Living in the philippines

Hi don_bernardo! Welcome on Expat-blog! I have moved the topic on the Philippines forum so that Philippines expat members could share their experience with you.

I wish you good luck
All the best,
Christine

Is that 60k pounds? If that is so, then you'll have around 4,140,000 pesos. That would be enough to put up a business in Philippines.

Hi Don,

It depends on your lifestyle and what you plan to do with the ukp60,000. 

If you plan on putting that in a time deposit and live off the interest for the rest of your stay here and with the current interest rate of 4% to 5% gross of witholding tax then it might not be enough.

I agree with Bartok but it depends on what kind of business you will put up and will it be successful.

Hi don_bernardo,
Are you born or naturalized in England? Try visit the Philippines and see for yourself about the way of living here for two months or so. Then decide..

There is no good business to do for that kind of money unless you are creative and good at management.

Several issues you would face being a) corruption b) the Filipinos working habit and c) the $$$ syndrome.

You should research the subject very well or you will regret moving to Philippines.

don_bernardo wrote:

hi. iam a 60 year old thats married to a filipino lady, we are thinking about moving to live in the philippines from england. but iam worried that only having about 60.000 pounds to live on will not be enough. i realise it depends on how i spend the money. do u have any advise please

don_bernardo wrote:

hi. iam a 60 year old thats married to a filipino lady, we are thinking about moving to live in the philippines from england. but iam worried that only having about 60.000 pounds to live on will not be enough. i realise it depends on how i spend the money. do u have any advise please

Is the 60K pounds all that you would be relying on for living expenses?  Or is it an amount on top of retirement / pension and social security? 

The average lifespan is now 78+ years.  If you retire at a little past 60, I don't think it the 60k alone will be enough to support you and your wife for the rest of your lives.  It is easy to say that you'll be frugal here, but it is also easy to overspend, especially here in the Philippines.

I would suggest buying your own house rather than renting. Search around for house prices.  Depending on where you live or how big of a house you'd like to build, you'd probably spend at least 3 million pesos.  But that would leave you with just a little over 1 million pesos.

There are many "what ifs" in life.  A family friend, who was around 68 years old, was hospitalized for stomach problems. Turned out that she needed surgery.  Had a tube inserted temporarily in her bowels as her insides heal.  Paid over 800 thousand for hospitalization and doctor's fees.  Would have to spend more when the tube gets removed.

I think a more "safe" amount is around 120k pounds for retirees.

Hey guys, I think what don_bernardo, who is 60 years old, is asking for advice is whether 60k pounds is enough to live on for retirement, not really about starting a business. Am I right?

60k would just be barely enough to set up a house / residence and buy a car / private transportation.  I believe don_bernardo and his wife would need around 120k especially for the "what-ifs" like hospitalization.  In addition to the 120k, they should also have to have a constant source of funds, like a pension or retirement or business income.

Hospitalization is expensive, and could slice a big chunk out of your budget.  To give everyone an idea how much it costs, just recently, my American husband caught pneumonia.  We were charged PhP180k by the hospital for his 10-day stay.  That's around 2,600 pounds!

There wasn't any surgery.  PhP120k of the total was pharmacy / medication / antibiotics. Philhealth, Philippine's version of Medicare, and a private health insurance covered only PhP110k. So, we still had to come up with PhP70k (a little over 1,000 pounds) from our pockets.   

My husband is in his late 30's and is in good health, which could be factors why he recovered quicker than the 14 to 16-day stay the doctors had initially predicted.  An elderly person in the same situation might take more time to recover, ergo, more hospital charges.  I know of a family friend who had to pay 3 million pesos in hospital bills. 

Sometimes, I wonder what happens to those who cannot put up the money for treatments.  That being said, I think 60k pounds is not a safe amount to live here, literally.

don_bernardo wrote:

hi. iam a 60 year old thats married to a filipino lady, we are thinking about moving to live in the philippines from england. but iam worried that only having about 60.000 pounds to live on will not be enough. i realise it depends on how i spend the money. do u have any advise please

Hello there,
As per your query here, ↑↑↑ YES, you can live normally in that amount ...but the catch is your wife i.e your wife should know how to handle family budgeting which should a Filipina known for, you can stand on that amount eat 3x a day with a house, provided, your wife knows where you should go, rather than gambling this amount and live in Philippines. Better start a good plan.

☺

I agree with FilAmericnamom. 60k is not much to survive on if you have no other income. Say its about US$120k and live another 20 years, thats about $6k per year or $500 per month, not including interest. They should not be tieing up capital in a start up business, its too much of a gamble. Rather they stay in England that has socialized medicine and housing. The wife can have a better paying job in UK and earn benefits. In Phils, not much potential.

Past 60, medical problems will arise and they will not have any medical insurance to rely on in the Phils. Hospitals require payment upfront.

I would not buy a home though. Renting is cheaper if outside of Manila and they may need the cash for emergencies. Its probably better to live in Phils for 6 months at a time for a few years.

FilAmericanMom wrote:

don_bernardo wrote:

hi. iam a 60 year old thats married to a filipino lady, we are thinking about moving to live in the philippines from england. but iam worried that only having about 60.000 pounds to live on will not be enough. i realise it depends on how i spend the money. do u have any advise please

Is the 60K pounds all that you would be relying on for living expenses?  Or is it an amount on top of retirement / pension and social security? 

The average lifespan is now 78+ years.  If you retire at a little past 60, I don't think it the 60k alone will be enough to support you and your wife for the rest of your lives.  It is easy to say that you'll be frugal here, but it is also easy to overspend, especially here in the Philippines.

I would suggest buying your own house rather than renting. Search around for house prices.  Depending on where you live or how big of a house you'd like to build, you'd probably spend at least 3 million pesos.  But that would leave you with just a little over 1 million pesos.

There are many "what ifs" in life.  A family friend, who was around 68 years old, was hospitalized for stomach problems. Turned out that she needed surgery.  Had a tube inserted temporarily in her bowels as her insides heal.  Paid over 800 thousand for hospitalization and doctor's fees.  Would have to spend more when the tube gets removed.

I think a more "safe" amount is around 120k pounds for retirees.

And how much money you have when you move in the Philippine Ms Fil/Am mom?

FilAmericanMom wrote:

Hey guys, I think what don_bernardo, who is 60 years old, is asking for advice is whether 60k pounds is enough to live on for retirement, not really about starting a business. Am I right?

60k would just be barely enough to set up a house / residence and buy a car / private transportation.  I believe don_bernardo and his wife would need around 120k especially for the "what-ifs" like hospitalization.  In addition to the 120k, they should also have to have a constant source of funds, like a pension or retirement or business income.

Hospitalization is expensive, and could slice a big chunk out of your budget.  To give everyone an idea how much it costs, just recently, my American husband caught pneumonia.  We were charged PhP180k by the hospital for his 10-day stay.  That's around 2,600 pounds!

There wasn't any surgery.  PhP120k of the total was pharmacy / medication / antibiotics. Philhealth, Philippine's version of Medicare, and a private health insurance covered only PhP110k. So, we still had to come up with PhP70k (a little over 1,000 pounds) from our pockets.   

My husband is in his late 30's and is in good health, which could be factors why he recovered quicker than the 14 to 16-day stay the doctors had initially predicted.  An elderly person in the same situation might take more time to recover, ergo, more hospital charges.  I know of a family friend who had to pay 3 million pesos in hospital bills. 

Sometimes, I wonder what happens to those who cannot put up the money for treatments.  That being said, I think 60k pounds is not a safe amount to live here, literally.

And You don't have any insurance like Phil Health? that is really stupid not having insurance.

HI Don Bernardo,

"hi. iam a 60 year old thats married to a filipino lady, we are thinking about moving to live in the philippines from england. but iam worried that only having about 60.000 pounds to live on will not be enough. i realise it depends on how i spend the money. do u have any advise please"


I just attached your post, actually 60k pound is enough to see or look for a living here in the Philippines depend on the area or place you want to stay. 60k pound will converted here into P4 million plus. So I think you can buy a two storey house here and you can create your own business as well. But you need to do the government policies and regulation needed you to comply.

Actually I am located here in Metrogate II Meycauyan, Bulacan, Philippines where in you can buy a house and lot. I can help you to settle your need to lessen your confusion. Where is your Filipina wife located here in the Philippines?

Hi Don,

As others have said here, a lot depends on how well you want or expect to live. Costs are extremely low here (except electric power) compared to the UK, USA, and Australia etc.

I'm married to a Filipina and have been living here in the Philippines for over eight years now. Our total cost of living is under $150.00 (one hundred fifty) US dollars per month in our location. Our home is paid for so no rent.
We live a modest lifestyle but enjoy local travel and the malls on weekends. So living here can be quite low cost depending again on your choice of lifestyle.

Gene

To leem817,

I always have this feeling that you are attacking my replies.  You are out of line by asking me how much money I have.  It's like asking to show one's wallet to everyone who passes by.   

Post that question to anyone here at the forum, and you'll get the same response.  It makes me doubt that you are actually living in the US, wherein people are careful of, and are always reminded to avoid being a target of, identity theft, or online crimes, or online correspondence that turn into real life crimes, by not divulging their personal information, including financial. 

By this time, you should have known already that no one should not reveal his / her personal and financial information to anyone online. 

leem817 wrote:

FilAmericanMom wrote:

Is the 60K pounds all that you would be relying on for living expenses?  Or is it an amount on top of retirement / pension and social security? 

The average lifespan is now 78+ years.  If you retire at a little past 60, I don't think it the 60k alone will be enough to support you and your wife for the rest of your lives. . . . There are many "what ifs" in life.   . . . I think a more "safe" amount is around 120k pounds for retirees.
_____________________________________________

And how much money you have when you move in the Philippine Ms Fil/Am mom?

Another attack on me by leem817.  Before you comment leem817, you should read carefully first, because if you don't, YOU would actually sound stupid.  Read the post again and you'll see that I mentioned that we do have PhilHealth AND a private insurance.  Actually, the insurance company re-assessed our coverage limit, and it turned out we don't have to pay anything.

leem817 wrote:

FilAmericanMom wrote:

Hospitalization is expensive, and could slice a big chunk out of your budget.  To give everyone an idea how much it costs, just recently, my American husband caught pneumonia.  We were charged PhP180k by the hospital for his 10-day stay.  That's around 2,600 pounds! . . .

There wasn't any surgery.  PhP120k of the total was pharmacy / medication / antibiotics. Philhealth, Philippine's version of Medicare, and a private health insurance covered only PhP110k. So, we still had to come up with PhP70k (a little over 1,000 pounds) from our pockets. 

Sometimes, I wonder what happens to those who cannot put up the money for treatments.  That being said, I think 60k pounds is not a safe amount to live here, literally.

And You don't have any insurance like Phil Health? that is really stupid not having insurance.