

Utilities: Electricity, water, garbage removal

Cell phone and house phone

Internet and television

Health insurance and medical co-pays

Pharmacy

Food out and Food at home

Car, car insurance, gasoline, and repairs

Visa and other costs to stay in the country

Christmas presents,  clothing, Furniture, electonics, etc.

 

[Lou49]

"Moderate temperature" could be found in a place like Baguio. It is roughly 20 degrees Celsius all year round and good medical care is available there. It is a nice, clean, green little city.

[earthdome]

There are a number of message threads regarding what it costs to live in the Philippines. There are many variables. You could live very comfortably on 100k php/month. Many live on much less.

 

I agree, Baguio is a nice compromise between the big metro areas and rural. Baguio has the best cardiac care center on all of Luzon outside of metro Manila. As Lou mentioned it has a very moderate climate and beautiful weather for 9 months out of the year and heavy rain 3 months during monsoon season.

 

Philippine bank accounts are only insured up to approximately $10,000 USD, interest rates are better than in the US. I only keep what spending money I need in the Philippines and keep all my retirement investments in multiple US financial institutions and diversified.

 

Keep a US bank account and have your SS deposited there. Open a USD and peso account at a Philippine bank then just write a check on your US bank and deposit in your Philippine bank USD account once a month to cover your living expenses. I use BPI, great service to this point and I can do much of my banking online including transferring money from my USD account to the peso account. BPI gives you a pretty decent foreign exchange rate.

 

Electricity costs 50% more, living in Baguio reduces that cost considerably since you don't need air conditioning.

Electronic devices like TV's, computers, cell phones all cost much more. Cell phone and cable TV service costs less.

 

I had a car and drove my entire adult life. I have been in the Philippines over 8 months now and am surprised how little I miss having a car. For example in Baguio, a city of 300,000 has 8,000 taxis. Most taxi rides in Baguio cost 40-80 pesos. Bus rides between cities is inexpensive, it costs around 450 pesos to take the bus from Manila to Baguio, a 7 hour trip. If you have some trip in mind where a car would be much more convenient you can always rent a car or car and driver for the day or weekend. Renting a car and driver for the day can cost 2,500 to 3,000 pesos.

 

Anything that is labor intensive costs a great deal less. For example you can get a haircut for 40-80 pesos. A visit to a cardiologist here in Baguio cost me only 300 pesos. Health care and dental costs will be much less. Getting your teeth cleaned costs 400-800 pesos depending on location and the dentist. One very important thing to know is that you have to pay cash for all these health related services and if you have insurance get reimbursed later. So you must have enough cash available so you can pay enough to at least start treatment if a major medical issue arises. Prescription drugs cost much more.

[Old55]

"I figure I need to find a place to live that has moderate temperatures and access to good medical care as I get older."

Lou is correct there are only a few places featuring enough altitude to provide a moderate temperature.

Philippines is somewhat backward as far as world class medical care goes. There are fairly good hospitals in Manila, Cebu City and perhaps one or two other large cities.

With a budget of ~33K Peso a month living a simple spartan rural life style would be workable. Some expat members live well on 33K Pesos but a budget is not one size fits all.

There are many topics to do with budget and costs in Philippines via the search function.

[robert k]

Snappo, the US G will send your SS to a US bank direct deposit and you can draw it out, using the RP account as mentioned above by just writing a check to be deposited. ATM's work wonders also but there are fees that can make them less than attractive. I would deposit the check weeks in advance of need and keep a few months living expenses on hand at any given time. A credit card for emergencies would help also.

 

As has been mentioned above there is no one size fits all budget. I had been pondering how much one needs to retire, enough to be unassailable, to have enough for any contingency whatsoever and the answer is never retire because there is no such thing as an amount of money you can't spend. But where's the fun in that? :)

[SubicSteve]

My advice........Move to N.C. or S.C. or Georgia.  There are 3 things here that are cheaper than back home.....Beer, women and labor.  Everything else COSTS MORE and you get less. I could go on but I won't.

 

SubicSteve(formerly from NY, living in Subic, eventually moving to N.C. or S.C. or Georgia)

[JJReyes]

I have no idea if USA will send Social Security to PH when I reach age 62.  

 

Social Security Benefits can be sent to any country except Cuba and North Korea. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has agreements with Central Banks all over the world. There are no fees charged to send the money. The local bank makes money in the foreign exchange when you withdraw in pesos or they may charge a fee if you withdraw in US dollar currency (greenbacks).  

 

SubicSteve is correct. Keep looking at the other options. My recommendation is, unless you have $1,500 a month, forget about the Philippines. Preferably it should be $2,000 for a moderately comfortable lifestyle. Depending on your total retirement income, you might receive social welfare benefits and Medicaid by remaining in the United States. Choose a state that has very generous benefits and hope they don't go bankrupt during your lifetime. 

[Lou49]

JJ is right, I need $2000 usd per month to be comfortable renting, and 3,000 per month to have a really good time.

[i am bob]

Let's not get into the "You need because I need $ XXXX to just survive" argument here, ok?

 

We have members who need more money to survive than most of us made while working and I mean much more than some have just mentioned...

 

And we have a few members who live on less than $800 a month and are not only doing well but have made me very jealous of parts of their lifestyle!

 

What you have to live on is exactly that - what you have to live on!  Just remember - if the amount is not very high, it will not be easy to try and find employment in the Philippines.  So what you have in your pocket is most likely going to be all you will have in your pocket.  Fully retired.  Or you can always set up some form of income if you'd like that can be operated remotely.  Some people get published or self-publish books, others have online retail operations, some sell illegal DVD copies of "Dancing With The Stars"...  You get the picture - some are making money and some aren't.  But regardless - if you do set up another income source for yourself, the bottom line is still "You need what you need". 

[JJReyes]

Let's not get into the "You need because I need $ XXXX to just survive" argument here, ok?

 

My concern for Snappo is the Philippines does not offer a social net for those who fail to survive on $ XXXX. At least in the United States you have state agencies and charitable organizations who can help once you learn the "poverty & welfare" game. The federal poverty line is $11,490 for one person, $15,282 for two persons. Hawaii is higher at $13,230 for one person and $17,596 for two persons. Oh no!  My wife and I are above the poverty line. Sorry. No free medical, no housing subsidies, no food stamps, no welfare checks. I could also request hot meals delivered to my home from the Meals on Wheels program. 

 

I prefer the Malaysian government MM2H (Malaysia My Second Home) retirement visa program. You need to prove a retirement income of nearly $3,500 a month a couple or make a substantial deposit in a local bank to qualify. They don't want retirees who would later become dependents of the state. 

Edited August 26, 2013 by JJReyes