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$1,500 Monthly Retirement Budget
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Is it possible to retire in Thailand or the Philippines for less than $1,500 per month?
tacosrelanos
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I will preface this answer by saying, very few people can live like Billy Bob. Let’s see how Billy Bob is doing in Thailand. He starts off by saying that he was ok money wise. There is $200K in the bank and his monthly retirement check is $1,500. Not great but not bad. He wanted a change in life. He had people start calling him Bob and Thailand seemed like a good place to live. A tropical paradise. That was three years ago. Bob’s condo is up the the 3rd Floor. He found this place through a friend of a friend and the rent is cheap. The biggest problem is the noise especially at night as many of the locals enjoy a good party. Bob points out that climbing up and down the stairs is a good way of staying in shape, just watch out for the dogs. Travelling from Point A to Point B is always an adventure according to Bob. His method is to find the cheapest way to travel. Airplanes are too expensive, taxi costs soon add up and the buses and trains are never on time. But Bob does not particularly care about the time. An overnight 12-hour bus ride takes him to the same place as a 45-minute flight. Bob does not spend much on food. His attitude is to eat like the locals. Every meal. Every day. Rice and noodles or noodles and rice. Speaking of food, Bob also noted that he only drank water. The soft drinks were to expensive to have every day. Sometimes Bob needs to get out of his one-room condo and when the urge hits, he heads to one of Thailand’s islands. The rooms are cheap but normally, he only stays a couple of days as the food on the island is so expensive. He then goes back to his condo. Like I said earlier, not many people can live like Billy Bob…
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Retirement extensions in Thailand have a financial requirement of $2,060 USD (65,000 baht) deposited into a Thai bank each month. That is pretty close to $1,500 per month. If you are not living in Bangkok then I’ve seen plenty of expats claim to live quite nicely on $1,300 per month. Bangkok definitely has a more expensive cost of living than areas outside of the city. In general, though, the cost of living here is less than just about any western country. At $1,500 per month you would be living a very modest lifestyle in Thailand.