Here’s a little post under the broad heading of how to Retire in the Philippines I’ve been meaning to write for some time. It’s perhaps 50% rant, and 50% good business idea going to waste, so be forewarned that I’m going to say a few things here about … how to retire in the Philippines, retirees, foreigners, Filipinos, those living in the Philippines, those retiring in the Philippines and other expats who want to know about visas and technicalities about the question of Philippine retirement…that are strictly my opinion (as if I ever don’t 
(say what’s on my mind, that is).
Retire in the Philippines — How Would people Know?
Just start out by asking yourself this question. Suppose someone had no idea of what retirement in the Philippines was all about, but for some reason decided to start learning about it?
In the year 2011, there’s an excellent chance that the potential retiree, or even a younger person thinking about starting a business in the Philippines, is going to type a query, something very much like “Retire in the Philippines” into our good friend Google. Isn’t that what most of you would do to start researching a new subject these days?
Of course Google is going to know thousands and thousands of things about how to Retiree in the Philippines, and it’s going to bring back the most relevant 10 pages in a matter of just a fraction of a second. You’ve all seen these pages, technically they are called SERPS … Search Engine Results Pages.
I just tried that query in Google a few minutes ago, and 10 sites came back, all looking to be pretty interesting. The top one in the list, I was glad to note, was the Philippine Retirement Authority site … the folks who administer the SRRV (Special Residents Retirement Visa) program … of which I’ll have a bit more to say about later.
But you know what kind of jumped out at me … stuck out sort of like a sore thumb, especially since it was the only paid ad on the page riding along with the free SERPs? This ad:
Retire in the Philippines — Malaysia?!?
Is Malaysia Part of the Philippines Now?
Nothing wrong with it at all. Malaysia runs a government-sponsored program for special visas for expats and other retirees that’s similar in many ways to the Philippine SRRV.
Anyone can buy ads on Google for any legitimate purpose … so the fact that the ad is there doesn’t stick in my craw from any legal or moral sense.
But in today’s world, where so much of commerce runs on the Internet, and especially here where people bug me continually about:
- How they could make money from the Philippines
- How they could help the Philippines
- how they could be involved in something that might earn them an honest dollar no matter if they lived in the US or the Philippines
That little ad certainly leaves me a little depressed. Opportunity just going to waste.
Retire in the Philippines — Where’s The Opportunity?
You want opportunity? OK, I’ll point one out to you.
The PRA (Philippine Retirement Authority) does more than just take people’s money and issue visas and ID cards. They have an active, ongoing program to market the SRRV. The requirements to become accredited as an SRRV marketer are on their website. In summary, the requirements are pretty simple. Anyone who wishes to can become an offical marketer for the SRRV program, including:
1. Single Proprietorship, with business address in or outside of the Philippines
2. Partnership
3. Corporation
4. Law Firm
Do you get remunerated (that means earn money, folks) for this accreditation? Well, if you deliver new SRRV members I believe the payout is $500 USD cash money (or maybe a check ).
Contact the PRA for the current details … I’m not selling anything here. My point in writing about this today is to try to show those who come here looking for direction and opportunity to think a little outside the box. Think more of yourself than just another sari-sari store or Internet cafe operator or some other ordinary day-to-day business hopeful. Set your sights higher than the lowest rung of the ladder.
Many of you reading this are active online enthusiasts and many are Filipinos or foreigners who love/are very interested and knowledgeable about the Philippines.
So ask yourself why some online businessman in Malaysia is making money by targeting Retire in the Philippines? Perhaps because nature abhors a vacuum. You want to do something that pays? Fill a need … and help others to Retire in the Philippines.
Interesting point but although backed by the government wouldn’t be the first things that have gone sour in the Philippines. If you take the Legacy Scandal which has been a long list of get rich schemes in the Philippines that went wrong I would say the only downside of setting this one up is like the others people put trust in you 100% which also includes responsibilities if anything goes wrong e.g. they decide to leave and find there is a delay in getting the money back and then you end up with abuse all over the internet about how they were duped when they hadn’t bothered to read any fine print in fact in many cases hadn’t read anything at all because they didn’t want the responsibility.. sounds mad I know but recently had someone rent an apartment for 1 day.. why one day? he asked if the area was safe at which point i said yes and if he wanted to go into the town would take him later as he was new to the country. He wandered off shortly after got on a jeepney and got pick pocketed for nearly $1000.00 who’s fault was it?? obviously mine.. as i said the area was SAFE even though he was no longer in the area and had headed into another town on a jeepney with completely random people in it. This is the realms of stupidity some people get into as they have no grasp of risk or safety. He then flipped out then disappeared early the next day.. without paying the rent for even an overnight stop or a beer tab. So something to be aware of is the backwards flack even if doing something for free!! never mind for profit.
Matt » Hello Matt, thanks for contributing.
Just to keep things in focus through, let’s not mix apples and oranges too much. The Legacy Scam was a notorious flim-flam, promoted (sadly), very heavily by many foreigners who greed exceeded their capacity to understand business.
The SRRV is 10 years old or so now, it’s 100% government-backed, and it essentially has no investment component at all, except putting money in a time deposit account at a (frankly, way too) low interest rate. There are many people who bad-mouth the SRRV morning, noon and night, but the funny thing is, I’ve never heard a complaint from anyone who was _on_ an SRRV … mainly the complaints come from nay-sayers riding along on free or nearly free spousal-related visas. But, your point is still well taken.
The “safety” question is the one I really can’t stand hearing. What is ‘safe”? The last year my wife and I lived in the USA, our home was broken into three separate times. The nearly 5 years we have been living here in the Philippines, our ome has never been burgled once.
Ergo, the Philippines is actually safer than the USA. Oh, wait a minute, that conclusion violated a few logic principles. OK, then Colorado, USA must be safer than the Philippines. Hmm, that doesn’t seem right either, does it.
This idea that certain areas, even whole countries are ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe’ is not a sustainable way to look at things. Read my recent post on losing my wallet (and having it returned 100% intact) the next day? Pretty heart warming. Want to drop you wallet in the same parking lot I dropped mine and see if it comse back the next morning … that must be a ‘safe’ area where I lost it, correct?
OF course not … tossing your wallet on the ground in a public parking area would be fool-hardy to the extreme in any country you want to mention.
I don’t believe in “safe” area and “unsafe” area very much. I do believe it’s not smart to carry around $1,000, either, but then, we almost all have from time to time. I am sure.
any coin op laundry’s in the PI ? maybe just a dryer service, good for the rainy season ??
zeke_axlerod » Hi Zeke. In some major cites you can find a few places that look a bit like US laundromats, although this would be pretty rare. One reason is the high cost (or high perceived cost) of gas or electric for the dryers.
Second reason is the business model just wouldn’t work here. No one who has enough money to pay for laundry is going to be seen actually washing and drying their own clothes. The only people who would be doing their own laundry are way too poor to pay for any sort of service .. for everyone else, well, we have “people” for that.
In any large town, even tiny places like where I live, there are wash/dry/fold shops … but how they dry the clothes, typically even in rainy season, is by hanging (under a roof, in front of a fan when it rains).
I have a regular size Sears dryer that we shipped here 4 years ago. It works fine, it has been re-purposed to be a bin for the plastic grocery bags that we re-cycle as trash bags, About 3 or 4 times a year I really wish I had gone ahead and done the necessary electrical work to have it hooked up, then the sun come sout again and the feelig subsides ….
Hi Philly: Many expat investors think that doing business in the Philippines is like doing business in their home country. Embezzlement of managers of business funds is a huge problem (relatives or not). My late parents run businesses to keep my mother’s family employed. My father was an accountant (retired from the U.S.) and my mother was a statistician (also retired from the U.S.). They kept a short lease on their managers to make sure that the company funds were intact. When they got too advanced in age, their children could not perform as well as they were able to, as we are all in the U.S. and we have jobs to maintain. Upon their passing, the businesses failed due to embezzlement of management (by both relatives and non-relative employees). The laws are very lenient and hardly enforced as long as no one physically dies. This is a major challenge for businesses.
Roselyn » I hear you, Roselyn, loud and clear. When I toss out business ideas … like facilitating visas and the rest of the actions needed in helping people move, I am pretty much only considering one-person or at most a mom and pop business, where the principals have their hands on the money pretty much 24-7. I have very few illusions about going in business here … that’s why I mostly recommend that people pursue ways of making thier money offshore, perhaps online, or perhaps by keeping an existing business in the US and managing it from here. Infinitely easier (and safer) than the standard “out up a business” here in the Philippines. That patch is fraught with danger and frustrations.
One reason I highlighted the visa opportunity is, it’s one of the few ideas I have seen anywhere that can be legally set up under Philippine law as a sole proprietorship … eliminating hundreds of ‘leakage’ opportunities. Anyway …
i am considering to retire and spend my golden years in an asian paradise…. i have visited thailand, cambodia, philippines and malaysia. in my humble opinion malaysia is by far the best option ! thailand has great food but immigration and language can be a problem, cambodia also has fine food and people are sooo sweet and immigration is easy i.e. just $ and one can become a citizen in just 3 years and buy property, philippines seems the worst option its dirty , dangerous and expensive. the philippines has a retirement visa but very expensive (its actually a scam) $1400 for application and 360 dollars a year to renew ! wow many filipinos dont even make 1400 dollars in a year ! and you have to deposit 10000 in a bank and of course the bank will lend this money out at 14% interest so they are making 1400 a year of you money ! MALAYSIA !!! its the best, gasoline (petrol) is half the price of the philippines and roads are nice, fruit veggies and postal services too are around half the price of the philippines and i can stay in malaysia 90 days versus just 21 in the PH, and when my tourist visa is about to expire just take the bus to brunei and come back in an hour and 90 days more ! you can do that for life and never have to apply for a retirement or residence visa etc absolutely free. in malaysia very little crime and poverty. why do i want to spend my remaining years surrounded by security guards , poverty and misery , pollution (noise, air, water) and overcrowded as in the case of the philippines !? THANK YOU MALAYSIA
@ Spongebob:
Thanks for your input. Nice to hear from someone who actually lives in Malaysia, rather than someone just trying to sell the place.
I don’t recommend one country over another, really. I will say though, respectfully, that you have mis-characterized the Philippine SRRV a bit. It really is not at all as much of a rip off as you say, and conversely, the equivilent visa for living there in Malaysia is now where near “free” either. But that’s OK, if you are happy, I’m happy and we do welcome your input.