Retire to the Philippines and Succeed

Finding Work in the Philippines At 60+.

(Updated 31 December 2018)

Recently a reader made a comment here on PhilFAQS and asked for help on a couple possible issues people often come here to learn about:

i am a 65 year old Retired teacher and Asst. Principal. I was thinking about moving to Philippines to live Although I have a pension, I was wondering about finding some kind of work and good ,safe place to live. Can you help?

Well, of course, I can help with questions like that, and I did:

Welcome Harold, I’ve written more than 1000 articles here so (I’ve been waiting for the chance to say this to a teacher for years), Do Your Homework 

Places to start reading and learning:

Places to Live:

The Best Places to Live in the Philippines

Earning for Teachers:

Online Eraning TODAY for Teachers and Other Smart People Who Aren’t Computer Geeks

Note: I DO NOT recommend Americans come here to the Philippines and try to earn FROM the Philippines.

It’s a terrible idea in many different ways.

But I STRONGLY recommend “learning to earn” even before making a move, and to LIVE in the Philippines but making money from the Rest of the World.

As you can see by Shane and Jocelyn’s  story above, teachers are ideally suited for this business model

Well after I posted that answer to Harold I’ve done quite a bit more thinking about it (and also about the typos I made in my original response … hopefully, all fixed in this version 😉

Let Me Amplify a Bit

These are my opinions only, of course, and reader Harold is more than free to take any direction he chooses to, but I think these points ought to at least be considered.

There Are More Ways To Earn Than Begging for a J*O*B

Let me give just a few examples of what I meant by my last sentence in my response to Harold above … why teachers are uniquely qualified to “flip their lifestyle” and start empowering their own retirement.

They should not even consider schlepping around trying to find an “opportunity” to sell themselves short with a “J*O*B”, whatever their age … or wherever they chose to live:

First:

Not only teachers but the vast majority of folks who come here looking for “work” in the Philippines are making a huge mistake … whether they actually follow through and move here and persist in “looking for work”, or even if they weigh all their options and then decide to stay back there in the USA.

I’ve written about this extensively … here’s one of my better articles on the subject to get you started.

Here’s One Of The Reasons I Tell You To Think Bigger — You Are So Much More

You really should read this article.  I really put my heart out on my sleeve when I wrote it.

There are days when my mail from people wanting to move to the Philippines just throws me into depression, because all these competent, capable people who have managed their lives and brought themselves along through 50 or 60 or 70 years of living will just sit down and write to a perfect stranger, describing themselves in terms that show they think so little of themselves.

Sometimes I get so sad I just have to quit for the day and go pinch blossoms off the tomatoes.

Too depressed to read more.

It’s saddening, maddening really, folks who should be proud of their achievements and successes writing to tell me they are willing to accept almost any job at any insulting wage just to make the move

Second:

As a teacher and a school administrator (principal), Harold has a unique, respected and, frankly, in the broad spectrum of all the readers passing by here, a pretty unique set of qualifications.

At the least an undergrad degree, a masters degree, a record of sticking with contracts and work projects, various state and/or national professional licenses and other qualifications, and no doubt a great deal of patience and perseverance.

If any of you guys think that is “something to sneeze at”, take it from this high school drop out, ADD/ADHD perpetual procrastinator and serial “quitter”, me … it is nothing to sneeze at.

Not at all.  Holding a job and raising a family and staying out of jail and out of the graveyard for 50 or 60 years is a great accomplishment.  It didn’t happen just by “luck”.

Third:

Before I rush off and blast about another thousand words or two, let me focus on just one thing Harold could do … even today … and even back in the US of A … to empower himself to be able to earn while living here in the Philippines (or anywhere else on earth).

Pick one of his special qualifications/licenses/professional designations … something he studied for, worked hard and long to get … and help others attain that goal.

Real World Example

Here’s a perfect example of how my friend Pat Flynn got his start by basically transcribing his study notes for a professional exam.  See Green Academy’s story.  Pat basically just built a continuing, on-going business from helping people do just one specialized skill he had … passing a specific qualification exam.

This business nets him (that’s profit after all expenses) consistently more than $2000 USD per month.

Maybe not a fortune, but way more than anyone needs to live well in the Philippines.

And for that matter, one heck of a supplement to even a generous pension back in the USA.

And for any of the “nitpickers” out there who are mumbling “But Dave started talking about what teachers could do, and this example is about people taking a professional exam in the field of architecture”, there’s a reason I chose this example.

I do not know for sure how many architects out there are interested in taking this exam.

My guess would be in the thousands per year.

But there are many, many times the number of teachers and professional school administrators out there in the USA than there are architects … for sure.

For every architect who wants to pass Pat’s exam, there are probably 100 or more teachers trying to reach their next certification goal.

You can earn even from a small market, but as we like to say here in the Philippines, “The More The Many-er”

Think It Through:

So what do you think, Harold?

Or anyone else in the education field?

What skills or special qualifications do you have that you can help people succeed at … and get paid in the process for?

And This IS Not Only For Seniors!

For those who didn’t follow the link when they first saw it. go back and read about Shane’s (a former high school football coach) and Jocelyn’s (a former school librarian) Flipped Lifestyle site.

I especially recommend their story.

They “Flipped” their lifestyle from being “worker bees”, being told what they could earn.

To being empowered mentors, teachers, parents and entrepreneurs who decide for themselves what to work at, where to work, how much to work, and most importantly, how much to earn.

60 + Is Too Damn Old To Be Looking For “Work” … in the Philippines (or anywhere else, IMO)

Wow did that snap a few casual “skimming” readers awake?

How the hell can this guy Philly make a comment like that?!?

Easy.  I can because it is true.

Age discrimination is illegal in the USA, but anyone past 50 or so knows well that age discrimination exists in many forms, every day and no law is ever going to change that fact.

Age discrimination in the Philippines is NOT illegal, and there is little chance that will change any time soon.

At 60+ you are considered fit for retirement (meaning without work) and nothing much else.

My Solution?

Simple.  Just don’t even put yourself into a situation where you can be discriminated against.

Start now, today, to design your own future, make your own way and build your own financial independence.

Let those who spend their life being happy spending their days worrying about how much they are “allowed” to make stew in their own juice.  You are so much more than that

Finding Work in the Philippines At 60+.