Welcome and thanks for commenting. A whole lot of questions rolled into one there, and the way I write I’m liable to go on for page after page … so I’m going to break som eof your questions out into separate articles. If you look at my topic/series on moving here you’ll find I have spent quite a few words on some of those questions including the bank I use, why, etc.

To answer one or two of your queries right off the bat:, many retirees operate wihtout a bank here but I couldn’t live that way, I want a bank around the orner that I can deal with. And yes there is depositors insurance here … PDIC. it’s much like the FDIC in the US with an important difference … it hasn’t been caught with no money in it’s funds like the FDIC was a few weeks back

I’m always a bit amazed by how important depositor insurance is to the average American … in the real money centers of the world, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands, etc. there is no insurance… the FDIC is just a crutch to let dodgy banks work too close to the edge, in my view and recent events seem to bear me out on that.

Anyway, welcome to the ‘club’ here and best wishes for success in your future plans

Questions on your thoughts on the following. I am planning to retire in PI in April and would like you opinions.

My plan is to save up some cash prior to retirement to tide me over until the stock market recovers so I won’t have to touch my stocks or 401K for a while. I’m thinking that it might make sense to open an account in a PI Bank so I could avoid the transaction costs and hassles in transfering the money from the states. In order to do this I could bring cash with me when I visit in December and again when I move there in April.

Does this make sense, or are there no advantages over paying myself monthly from my US Checking account deposited into my PI account?

Are PI Banks secure as in FDIC type insurance?

If I were to do this, what is better, a peso or dollar account?

Which banks in PI are considered financially strongest, most honest, easy to work with, and accomodating to US retirees?

Thanks alot. When I get to PI, I can serve as a Subic contact if you need one.

I note you were paying$7 a transfer when it was working? Just as a point of reference, with RemitHome it is 8 dollars per transfer from any bank to any bank, so not as much difference as I thought.

I opened a peso savings account with PNB in the Philippines a few years ago. I have ATM access to the money while in the RP. And online access to the account anytime from anywhere. Before leaving the US for the RP, i would transfer money from my US bank to the PNB account via the PNB branch in Los Angeles. The money would be converted to pesos automatically minus the $7 conversion fee. For a while it was very easy and convenient.

Then PNB decided to change my account number and i had to re-register for online access. I also had to reestablish the transfer from my US bank to to PNB. Then my US bank got stricter on setting up new transfers. I haven’t been able to get my online access back yet and i need it to get the transfer working again. Big headache. I might need to get my sister-in-law to go in to the bank branch as my personal “fixer’.

I would still recommend that people open an account in the RP at a bank like PNB that also has branches in their home country. If you are lucky, everything will work smoothly as it did for me for years. But if there are problems, be prepared for it to take some time to get worked out.