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SS Benefits & PH Retirement
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How can I retire early and move to the Philippines without losing social security benefits?
Roskosramiz
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You won’t. What you will lose is your Medicare. I retired early to the Philippines in 2009 when I was 60. I had met my wife who is a Filapina in 2007 through her sister here in the U.S. We were married in 2008 after bringing her here through a Fiancee visa. Unfortunately at that time she did not like it here and wanted to go back to the Philippines. So our plan was to cash out one of my pensions and live on my other two until I turned 62 and could get my Social Security. Three months before my 62nd birthday, I applied for Social Security from the Manila office. When my daughter was born in 2010, I applied for Social Security for her which turned out to be really important for our family. You see , Social Security has this rule that a child under the age of 18 can receive half of the parents social security and the person taking care of the child can also get half until the child is 16. At the time I thought it was a death benefit only and would not start until after I died. I found out in 2015 that my daughter had been accruing $1100 a month for about 4 years, all because of the fact I had applied for her Social Security at birth. However there was a catch in getting the money. She had to be physically present for one calendar month in the U.S. in order for the benefit to start and I had to get proof of her U.S. citizenship which was challenging. So here I am back in the good ol’ US of A. To get your money you will have to set up a direct deposit in one of the banks. The Manila office will provide a list of banks and mail or email forms you will need to sign. Then you have to go to the bank you select to set up your direct deposit. You have to physically go to the bank to get money. The date for my deposit had I applied in the U.S. would have been on the third Wednesday of the month, but I think all foreign deposits are on the third as was mine. Medicare is not available outside the U.S. and its territories.You basically will have to pay for any health issues. Their insurance is not very good if you can get it and you need the original receipt in order to use it, Which I did not know when I tried. Good news is that most medical and dental are a lot cheaper in the Philippines and often is what you would pay in a deductible here. I don’t know your situation or why you want to retire to the Philippines or if you know anything about the Philippines, so I just give you this warning. Even though the Philippines has modeled their country around the U.S., it is not the U.S. People can get deported at the whim of a government official or an accusation of a citizen or fighting and anything illegal.
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The Philippines happens to be one of the countries in which you can receive your social security benefits through direct deposit into Philippine bank account so you should have not problem. By retiring early I assume you mean to retire at age 62, is that correct? I retired at 62 and have lived in both the Philippines and now here in Vietnam. In Vietnam I can only access my money through an ATM and it cost me every time I make a withdrawal, Not so in the Philippines. An update to this post and answer: I am now receiving my social security monthly payment by direct deposit straight into my Vietnam Bank account. It takes a while but eventually they will get around to it.