Comments on: How Low Can You Go With Philippine Cost of Living?

By: Philly

Philly — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:33:09 +0000

Hello Wayne, thanks for writing in. Sorry to hear about the divorce situation, been there, done that, but she took the T-shirt. It’s no secret that the VFW here is nt really the Veterans of Foreign Wars but instead the Victims of Former Wives

There’s plenty need for physicians here, and plenty also for your specialty … and teaching? I’m not sure what the MD schools need, but nursing schools are chronically short of teachers, supervisors and deans … many are on waivers because they can’t find supervisory/leadership personnel was required by their charters and Philippine law.

Can you live on half a Navy retirement check alone? A lot would depend on whether the first digit in your retired pay grade is an “E” or an “O”. If you retired in a typical medical officer grade like an O-4 or O-5 for example. no problem.

Will it meet your expectations? As the Bard said, “Aye, there’s the rub.” It works for me and for perhaps a couple hundred thousand other expats living here … no one knows for sure …but there’s close to 100 millionsa Filipinos here and it’s their country and it sure ai’t Kansas any more.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:43:18 +0000

I am a 54yo male divorced physician specializing in geriatric(med for those over 50). I would like to retire in the next yr or so and would
like to try to retire In the phillipines as I like the people and the culture. I do not have a lot of money as my wife took most of it in our divorce but I will have half of my navy retirement ck which should be enough to live on. I would like to teach medicine there or volunteer in a clinic if possible. I would also like to meet a nice filipina lady in 25-35 age range as I had a fiilipna girlfriend yrs ago and still wish I had married her. I basically am looking for a quiet And safe lifestyle where I can eat healthy foods, jog regularly, maybe learn guitar and Spanish, read, and enjoy my life with a pleasant and attractive lady. Any thoughts on if the phillipines could meet my expectations? Thanks.
meet my expectations? Thanks.

By: Paul Thompson

Paul Thompson — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:52:11 +0000

Hi Richard and Dave;
Supporting the wife’s family is something you must draw the line on. I’ll help with education (I’ve put 4 through college) and I’ll help with medical costs. But support some slug who wants to sit and text all day and me pay for his load? That is what jobs are for, and I’ll explain it to them quite clearly.

By: Philly

Philly — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:10:29 +0000

Excellent thoughts there, Richard, thanks. That’s something so many guys seem to run afoul of. They don’t allow for the unexpected, and then when it happens .. bang. Either they start trying to support everyone and run themselves broke, or they get into a mode where they are angry, putting the wife in an agonizing position over supporting the family over her husband, etc.

I’ve told a lot of guys this, and some listen, some don’t … especially the guys who get married in one whirlwind two week trip … you marry the girl, you marry her family … that’s an inescapable fact, so you better be sure the family and you are compatible.

By: richard

richard — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:57:24 +0000

Dave,

Thanks for bringing some of your usual common sense to this oft-repeated, but still-oft asked question. I have moved with my wife to her home town of Baybay Leyte to retire ,at least for now. We have been here only four weeks, so my own experience is obviously quite limited, but some preliminary thoughts from my perspective is that one must also keep in mind if you have any expenditures from outside the Philippines. For example I still pay my Medicare part B, have a house in the US where I share the electric bill with my renter and still pay a little bit for a a term life policy. This would .of course, reduce the amount available for the Philippines

Another consideration, as you mentioned, is the number of dependents. I have noticed that since our arrival we are basically paying the living costs for my wife’s brother,sister and their families, about nine in all. While living in Baybay is certainly cheaper than living in the U.S., if you are paying for nine people instead of just two, the cost of living suddenly begins to even out. So family circumstances must be taken into account. My early estimates are that my purely Philippines expenditures will be about $2,500. I suspect that as I learn my way around better, the amount will be adjusted.

Again thanks Dave for you website and if you’re interested I will let you know about any further thoughts on retirement costs here