An Australian boomer retired in Thailand on an $18,000 annual pension

[reader]

From Business Insider

John Walker's studio apartment in Chiang Mai, Thailand isn't much bigger than a hotel room, but it has everything he needs: air conditioning, basic kitchen appliances, and proximity to his favorite Mexican restaurant — all for less than $200 a month in rent.

The 73-year-old moved to Thailand from Western Australia in 2019. A lifelong traveler, Walker liked the idea of living somewhere new, and was drawn to Chiang Mai's beautiful temples and mild climate when he first traveled there in the early 2010s.

Walker now lives off his roughly $18,000 annual pension (AU$28,000), according to bank statements reviewed by Business Insider. And, because his expenses in Chiang Mai are so low, Walker said he is able to save about 40% of his income.

Continues at

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/an-australian-boomer-retired-in-thailand-on-an-18-000-annual-pension-he-saves-almost-half-his-income-and-can-still-travel-the-world/ar-AA1oMoue

[Riobard]

Interesting. Hats off to him and his possible celibacy. He could make a living streamlining budgets.

He may move to Spain and should remain in a low tax bracket. I like Spain a lot and could be happy there.

I question the COL transferability from Chiang Mai to Majorca. I hope he likes dented tins of sardines. He may need to pirate internet access. 

A lot of decision-making comes down to income taxation tiers. I pay a very high proportion of income in tax, almost the highest across Canadian provinces. 

I was startled by the additional dollars I would pay in Spain even with reciprocal tax treaty. What are those thousands of dollars going to get me there?  It amounts to the equivalent of cost for a few travel visits annually.

I would still want to travel abroad out of Spain. Additionally, I can afford to travel to Spain once monthly if desired but other locations beckon.

It comes down to contentment quotient where you already live and your baseline resources. Grass is greener may be a gateway dependency. Obviously, it’s not about me. Boom.

 

[Keithambrose]

9 hours ago, reader said:

From Business Insider

John Walker's studio apartment in Chiang Mai, Thailand isn't much bigger than a hotel room, but it has everything he needs: air conditioning, basic kitchen appliances, and proximity to his favorite Mexican restaurant — all for less than $200 a month in rent.

The 73-year-old moved to Thailand from Western Australia in 2019. A lifelong traveler, Walker liked the idea of living somewhere new, and was drawn to Chiang Mai's beautiful temples and mild climate when he first traveled there in the early 2010s.

Walker now lives off his roughly $18,000 annual pension (AU$28,000), according to bank statements reviewed by Business Insider. And, because his expenses in Chiang Mai are so low, Walker said he is able to save about 40% of his income.

Continues at

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/an-australian-boomer-retired-in-thailand-on-an-18-000-annual-pension-he-saves-almost-half-his-income-and-can-still-travel-the-world/ar-AA1oMoue

It would seem he doesn't spend much on sex!

[unicorn]

Australian boomer

[Olddaddy]

If pensioners can survive in Australia on that then he can in Asia 

[Mavica]

An expat living as a poor Thai does in Thailand, is not an attractive alternative to me.

[unicorn]

What kind of an idiot retires on a pension of US$18,000 a year? That looks more like my monthly pension payment (well, not quite). And that doesn't include the income from my retirement accounts. Nor does it include my social security, which, when I start collecting it, alone will be more than twice that. Did he go through his entire working life not saving anything for retirement? His plan was to retire first, then start saving money????

[Keithambrose]

25 minutes ago, unicorn said:

What kind of an idiot retires on a pension of US$18,000 a year? That looks more like my monthly pension payment (well, not quite). And that doesn't include the income from my retirement accounts. Nor does it include my social security, which, when I start collecting it, alone will be more than twice that. Did he go through his entire working life not saving anything for retirement? His plan was to retire first, then start saving money????

That's some large social security payment. In UK state pension  is around $15,000pa

[unicorn]

8 minutes ago, Keithambrose said:

That's some large social security payment. In UK state pension  is around $15,000pa

It's probably fairly foolish to retire on social security alone, but in the US it comes up to $3822 if one starts collecting at 67. If one waits until one is 70 to collect (as I plan to do, assuming continued good health), then one can collect $4873 per month. Of course, these amounts usually increase each year, and I suspect it will be at least $5000 a month when I turn 70.

https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/maximum-social-security-benefit/#:~:text=Here's an explanation for how,age is %243%2C822 per month.

"Your maximum Social Security benefit depends significantly on the age you file for your benefit, among other factors such as your contributions to the program:

Your maximum benefit if you file at age 62 – the youngest possible age – is $2,710 per month.
Your maximum benefit if you file at full retirement age – between 66 and 67 – is $3,822 per month.
Your maximum benefit if you file at age 70 – the age when extra benefits stop accruing – is $4,873 per month."

[Keithambrose]

4 hours ago, unicorn said:

It's probably fairly foolish to retire on social security alone, but in the US it comes up to $3822 if one starts collecting at 67. If one waits until one is 70 to collect (as I plan to do, assuming continued good health), then one can collect $4873 per month. Of course, these amounts usually increase each year, and I suspect it will be at least $5000 a month when I turn 70.

https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/maximum-social-security-benefit/#:~:text=Here's an explanation for how,age is %243%2C822 per month.

"Your maximum Social Security benefit depends significantly on the age you file for your benefit, among other factors such as your contributions to the program:

Your maximum benefit if you file at age 62 – the youngest possible age – is $2,710 per month.
Your maximum benefit if you file at full retirement age – between 66 and 67 – is $3,822 per month.
Your maximum benefit if you file at age 70 – the age when extra benefits stop accruing – is $4,873 per month."

That's a lot better than UK. Interesting  to me as I thought that the US was very poor on social benefits. 

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, unicorn said:

What kind of an idiot retires on a pension of US$18,000 a year?

that's harsh and insensitive. Those 'idiots ' are aplenty, they mop your floors , sort your garbage, flip your burgers and mow lawn in your park. Not everybody has parents pushing them through school, quite opposite, pushing them out as soon as they finish basic schooling. Often , instead of taking courses they spent time tending to disabled family members and litany may go on and on.

Even if lazy, chances are,  they are happier with their lives than people retiring with 5 times as much and constantly losing their sleep because movement of currency or stock prices. 

With such attitudes , no wonder that they vote for snake oil peddles like Trump and stick to them.

Comments like that enforce my long held believe that communism will return and I'm glad I'm too old to see it's resurrection as it won't be pretty. 

[unicorn]

4 hours ago, vinapu said:

... Those 'idiots ' are aplenty, they mop your floors , sort your garbage, flip your burgers...

In California, fast food workers earn a minimum of $20 an hour. Everyone else gets a minimum of $16 an hour, or more depending on the city.

https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/minimum_wage.htm#:~:text=Fast Food Minimum Wage Effective,at least %2420.00 per hour.

Even the burger flipper at McDonald's has access to a 401(k) retirement plan:

https://www.mccourtesy.com/content/careers/benefits-pay/employee-benefits

5 hours ago, vinapu said:

...Even if lazy, chances are,  they are happier with their lives than people retiring with 5 times as much and constantly losing their sleep because movement of currency or stock prices...

I lived modestly during my working years so I could maximize my retirement plan contributions and live a care-free retirement.

[vinapu]

6 hours ago, unicorn said:

In California, fast food workers earn a minimum of $20 an hour. Everyone else gets a minimum of $16 an hour, or more depending on the city.

Even the burger flipper at McDonald's has access to a 401(k) retirement plan:

I lived modestly during my working years so I could maximize my retirement plan contributions and live a care-free retirement.

 

guy in question is not Californian but Australian

not sure if all 50 states of USA are so generous with minimum wage , quite high level of it is relatively recent phenomena. 20-25  years ago any mention about raising minimum wage generated howls that it adversely affect economy, like economy really depends on people making minimum wage.

Flipper at McDonald may  but what about flipper in  " Mary and Joe Burger Palace" in woods of Arkansas or Tennessee ? 

Great you were so prudent and your carefree retirement is deserved but millions  did not have anybody to teach them money management. We can all agree that JD Vance case is big time exception rather than example of normal way of lifting oneself from destitution.   

[Mavica]

19 hours ago, unicorn said:

It's probably fairly foolish to retire on social security alone, but in the US it comes up to $3822 if one starts collecting at 67. If one waits until one is 70 to collect (as I plan to do, assuming continued good health), then one can collect $4873 per month. Of course, these amounts usually increase each year, and I suspect it will be at least $5000 a month when I turn 70.

https://www.bankrate.com/retirement/maximum-social-security-benefit/#:~:text=Here's an explanation for how,age is %243%2C822 per month.

 

I'm recalling, correctly I think, the average US Social Security check is about US$1,900 monthly.

[tm_nyc]

US Social Security monthly payments vary widely &, yes, I think that the average is $1,800-$1,900 per month.  What determines a person's payment  depends on how much one earns & for how long.  I believe there's only a small percentage (6%?) of retiring workers who are eligible to collect the maximum benefit numbers which @unicornquotes.

[unicorn]

On 8/16/2024 at 8:47 PM, tm_nyc said:

US Social Security monthly payments vary widely &, yes, I think that the average is $1,800-$1,900 per month.  What determines a person's payment  depends on how much one earns & for how long...

You forgot the most important part in determining the monthly benefit: when you start collecting. Those who choose to start payments early also choose a lifetime of low monthly payments. My best friend had a roommate who was a truck driver and an avid drinker. The winter after he turned 60, he cursed his job when he had to put on tire chains going over the mountain pass on I-5 between Redding, California and Oregon. At the time, the earliest one could collect Social Security was 60, and he didn't waste any time to hang up those tire chains and start getting those checks. His monthly check was around $1700, which, in addition to his cooking, was his contribution to the household. He was always drunk when he answered the phone. His decision to start collecting early ended up being a good one, since he died of pancreatic cancer before reaching his full retirement age (FRA) of 67. 

Of course, I expect to live into my 80s, so wouldn't think of starting to collect before my FRA of 67, and will probably wait until 70, when the benefit is the greatest. Also, if I wait until at least FRA to start collecting, my widower husband can keep collecting a good portion of those checks. Collecting early mainly benefits those with poor health habits. Social Security does not pay a higher benefit (for obvious reasons) to smokers, boozers, cough potatoes, etc., even though their life expectancy is quite a bit shorter. 

[Olddaddy]

3 hours ago, unicorn said:

Of course, I expect to live into my 80s, so wouldn't think of starting to collect before my FRA of 67, and will probably wait until 70, when the benefit is the greatest. 

Your still working?

Your going to 70?😮and there's nothing wrong with that,I'm still working too ,but my job is more part time and easy 

I couldn't imagine putting snow chains on trucks at over 60

Physical work gets hard over 60

I work mostly because I want to travel every 3 months , but soon I will give it away because life is not meant to be working 

 

[unicorn]

1 hour ago, Olddaddy said:

Your still working?

Your going to 70?😮and there's nothing wrong with that,I'm still working too ,but my job is more part time and easy 

I couldn't imagine putting snow chains on trucks at over 60...

No, I'm not still working, but living off of my pension and, so far, non-retirement savings. I expect my non-retirement savings to last until I turn 70, at which point it will be replaced by social security and retirement account savings. The former room-mate of my best friend, who retired as a truck driver, was actually a trained chef, but quit because he didn't like to have to be told what to do, and took up truck driving instead, because it let him do his own thing. I cringed when he gave up his work as a sous-chef, but at least he lived his life under his own terms. Some people don't do well just serving the public. I trust that he didn't drink while driving a truck. I don't think I ever saw him sober. He did seem to live a content life. When not out on the road, he was always at home. He never joined us in any activities (hiking, travel, white-water rafting, etc.). 

[Olddaddy]

9 minutes ago, unicorn said:

 Some people don't do well just serving the public

The worst part time job I had when I retired from my full time job was doing front line customer service.

I just stopped being a "people person" 

 

[Keithambrose]

On 8/17/2024 at 4:47 AM, tm_nyc said:

US Social Security monthly payments vary widely &, yes, I think that the average is $1,800-$1,900 per month.  What determines a person's payment  depends on how much one earns & for how long.  I believe there's only a small percentage (6%?) of retiring workers who are eligible to collect the maximum benefit numbers which @unicornquotes.

That's still nearly double the highest state pension in the UK! Even if you worked for 40 years, as I did, and paid National insurance the whole time. Luckily, as a lawyer, I was able to build up my own retirement fund.

[Olddaddy]

1 hour ago, Keithambrose said:

That's still nearly double the highest state pension in the UK! Even if you worked for 40 years, as I did, and paid National insurance the whole time. Luckily, as a lawyer, I was able to build up my own retirement fund.

Nothing wrong with being a lawyer 😉 I do try to keep away from them though 

Just to get a pre nup agreement with my partner cost $2000 AUD and that was cheap apparently 

In Australia everyone (within asset test limit ) gets an  old age pension at 67 regardless if you never worked in your life 

To get the old age pension sent overseas you must be a resident IN Australia the 2 years before applying which means😯many at 65yo living in Thailand have to go back to live to  apply at 67

 

[Keithambrose]

2 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

Nothing wrong with being a lawyer 😉 I do try to keep away from them though 

Just to get a pre nup agreement with my partner cost $2000 AUD and that was cheap apparently 

In Australia everyone (within asset test limit ) gets an  old age pension at 67 regardless if you never worked in your life 

To get the old age pension sent overseas you must be a resident IN Australia the 2 years before applying which means😯many at 65yo living in Thailand have to go back to live to  apply at 67

 

Interesting.  How much is the pension?

[Olddaddy]

3 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Interesting.  How much is the pension?

I think it's $1150 AUD a fortnight 

Have to look at Centrelinks website 

[unicorn]

7 hours ago, Olddaddy said:

...In Australia everyone (within asset test limit ) gets an  old age pension at 67 regardless if you never worked in your life 

To get the old age pension sent overseas you must be a resident IN Australia the 2 years before applying which means😯many at 65yo living in Thailand have to go back to live to  apply at 67

Interesting. That makes me wonder if the original post was fabricated. That's quite something that a person can collect from a fund to which they didn't contribute a dime. In the US, one must work at least 40 quarters (10 years) to start collecting, and you pretty much get your maximum benefit after working 120 quarters (30 years). My husband won't collect social security on his own earnings (since he didn't work 40 quarters), but if I die before he does (most likely), he can continue to collect my social security (as long as I don't start collecting before my full retirement age of 67):

https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/amount#:~:text=Payments start at 71.5% of,Over 80% at age 63.

"Spouses and ex-spouses
Payments start at 71.5% of your spouse’s benefit and increase the longer you wait to apply. 

For example, you might get:

Over 75% at age 61. 
Over 80% at age 63. 
Over 90% at age 65. 
You can get up to 100% when you reach your “Full Retirement Age for Survivor benefits” (between ages 66–67)."

[Keithambrose]

2 hours ago, unicorn said:

Interesting. That makes me wonder if the original post was fabricated. That's quite something that a person can collect from a fund to which they didn't contribute a dime. In the US, one must work at least 40 quarters (10 years) to start collecting, and you pretty much get your maximum benefit after working 120 quarters (30 years). My husband won't collect social security on his own earnings (since he didn't work 40 quarters), but if I die before he does (most likely), he can continue to collect my social security (as long as I don't start collecting before my full retirement age of 67):

https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/amount#:~:text=Payments start at 71.5% of,Over 80% at age 63.

"Spouses and ex-spouses
Payments start at 71.5% of your spouse’s benefit and increase the longer you wait to apply. 

For example, you might get:

Over 75% at age 61. 
Over 80% at age 63. 
Over 90% at age 65. 
You can get up to 100% when you reach your “Full Retirement Age for Survivor benefits” (between ages 66–67)."

Further  info would be interesting.