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Taking an early retirement, need advice
#1

Taking an early retirement, need advice

I'm taking an early retirement, and need some advice. I'm in my late 40s, and I'll be collecting a small government pension. Not as glamorous as the ingenious location independent businesses some of you have created, but it's something I've earned. Not enough to survive on in America, but it's something that could carry me pretty far some places with the wisdom of my fellow Rooshtafarians.

Would love to do Thailand if I can, but they're getting tighter with the visas and I'm not sure if it will work out. I would probably end up teaching English or something to keep a work visa going, at least until I can find something better.

If I can't make it work there, where else would you guys recommend that's easy on the visas for americans, and inexpensive? I love martial arts, would love to stay involved somehow (one of the reasons for Thailand) but at this point in my life, my number one goal is survival and comfort.
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#2

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Quote: (07-19-2017 10:15 PM)DarkTriad Wrote:  

I'm taking an early retirement, and need some advice. I'm in my late 40s, and I'll be collecting a small government pension. Not as glamorous as the ingenious location independent businesses some of you have created, but it's something I've earned. Not enough to survive on in America, but it's something that could carry me pretty far some places with the wisdom of my fellow Rooshtafarians.

Would love to do Thailand if I can, but they're getting tighter with the visas and I'm not sure if it will work out. I would probably end up teaching English or something to keep a work visa going, at least until I can find something better.

If I can't make it work there, where else would you guys recommend that's easy on the visas for americans, and inexpensive? I love martial arts, would love to stay involved somehow (one of the reasons for Thailand) but at this point in my life, my number one goal is survival and comfort.

I think you should add a few more details. At this point you are pretty open ended. I think you should add more info and limit the scope of your question.
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#3

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Quote: (07-19-2017 10:24 PM)WashedUPVet Wrote:  

Quote: (07-19-2017 10:15 PM)DarkTriad Wrote:  

I'm taking an early retirement, and need some advice. I'm in my late 40s, and I'll be collecting a small government pension. Not as glamorous as the ingenious location independent businesses some of you have created, but it's something I've earned. Not enough to survive on in America, but it's something that could carry me pretty far some places with the wisdom of my fellow Rooshtafarians.

Would love to do Thailand if I can, but they're getting tighter with the visas and I'm not sure if it will work out. I would probably end up teaching English or something to keep a work visa going, at least until I can find something better.

If I can't make it work there, where else would you guys recommend that's easy on the visas for americans, and inexpensive? I love martial arts, would love to stay involved somehow (one of the reasons for Thailand) but at this point in my life, my number one goal is survival and comfort.

I think you should add a few more details. At this point you are pretty open ended. I think you should add more info and limit the scope of your question.

Sorry, my life is a little open ended right now. Early retirement here isn't entirely through choice, but luckily I'll be walking away with some kind of pension after so many years. I can't even be specific about my finances either, because I don't know what kind of retirement I'll be getting. I've got significant Line of Duty injuries, but they're trying to claim they were pre-existing, so I might have a good package, or I might not. Not trying to be disrespectful with my response, but it's a pretty big life change I'm facing, and I couldn't think of a better place to ask than here. The only thing I do know is that I don't want to be a pensioner scraping by in America after he loses his job if there are better options out there.
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#4

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Getting close to being able to get a retirement visa for Thailand.

You might look at moving around, Thailand, Vietnam and Philippines for a while till you get a retirement visa.

All three of these should be fine to survive on limited funds, and offer a similar lifestyle and opportunities for side hustles, bangs and easy living.
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#5

Taking an early retirement, need advice

And Indonesia as well.
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#6

Taking an early retirement, need advice

I thought a Thai retirement visa is pretty easy to get once you're 50 (which I assume is only 1-2 years away for you). From a random Thai-visa website:

Requirements are as follows:
Bank Account showing THB 800,000
Monthly income of at least THB 65,000
Combination (Bank Account + Income x 12 = THB 800,000)

That's sounds very doable.

What I personally would be more concerned about is getting a decent health insurance there at your age and with your medical history. Have you looked into that?
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#7

Taking an early retirement, need advice

O.P. nobody can narrow it down for you until you are in a position to indicate your expected monthly income.

Also can you tell us about what type of location amenities you are interested in? Do you like being in the middle of a big busy mega city or do you like being in a town near the beaches or near the jungle or near the mountains?

Also what are your tastes in women? I am assuming by your preference for Thailand you like Asian women. How do you feel about Latina women or African women or Eastern European women?

Peru is pretty relaxed with regards to how long you can stay as a tourist. Assuming you don't get unlucky and get a customs/immigration officer who is a dickhead like I got when I was there you can stay for 183 days just by showing up and getting your passport stamped and the fine for overstaying is some tiny amount (one USD per day from memory). I am not sure how many times you can overstay and pay a fine without getting banned from re-entry though. Its 183 days per year (as opposed to per visit) is what you are allowed to stay.

Personally after being in Peru for 14 weeks I did not like it for a variety of reasons, but I acknowledge its a case of different strokes for different folks.

For Colombia or Ecuador a very modest investment of the right kind will get you a longer-term visa (still not permanent residency though). I spent 6 weeks in Colombia and it was a country that I thoroughly enjoyed (aside from the usual Latin inefficiency/dysfunction) and it can be quite cheap to live there. And of course let's not forget the key selling point of Colombia, Colombian women!
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#8

Taking an early retirement, need advice

O.P. I am assuming you are a U.S. citizen? From what was revealed in a google search U.S. citizens can stay in Georgia up to 365 days without a visa and then just pay a fine for overstaying. I am not sure how long you can overstay though before they give you trouble.
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#9

Taking an early retirement, need advice

^ There are options for Americans in Europe with pre-Schengen agreements, if you're open to that.
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#10

Taking an early retirement, need advice

With respect to Indonesia, consider that and Bali separately even though they are the same country. They are both doable at your income level but markedly different lifestyles - Bali is not Islamic and loaded with tourists.

Malaysia is another very affordable option, but the Islamic angle as well as the government itself could change the picture of attractiveness over time. Either way you will want to maintain a US bank account out of reach of the Malaysian government - just in case they decide one day to nationalize all bank accounts held by non-malays. This is something you should do regardless of where you settle down, BTW.

Consider how easy it would be to learn the local language while you're in your new location too - Spanish is a hell language lot easier than Vietnamese or Thai. Have you considered Argentina, or even Spain? Both are more affordable than you might think.
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#11

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Central America - paricularly Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Costa Rica while beautiful and Ticos are wonderful people is not so officially gringo friendly anymore.
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#12

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Thanks guys.

Quote:Quote:

='Australia Sucks' pid='1614982' dateline='1500542203']
O.P. nobody can narrow it down for you until you are in a position to indicate your expected monthly income.

Understandable, but I would like to get input on all the cheapest survivable options while I have the time to research.

Quote:Quote:

Also can you tell us about what type of location amenities you are interested in? Do you like being in the middle of a big busy mega city or do you like being in a town near the beaches or near the jungle or near the mountains?

I'm a city boy, and I like beaches, but I'll take what I can get right now. Lifelong martial artist, would love to stay involved with it to some degree is pretty much my only "amenities" requirement. A couple of my students made the UFC, would like to keep coaching in some capacity. I'm not claiming I was their only coach, but I had real impact on them making it to the big show, and both have written great recommendations for me in the past.

Quote:Quote:

Also what are your tastes in women? I am assuming by your preference for Thailand you like Asian women. How do you feel about Latina women or African women or Eastern European women?

I like blondes the most, I was thinking SEA mostly based on price. Not super into Spanish girls.

Quote:Quote:

Peru is pretty relaxed with regards to how long you can stay as a tourist. Assuming you don't get unlucky and get a customs/immigration officer who is a dickhead like I got when I was there you can stay for 183 days just by showing up and getting your passport stamped and the fine for overstaying is some tiny amount (one USD per day from memory). I am not sure how many times you can overstay and pay a fine without getting banned from re-entry though. Its 183 days per year (as opposed to per visit) is what you are allowed to stay.

Personally after being in Peru for 14 weeks I did not like it for a variety of reasons, but I acknowledge its a case of different strokes for different folks.

For Colombia or Ecuador a very modest investment of the right kind will get you a longer-term visa (still not permanent residency though). I spent 6 weeks in Colombia and it was a country that I thoroughly enjoyed (aside from the usual Latin inefficiency/dysfunction) and it can be quite cheap to live there. And of course let's not forget the key selling point of Colombia, Colombian women!

This whole thing is rather taking me by surprise, don't have any real savings, just hoping to turn a negative into a positive and build a new life for myself.
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#13

Taking an early retirement, need advice

I have seen some people talk about some of the outlying cities in the Philippines as a consideration. I have not been there, but two people on the internet that have posted extensively about retiring to the Philippines and are retired there are as follows:

Life Beyond The Sea
https://www.youtube.com/user/enricosuave263/featured
He posts an extensive library about his experience of retiring to the Philippines and in the videos talks about everything one could want to know about moving, living there and what you would be dealing with on a day to day basis. He is also available for private consultation if one wishes to pay for his time and ask questions of. (It sounds like you would benefit greatly to be able to ask specific questions about your situation and medical needs.) The last I recall from the videos I have seen is he is living in Dumaguete and seems very happy. He also posted a video about the different standards of living available to one depending on their monthly income.

Exciting Cebu
http://www.excitingcebu.com/
This guy writes about his experiences in Cebu City and retiring on a disability income from a government job. While the income is 'ok', it is not great as he seems to not have much left over each month. (From what I can tell, it sounds like his monthly income is around $1,000 USD per month.) It is possible that his monthly income might be somewhat near your own. At this point he has been there something like 7 or 8 years so far. He has a number of postings on getting medications in the Philippines and generic alternatives since some brand names are not available plus talks about arranging banking and deposits of his disability income from the US to a local bank. He has a girlfriend that helps him with a lot of navigating the bureaucracy of various organizations and how they dealt with them. He also sells what he calls an "Exapt Training" manual where he goes over the options for arranging things and how things work there plus has another book just about transferring money from the USA. I did purchase a copy and, while I have not had the chance to travel there, do believe the information is useful.

Both men talk about dating in the Philippines and what to expect when dealing with people on a daily basis and the cultural differences. Both talk about getting and maintaining a visa to be able to stay in country on retirement.

If I had to sum up to expect and prepare for, I would summarize it as follows:
1: Remember that you are in another country. One of the big things is to not make a local 'lose face' or be too critical of the government. There was one video posted by another in country person of someone being deported for throwing a screaming fit at a local policeman. (In the USA it is 'usually not a good idea' and could get you a ticket or worse, in the Philippines it can escalate to one being deported and not allowed back in for a few years.)

2: Most locals will not be confrontational if/when there is a problem, especially women. Both of the above posters seemed to be surprised the first time they ran into tampo where a woman will refuse to talk to you for a while for some slight they perceived. We would call it giving someone the silent treatment. Sometimes the guy will have no idea what is wrong and is expected to just know what they did wrong. Getting out of this purgatory usually involves assuring the woman that what you did you are sorry for. After some period of time, all will be forgiven and she will go back to normal as though nothing has happened.

3: Construction materials are different. In the United States it is mostly wood and drywall on a brick or cement foundation. In the Philippines, there is little wood or dry wall in stand alone houses due to the high heat and humidity would turn that into mush within a few years. Most stand alone houses are mostly cement blocks and painted so they can stand up to the humidity.

Other interesting notes from my own personal communications with people in country:
A: One person I was talking with mentioned a number of settlements built after some of the typhoons in the area around Ormoc. Some of those places are still without electricity but the people do have cell phone service and are able to have lighting with small solar cells or charge phones from a place of work. One person that I know was able to send me reports during a recent typhoon as it passed over the city one night in 2016.

B: Some of the construction did not stand up to the recent earthquake. (Ormoc 6.5 on the scale) I had a chance to review some photos of damage to a house with concrete block walls that were holding up a main support beam in the center of the house. The area of the walls under the beam held at both ends and they were able to effect some repairs on the wall. I tried to see if there was something else that could be done to shore up the wall or additional added as a safety for the beam in case one end failed but had not seen anything that looks like it would be much better than what is already there.

C: The exchange rate prior to 2007/2008 was about 50 PHP to 1 USD, fell to about 40 PHP to 1 USD around the debt ceiling problem in 2010 but has been getting better for the USD where now it is getting over 45 PHP to 1 USD. Normally, I would not watch that too much except the second person (Exciting Cebu) made multiple mentions about how the weaker USD made his retirement much more expensive than at the start.

D: Many locals do not seem to understand gross margin for businesses operations. Basically, in the US most people understand that if you sell inventory, you need to make sure that you are replacing it so you can continue to operate. For whatever reason, many people in country seem to just view that the money can be spent on 'whatever' and do not seem to realize that they need to replace inventory in order to remain in business. The first poster talks about this observation in a few videos about different businesses he considered plus the problem that when anyone seems to get a business going, four more spring up around it and then everyone is losing money because there are too many people in business.

E: People getting scammed, especially guys. I have no idea why, but the first guy reported in one of his videos of something like 5 or 6 guys buying their Philippine 'girlfriend' a house for something like $15K to $20K. Of course, the problem was that they were dumped immediately afterwards and out the money, with no legal recourse. Life Beyond The Sea's reaction almost seems to be "Guys, come on, what were you thinking?" and he even seemed exacerbated about getting multiple reports.

F: There is an element that will try to con you. I had a friend that came back from a south east Asia trip and was in Manila October 2016. He reported that 'he felt he needed to make sure someone didn't steal his watch off his wrist'. My impression from other reports is that the outlying areas have people feeling safer than large cities.

G: The purchasing power is a lot better for some things, and there is some discussion as to holding the locals to a local price or being willing to pay up a little to get better service or make everyone feel better (some people may refer to this as the kano price). I traveled to Lughansk Ukraine in 2001 and my view is that I wanted the people I had with me to have a vested interest to make sure things went well and there was no problem with my trip, so I paid up for some things like having a translator available during most work hours. It didn't cost that much at $100 USD for three or four days. I could have probably gotten away with only $20 in total since the average salary was around $200 USD per month then, but for me it was much less than what I would have paid in the United States so I was happy with the price, and it was more than she could have made working any other job instead of working for me for 3 days.
It is a fine balance where one does not want to come off as looking like they are showing off and buying friends AND does not want to look like they are chiseling the locals down to the last cent by taking advantage of their less economic activity. My view is that one should try to pay up a little and be seen as the gracious or magnanimous host, where, yes, you probably do have more money than most of the people you run into, but everyone is your friend and one does not disparage ones friends just over a difference in wealth.
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#14

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Quote: (07-20-2017 08:10 AM)This Is Trouble Wrote:  

^ There are options for Americans in Europe with pre-Schengen agreements, if you're open to that.

I'm open to the idea, but it would have to be as cheap as SEA. It's tough starting over at this age, and I just don't want money being something I worry about a lot.
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#15

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Quote: (07-20-2017 08:28 PM)EvanWilson Wrote:  

I have seen some people talk about some of the outlying cities in the Philippines as a consideration. I have not been there, but two people on the internet that have posted extensively about retiring to the Philippines and are retired there are as follows:

Life Beyond The Sea
https://www.youtube.com/user/enricosuave263/featured
He posts an extensive library about his experience of retiring to the Philippines and in the videos talks about everything one could want to know about moving, living there and what you would be dealing with on a day to day basis. He is also available for private consultation if one wishes to pay for his time and ask questions of. (It sounds like you would benefit greatly to be able to ask specific questions about your situation and medical needs.) The last I recall from the videos I have seen is he is living in Dumaguete and seems very happy. He also posted a video about the different standards of living available to one depending on their monthly income.

Exciting Cebu
http://www.excitingcebu.com/
This guy writes about his experiences in Cebu City and retiring on a disability income from a government job. While the income is 'ok', it is not great as he seems to not have much left over each month. (From what I can tell, it sounds like his monthly income is around $1,000 USD per month.) It is possible that his monthly income might be somewhat near your own. At this point he has been there something like 7 or 8 years so far. He has a number of postings on getting medications in the Philippines and generic alternatives since some brand names are not available plus talks about arranging banking and deposits of his disability income from the US to a local bank. He has a girlfriend that helps him with a lot of navigating the bureaucracy of various organizations and how they dealt with them. He also sells what he calls an "Exapt Training" manual where he goes over the options for arranging things and how things work there plus has another book just about transferring money from the USA. I did purchase a copy and, while I have not had the chance to travel there, do believe the information is useful.

Both men talk about dating in the Philippines and what to expect when dealing with people on a daily basis and the cultural differences. Both talk about getting and maintaining a visa to be able to stay in country on retirement.

If I had to sum up to expect and prepare for, I would summarize it as follows:
1: Remember that you are in another country. One of the big things is to not make a local 'lose face' or be too critical of the government. There was one video posted by another in country person of someone being deported for throwing a screaming fit at a local policeman. (In the USA it is 'usually not a good idea' and could get you a ticket or worse, in the Philippines it can escalate to one being deported and not allowed back in for a few years.)

2: Most locals will not be confrontational if/when there is a problem, especially women. Both of the above posters seemed to be surprised the first time they ran into tampo where a woman will refuse to talk to you for a while for some slight they perceived. We would call it giving someone the silent treatment. Sometimes the guy will have no idea what is wrong and is expected to just know what they did wrong. Getting out of this purgatory usually involves assuring the woman that what you did you are sorry for. After some period of time, all will be forgiven and she will go back to normal as though nothing has happened.

3: Construction materials are different. In the United States it is mostly wood and drywall on a brick or cement foundation. In the Philippines, there is little wood or dry wall in stand alone houses due to the high heat and humidity would turn that into mush within a few years. Most stand alone houses are mostly cement blocks and painted so they can stand up to the humidity.

Other interesting notes from my own personal communications with people in country:
A: One person I was talking with mentioned a number of settlements built after some of the typhoons in the area around Ormoc. Some of those places are still without electricity but the people do have cell phone service and are able to have lighting with small solar cells or charge phones from a place of work. One person that I know was able to send me reports during a recent typhoon as it passed over the city one night in 2016.

B: Some of the construction did not stand up to the recent earthquake. (Ormoc 6.5 on the scale) I had a chance to review some photos of damage to a house with concrete block walls that were holding up a main support beam in the center of the house. The area of the walls under the beam held at both ends and they were able to effect some repairs on the wall. I tried to see if there was something else that could be done to shore up the wall or additional added as a safety for the beam in case one end failed but had not seen anything that looks like it would be much better than what is already there.

C: The exchange rate prior to 2007/2008 was about 50 PHP to 1 USD, fell to about 40 PHP to 1 USD around the debt ceiling problem in 2010 but has been getting better for the USD where now it is getting over 45 PHP to 1 USD. Normally, I would not watch that too much except the second person (Exciting Cebu) made multiple mentions about how the weaker USD made his retirement much more expensive than at the start.

D: Many locals do not seem to understand gross margin for businesses operations. Basically, in the US most people understand that if you sell inventory, you need to make sure that you are replacing it so you can continue to operate. For whatever reason, many people in country seem to just view that the money can be spent on 'whatever' and do not seem to realize that they need to replace inventory in order to remain in business. The first poster talks about this observation in a few videos about different businesses he considered plus the problem that when anyone seems to get a business going, four more spring up around it and then everyone is losing money because there are too many people in business.

E: People getting scammed, especially guys. I have no idea why, but the first guy reported in one of his videos of something like 5 or 6 guys buying their Philippine 'girlfriend' a house for something like $15K to $20K. Of course, the problem was that they were dumped immediately afterwards and out the money, with no legal recourse. Life Beyond The Sea's reaction almost seems to be "Guys, come on, what were you thinking?" and he even seemed exacerbated about getting multiple reports.

F: There is an element that will try to con you. I had a friend that came back from a south east Asia trip and was in Manila October 2016. He reported that 'he felt he needed to make sure someone didn't steal his watch off his wrist'. My impression from other reports is that the outlying areas have people feeling safer than large cities.

G: The purchasing power is a lot better for some things, and there is some discussion as to holding the locals to a local price or being willing to pay up a little to get better service or make everyone feel better (some people may refer to this as the kano price). I traveled to Lughansk Ukraine in 2001 and my view is that I wanted the people I had with me to have a vested interest to make sure things went well and there was no problem with my trip, so I paid up for some things like having a translator available during most work hours. It didn't cost that much at $100 USD for three or four days. I could have probably gotten away with only $20 in total since the average salary was around $200 USD per month then, but for me it was much less than what I would have paid in the United States so I was happy with the price, and it was more than she could have made working any other job instead of working for me for 3 days.
It is a fine balance where one does not want to come off as looking like they are showing off and buying friends AND does not want to look like they are chiseling the locals down to the last cent by taking advantage of their less economic activity. My view is that one should try to pay up a little and be seen as the gracious or magnanimous host, where, yes, you probably do have more money than most of the people you run into, but everyone is your friend and one does not disparage ones friends just over a difference in wealth.

Thanks for a long and informative post. Phillipines was also on my list, but is it still safe? There is a front page danger warning on the board right now.
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#16

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Take Eastern Europe, Poland or Czech Republic, even Hungary being good options. Your money will certainly suffice since you can have a solid middle class lifestyle with as little as 15.000$.

In addition you are relatively young and an ex-cop from what I remember. That gives you immense opportunities working either high-end security jobs, even being hired as chief of security of good night-clubs in Warsaw. You can easily make 3000$ a month and get laid on the job with plenty of blonde beauties. Since you are into martial arts, then that means that you are not a fat guy and could be teaching that.

The diversity from Western Europe will come only in the form of a global war and that will take years and decades to sweep over to Eastern Europe.

Best would be to travel around to the countries you have picked as options, meet up with RVF members who live there and check it out how it works for you. Since you are in early retirement you even have the luxury of taking a short-term rental (I can help you on that front in Poland for example) place for a month, see how Tinder works, how your budget works out in the place, how you like it in general. Language will be an issue everywhere, but you are young enough to learn the local language everywhere at least to understand the basic gist and speak some phrases. Eastern Europeans are quite forgiving to Westerners and especially to Americans if they speak some of their language. You don't need to have perfect grammar to have even a career here as a Westerner. Even corporations hire some men like that as there are British expats here working for big international corporations on the wages in the West while living under EE conditions.
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#17

Taking an early retirement, need advice

How is the pension structured? Defined benefit, defined contribution, or something else. How are the payments structured?

If it is defined benefit, do you get a monthly payment for the rest of your life? Cost of living adjustments?

If defined contribution, then you will probably have a pool of money in your name, but that is it, you have to make that money last until you die (or earn new money).

Are you getting disability payments?

If I were to guess, you have a 401a mandatory defined contribution plan, and maybe a voluntary 403b (since you said it was government and in the US).

First thing you should do it set up residency and driver license in a tax free state (WA, TX, NV, FL, you probably aren't interested in the others).
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#18

Taking an early retirement, need advice

^^ Great advice, this guy knows what he's talking about. Also, I don't know what state you're in, but in CA, disability pensions for LEO are largely untaxed which obviously makes your money stretch quite a lot further. Most of the firefighters/cops I used to work with suddenly had "career ending job related injuries" right around retirement age. If you have a 457b, there's no penalty on early withdrawals before 59.5 like IRA's or 401k's, so that will help a lot with the transition.

I'd look to SE Asia, particularly PI and Thailand. Uruguay and Panama also have pretty favorable pensioner programs and I heard some stuff about Ecuador having some advantageous programs as well. Malaysia has a permanent residency program that you might want to look into although I believe you need to show something like $100k USD in the bank.
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#19

Taking an early retirement, need advice

ex-cop = "security consultant." There ya go [Image: banana.gif]

Лучше поздно, чем никогда

...life begins at "70% Warning Level."....
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#20

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Quote: (07-22-2017 09:48 PM)frozen-ace Wrote:  

How is the pension structured? Defined benefit, defined contribution, or something else. How are the payments structured?

Defined benefit, weekly payments, based on years of service/type of retirement I get.

Quote:Quote:

If it is defined benefit, do you get a monthly payment for the rest of your life? Cost of living adjustments?

Fixed for life, no cost of living adjustment.

Quote:Quote:

If defined contribution, then you will probably have a pool of money in your name, but that is it, you have to make that money last until you die (or earn new money).

Kind of the opposite, took me by surprise, no savings, but will have a small steady income the rest of my life. Not enough to make it in America, but could be the lifetime "location independent income" that many Rooshers dream of if I play my cards right.

Quote:Quote:

Are you getting disability payments?


Currently getting my regular pay while they sort out what to do with me.

Quote:Quote:

If I were to guess, you have a 401a mandatory defined contribution plan, and maybe a voluntary 403b (since you said it was government and in the US).


I have that rarest of birds in the modern era, classic gov't pension, with a provision for disability, both on and off duty.
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#21

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Quote: (07-22-2017 10:19 PM)booshala Wrote:  

^^ Great advice, this guy knows what he's talking about. Also, I don't know what state you're in, but in CA, disability pensions for LEO are largely untaxed which obviously makes your money stretch quite a lot further. Most of the firefighters/cops I used to work with suddenly had "career ending job related injuries" right around retirement age. If you have a 457b, there's no penalty on early withdrawals before 59.5 like IRA's or 401k's, so that will help a lot with the transition.

I'd look to SE Asia, particularly PI and Thailand. Uruguay and Panama also have pretty favorable pensioner programs and I heard some stuff about Ecuador having some advantageous programs as well. Malaysia has a permanent residency program that you might want to look into although I believe you need to show something like $100k USD in the bank.

If I get the the full "On Duty" injury jackpot, it will be an untaxed pension of around 60K a year. However, they're fighting me on it and I'm not likely to get it, so I'm trying to prepare for the worst. I also have a 10K a year Child Support liability (and my kid genuinely needs it to get by) so I'm trying to figure out a way to survive on a much smaller, taxed, pension. My ex already moved far away, so I'll probably see my son more if I'm financially secure and semi-retired in a foreign country than I am now.
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#22

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Ok, so a DB plan with no 403b or 457. No other retirement assets like an IRA? A DB plan is great news, and very rare these days. Most likely your plan has different tiers, and you are probably in tier 3 or tier 4 (which is just one step above a DC plan, but does not come close to what you would get if you were enrolled in tier 1). You don't have to worry about market returns, and you have to hope the state /local government entity doesn't go bankrupt and restructure the pension (it is unlikely, but a very real possibility in the future). Your spending power will also erode with no COLA adjustment, so you will need to find some side income to supplement your life, especially in the later years.

Did you pay into Social Security? This would depend on your state's Section 218 agreement with the SSA-

https://www.ssa.gov/slge/sect_218_agree.htm

You would know this if you saw Social Security come out of your paycheck (6.2%). If so, you may be able to count on a small amount of SSI in the late future.

Since you are retiring early due to disability, payments from the DB plan before normal retirement age should not cause you to pay the 10% penalty. You will, however, have mandatory 10% federal income tax withheld on your payments....so if you get $1,000 a month, $100 of that goes straight to the IRS before you even see it. You may get it back when you file your taxes.

Start establishing residency in a tax free state or your state will be getting a chunk of that as well.

What about health insurance? Does the plan offer / provide anything?
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#23

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Quote: (07-23-2017 03:43 PM)frozen-ace Wrote:  

Ok, so a DB plan with no 403b or 457. No other retirement assets like an IRA? A DB plan is great news, and very rare these days. Most likely your plan has different tiers, and you are probably in tier 3 or tier 4 (which is just one step above a DC plan, but does not come close to what you would get if you were enrolled in tier 1). You don't have to worry about market returns, and you have to hope the state /local government entity doesn't go bankrupt and restructure the pension (it is unlikely, but a very real possibility in the future). Your spending power will also erode with no COLA adjustment, so you will need to find some side income to supplement your life, especially in the later years.

Did you pay into Social Security? This would depend on your state's Section 218 agreement with the SSA-

https://www.ssa.gov/slge/sect_218_agree.htm

You would know this if you saw Social Security come out of your paycheck (6.2%). If so, you may be able to count on a small amount of SSI in the late future.

Since you are retiring early due to disability, payments from the DB plan before normal retirement age should not cause you to pay the 10% penalty. You will, however, have mandatory 10% federal income tax withheld on your payments....so if you get $1,000 a month, $100 of that goes straight to the IRS before you even see it. You may get it back when you file your taxes.

Start establishing residency in a tax free state or your state will be getting a chunk of that as well.

What about health insurance? Does the plan offer / provide anything?

Our disability program was so comprehensive, we were not required to pay into SSI, but I can probably figure out a way to finagle enough quarters for SSI by the time I'm 65. I don't believe we get health insurance, and I hope I don't have to pay Obamacare on top of my expatriate health insurance.
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#24

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Quote: (07-23-2017 03:15 PM)DarkTriad Wrote:  

If I get the the full "On Duty" injury jackpot, it will be an untaxed pension of around 60K a year. However, they're fighting me on it and I'm not likely to get it, so I'm trying to prepare for the worst. I also have a 10K a year Child Support liability (and my kid genuinely needs it to get by) so I'm trying to figure out a way to survive on a much smaller, taxed, pension. My ex already moved far away, so I'll probably see my son more if I'm financially secure and semi-retired in a foreign country than I am now.

OP, did you hire a lawyer to help you get the 60k/yr pension? I would if I were you.
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#25

Taking an early retirement, need advice

Quote: (07-23-2017 03:57 PM)Brodiaga Wrote:  

Quote: (07-23-2017 03:15 PM)DarkTriad Wrote:  

If I get the the full "On Duty" injury jackpot, it will be an untaxed pension of around 60K a year. However, they're fighting me on it and I'm not likely to get it, so I'm trying to prepare for the worst. I also have a 10K a year Child Support liability (and my kid genuinely needs it to get by) so I'm trying to figure out a way to survive on a much smaller, taxed, pension. My ex already moved far away, so I'll probably see my son more if I'm financially secure and semi-retired in a foreign country than I am now.

OP, did you hire a lawyer to help you get the 60k/yr pension? I would if I were you.

I have a lawyer, he's the one advising me I'm unlikely to get it. We're certainly going to try, but it's an uphill battle. I'm trying to have a back up plan that will keep me together worst case scenario. Best case scenario won't require nearly as much planning [Image: smile.gif]
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