Life Beyond Us ( The Foreigner )

[Old55]

There is one very important thing to consider. Most of us seem to have met the right Filipina and have a loving trusting wife. On the other hand being there are no secrets in any Filipino family or the whole darn town. Knowing that money can be had by the death of a Rich Kano that could put an Expat in a difficult position. Even an honest unknowing wife could be at risk. How do you bequeath or pass on wealth in a manor that safeguards not only you but your wife and children?

 

MikeB is right this is too important to just google. Spending a little money on a pro is the way to go.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Old55

[Jack Peterson]

For those interested. have a look at these sites.

 

Hope they can give some insight.

 

 

 http://www.pnb.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=135&Itemid=219

 

 

http://www.pnb.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=602&Itemid=218

 

 

 

 

:tiphat:

[earthdome]

 

 

Exactly what any loving husband and father duty demands...... supporting his family. Well done Sir!

As an older guy with two boys in school putting in place the investment tools to provide for them and my wonderful wife was not difficult or too much of a burden. We live a modest but full life my only concern is what College costs will be in the future. My time on this earth is only so long. I expect to be gone before my wife so Having a plan is essential.

I reread my post this morning. It sounded somewhat pompous. what I wanted to share is that with a modest income there are simple secure investment tools that can provide after you pass on.

 

 

I didn't think that.

 

"simple secure investment tools"

 

This is my dilemma.   I want to find ways to invest some money on behalf of their future, separate from my tax deferred and taxable investments in the US.  I don't plan on residing in the US ever again at this point.  The US government is now making it very hard to live overseas and invest from overseas.  Fidelity just announce that they will no longer sell mutual funds to US citizens living overseas and they wanted to close my account last year due to my having a Philippines address.  Many other brokers are doing the same.

 

I guess I need to look into investments options in the Philippines that can be done in their name.

 

 

If I needed to move some investments outside of the USA to asia, I would look into using an investment firm in Singapore.

[earthdome]

There is one very important thing to consider. Most of us seem to have met the right Filipina and have a loving trusting wife. On the other hand being there are no secrets in any Filipino family or the whole darn town. Knowing that money can be had by the death of a Rich Kano that could put an Expat in a difficult position. Even an honest unknowing wife could be at risk. How do you bequeath or pass on wealth in a manor that safeguards not only you but your wife and children?

 

MikeB is right this is too important to just google. Spending a little money on a pro is the way to go.

 

Next time I am back in the USA I will be researching setting up some sort of trust for my assets so that they do not have to go through probate and on my death will be managed and provide an adequate monthly income for my spouse and any children. I already spoke to some family members I trust who are willing to act as trustees.

[OnMyWay]

Next time I am back in the USA I will be researching setting up some sort of trust for my assets so that they do not have to go through probate and on my death will be managed and provide an adequate monthly income for my spouse and any children. I already spoke to some family members I trust who are willing to act as trustees.

 

Keep us posted, especially on ways to avoid a non-citizen non-resident beneficiary getting burned with taxes when the trust is dissolved.

[Americano]

The way I understand it is for a wife of a US Citizen to collect his SS Retirement after his death she must be a US Citizen and 62 years old, which means she must live in the US for at least 5 years to gain Citizenship but she must also wait until she is 62 years old to start receiving part of his SS Retirement. Its not complicated, just some requirements that must be met.

 

I have both a SS Retirement and a Government Retirement. She will start receiving the Government Retirement at my death, which is more than 95% of what Filipinos make, so I'm not worried about the SS.

Edited July 5, 2014 by Americano

[MikeB]

A foreign spouse who is a Filipino citizen would need to obtain US citizenship to collect survivor SS benefits. However, there are more then 20 countries that have Social Security reciprocal agreements with the US where US citizenship and the 5 year residency are not required. The Philippines is not one of them.

The surviving spouse, if eligible, can start collecting reduced benefits at 60, not 62.

Of course many things could be changed at some future time, something to consider if the eligibility date is 30 years away. 

 

http://www.ssa.gov/survivorplan/survivorchartred.htm

[Americano]

SSA keeps increasing the eligibility age so it could be 70 years old by the time a young person gets that old or SS could be completely gone buy then due to no funding.

[Old55]

SSA keeps increasing the eligibility age so it could be 70 years old by the time a young person gets that old or SS could be completely gone buy then due to no funding.

What you say may be true all the better to invest and or have life insurance to provide for your family.

[Thomas]

All my Pensions are passable onto Azon, they all have a Widows Pension attachment.[Hopefully, everyone has this attachment to their pensions?] ( if she remarries, well then she will lose them all.)

Fellow Americans please correct me if I am wrong, but I don't the our foreign spouse can get our social security benefit after we pass on, correct?

It's similar in Sweden as USA. We HAD Widow Pensions many years ago - but BECAUSE of equal value for women, Sweden SKIPED it  :)   because the parlament expect women to work outside home.   (I believe it's ONE YEAR support for the spouse, to give time to adjust. Not sure if foreign citizens get that too.)

But underaged KIDS get percentage of the Swedish father's pension (25 % for the first kid, 15 % for the following. I don't know if it's any maximum, I don't plan to have more than 2-4 kids anyway   :)   So, if our static costs aren't to high, my wife can manage of that.

 

So I hesitate if I dare to build the house I want, because I want - not a fancy - but a big one  :)  so it's space inside for activities during rain and storms.   Risky if most of it isn't paid when I pass. But I plan to live until at least 90 - but I can't guarantee it  :)

 

Additional to the Pension, I hope I will have managed to build a profitable company, which my wife and kids can go on earning from by keep it (or sell it.)  I will involve my wife in the company, as assistant in start, then some less, but still part time during kids are small (except when geting new babies) because my gf WANT to get SOME use of her brain to more than raising kids. When kids get older, I plan to involve my wife more and more in leading the company, the more I want to retire   :)   which I plan to do by reduce work hours step by step spread in many years.  Not sure if I ever will manage to let others decide all  :mocking: