Retire to the Philippines and Succeed
You Ask, I Answer. Find Your Answers Here.
Work From Home In The Philippines
I recently released an article on this subject, but there were some things I didn’t mention in that article that ought to be made clear.
You should read my first article to get more idea of what I am talking about.
Online Jobs At Home In The Philippines —September 2019
Go ahead, I’ll wait right here for you.
[Read more…] about Work From Home In The Philippines
In case you are not aware, the Manila U.S. Embassy’s phone number changed recently.
It is now: 02-5-301-2000.
The sneaky 5 was added.
The Social Security office can also be reached at that number.
When the recording starts, press 9. Social Security only takes calls on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8am to 11am.
Thanks and a tip of the hat to the folks at RAO Subic Bay.
Also, and a further tip of the hat to reader Lewis:
Anyway, I called the U.S. Embassy (today, Dec. 9, 2019), to get the numbers for the Visa Call Center, and the numbers given in the recording are not complete/correct. I called the embassy mainline, got the operator and got the correct numbers. Please take note:
02-8548-8223
02-7792-8988
Help With Getting Her Visa — Rapid Visa
OK, time to talk turkey here (after all, it’s now close to Thanksgiving, isn’t it?).
Query after query come to me here, and via email, about help in getting their Filipino friends, especially Pinay girlfriends, US B-2 Visitor Visas to enter the United States.
Normally this is a situation where I just can’t offer much hope. It’s difficult, indeed, for a single, marriage-eligible female Philippine citizen to get a US Tourist visa.
You Can Still Make Money From Your Job After You Retire.
If you’re like most readers who drop by here, you are interested in two primary questions:
How can I earn money to live in the Philippines?
And how can I find something to do in retirement which will be satisfying, rewarding and (maybe) even profitable?
If you’ve visited this blog before, you already know I STRONGLY recommend that foreigners do NOT try to find a job in the Philippines. In many cases, it may be illegal. It will also involve very low wages and long tiring hours, and (at least in my personal opinion) it’s morally wrong for a foreigner with a pension income to try to take a job from a Filipino with a family to support.
Read more about why you don’t want a job here: 10 Reasons You Don’t Want A Job In The Philippines
Well, in many cases you will run into the same sort of problems you’ll face with a Philippine job.
Many businesses are not legal for a foreigner to own or operate.
Most businesses foreigners think of in the Philippines have low margins/low-profit potential.
And a great many foreigners I have dealt with have a rather arrogant opinion regarding how things are “better” back in their own country and everything with a Filipino business will be alright and things will run smoothly once a foreigner “shows them how”.
I have news for you on that. Philippine businesses have been running, in some cases for hundreds of years, and a foreigner is often not going to “out-Filipino a Filipino” on his home turf. It’s better not to try.
Clearly, if you need to make some money and a local job or business is not a good choice, you need a specific slot or niche where you have experience and where you are expert enough to have earned a living for some years.
[Read more…] about You Can Still Make Money From Your Job After You Retire
Whatever You’re Thinking, Think Bigger.
I’m currently working with a couple of Americans who plan to move to the Philippines “someday”, and try to earn a living with their own business.
They have a depressingly mundane small set of ideas that come up constantly … over and over again.
Life can be very hard here for small businessmen and women, trust me on that … or find it out for yourself, your choice.
[Read more…] about Business Advice For Anyone: Whatever You’re Thinking, Think Bigger
Philippine Marriage and the Am I Considered Married Question
Recently I received another comment with questions on this surprisingly common issue. Is there any way a Filipino, who was legally married as recognized by the Philippines, be considered legally “un-married” by the Philippines and.or the US government.
(As always, remember that these are my layman’s opinions, offered for information and discussion purposes. They are NOT legal advice and they should not be construed as legal advice in the Philippines or in any other country)
Of course, we all know (or if you didn’t, you will learn now), that there is no divorce in the Philippines. The common legal “remedies” to being married include:
Today’s comments, (from reader Leonor, thanks, Leonor) (in blue) and my responses deal with that fourth alternative, dissolution of marriage by the presumptive death of a spouse:
[Read more…] about Philippine Marriage and the Am I Considered Married Question
Still Married After All These Years.
One of the saddest categories of articles I write and comments I answer here on PhilFAQS are those regarding Divorce in the Philippines.
The sad truth is, the is no divorce in the Philippics (for Christian folks at least).
And although the laws involved are not openly discriminatory to the women of the Philippines, in actual practice they disenfranchise women here to the utmost and essentially ruin many Philippine women’s lives forever.
For some background I recommend those who haven’t yet done so read this Marriage, Nationality and Divorce Go ahead, I’ll wait.
[Read more…] about Still Married After All These Years
By Atty. Rita Linda V. Jimeno
The story of Rosanne in my column last week triggered numerous reactions from readers that merit discussion. As a jump-off point, we shall encapsulate Rosanne’s case. Her Filipino husband who used to be loving and conscious of his familial obligations, abandoned all his duties toward her and their children when, as a result of his prolonged employment abroad, he found a new love. He then divorced her and married his lover with whom he now has two children.
We said that there is a gap in our family law because while her husband is no longer married to her, she remains married to him, an incongruous situation which our family law offers no solution to… Read Full Article Here
But you have to take into account that here in the Philippines, logic does not always apply.
I’ve had a number of online conversations lately about folks in the same or similar situations as the lady described in Attorney Jimeno’s article.
There is always a lot of discussion when a foreigner and a Filipino marry, often centering around where the marriage should take place and where, or when (if ever) they could divorce.
Now to most people’s logic, “marriage” and “divorce” (or “annulment”) are binary options. You can’t be in both situations at the same time.
The title of this article never ceases to amaze me. When I check the keywords and terms that people use to find this site online, that exact sentence turns up often. I already rank at the top of Google for searches like:
Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — Without Typing
and
Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — No Website Required
But why the heck is the phrase “without PayPal” showing up so often?
[Read more…] about Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — Without PayPal
Another article on how to Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines, Dave?
Yep. I just published one a day or two ago, and although there have been no comments so far, I can see a LOT of people have already been there and read it.
If you missed it, go take a look, Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines — No Website Required I’ll be happy to wait.
The gist of that article was to use your writing skills .. even common ordinary business and personal English skills, to earn a living in the Philippines as a freelance researcher/ writer. There is certainly a huge demand out there.
Yeah, I hear a few of you saying that already. No problem at all. If you hate writing, but still want to earn a steady, reliable passive income from “the Internet”, here’s an idea I have not written about really often here … why not invest in a proven online business that has:
Here’s a teaser to what I am talking about. Yaro Starak, the fellow who wrote this article, is one of my oldest online colleagues. he’s been earning a six-figure or more income for years now, and he is not a fly by night or “fast-talking” Internet marketing guru (I hate those sort of guys as much as you do).
A warning. Yaro _IS_ selling something but here’s why I am including his article:
Philly recommends, you leave your credit card in your wallet for now and read and learn something. Trust me it is more valuable than yet another hour wasted on FaceBook.
by Yaro Starak, http://www.ejinsider.com/buyandsell/
FEAR NUMBER ONE:
“I don’t have that kind of money!”
The great thing about buying a blog is you can decide how “big” a start you want to make.
There are blogs that sell for $20K, $50K or even six or seven figures, but you don’t have to start there.
You can get started with just a couple of hundred dollars.
Buy a blog, grow it and then sell it and buy a bigger blog, or keep it and save up the cash flow to buy another blog.
When I bought a blog it cost me $2,000, which was about 10% of the entire income I earned in the previous year. It was not an easy decision, but it was important because it gave me the confidence to make bigger purchases in the future.
Later I bought sites for $12,000, and after that made a bid of $50,000 for a blog network.
I climbed the success ladder, starting small, learning, then increasing my threshold for how much I was willing to risk as my knowledge and confidence increased.
The truth is, like any investment you have to be prepared to lose your money. That’s why if you are completely new, you should start with a blog that costs only a few hundred dollars.
Consider this: Is there any other type of investment that you can start with such a small amount initially, earn a steady cash-flow from it, and potentially make as much as 1,000% ROI when you sell the asset two years later?
To get these kinds of returns in real estate or in the stock market requires you exposé yourself to a lot more debt.
If you buy a blog, the likely “worse case scenario” is selling the blog for the same price you paid, losing nothing and gaining a heck of a lot of experience.
Or, you might have a winner on your hands, like I did, selling the blog I bought for $2,000 for $25,000 just two years later. Plus I was making $1,000 per monththe entire time I owned the blog.
I can’t think of any better opportunity available to us right now. Don’t let this pass you by… (read more at http://www.ejinsider.com/buyandsell/ or you can just
Here are just a few:
This business grew out of a great internet discussion forum some years ago. They now sell thousands of web sites and other online businesses per year.
The sites sold her are always among the cheapest. Although the management team has done a lot over the years to eliminate fraud and scams, this is still very much a “buyer beware” marketplace.
But if you do your own due diligence it is possible to get some great bargains on Flippa.
I know (online and in-person) the founders of this business. They are from the US and came to the Philippines to start a business here.
Originally they built and sold small “niche” sites, but then decided that there was more money to be made and that they could provide more value by brokering web site sales.
Recognized by many as the top of the line in web site brokering, they have a very thorough vetting program. You will not make a bad buy here if you follow their guidelines.
Recommended
But I thought I’d throw this out there and hope to get some discussion. It’s really not that hard to find ecommerce websites and blogs that earn a few hundred to a few thousand per month for sale at attractive prices. Easier than say building an apartment building and keeping it rented.
But maybe you guys hate this idea for how to Make Money At Your Keyboard in the Philippines.
