Thoughts on budgeting for living in Thailand long term ...

[Smiles]

" ... As I have exposed before, I am not your typical "sex tourist" living in Thailand, as I have almost zero libido, so I guess that saves money on off fees and tips. (B2,000 per day X 365 days/year = B730,000 ~ $10k-$11k per year) ... "

Why the zero libido? I would not bring it up except for the fact you did yourself.
I suspect that there are either no other dudes on this Board who have such an interesting 'problem', or, none are about to admit it . . . being ~ as they are ~ surrounded on all sides by hundreds (nay, thousands) of Members here who think of little else besides sex.
Up to you if you wish to elaborate.

Cheers ...

[Gone Fishing]

Could anyone please just give me a really rough size of the nest egg they'd recommend before stopping work for a middle-class/upper-middle-class lifestyle in Thailand?

Brandon,

I think this is really a question for a financial expert that requires little or no knowledge of Thailand - although many here have the latter, few are the former (and if they were, they would probably be charging you for the information and not posting it here for free!). There are simply far too many variables, not only in terms of return on investments, but also personally. I don't just mean lifestyles, but also responsibilities - can your nest egg be spent so that it ends (hopefully) when you do, or do you have any heirs / partners to think about (or are you going to live forever), etc, etc. What of any future plans or aspirations - for example, I have more than sufficient for my own wants and needs (which is, apparently, far less than the vast majority of high rollers posting here) but more would be nice so that we could visit some of the places and (assuming I still can) do some of the things I did before we met. Also, and it is probably the most important and most difficult decision, what is the balance you want between youth and wealth - as one goes up, the other inevitably goes down!

Your possible monthly expenditure and living costs here are a different matter, and Smiles, X, Bob and Quiet 1's views and estimates of expenditure have been agreed by most posting on the subject as pretty reasonable and informative - just how much or, within reason, how little you spend is entirely up to you and although it is easy to compare costs it is well nigh impossible to compare lifestyles. One friend of mine who was complaining to me a few years ago about his Swiss bank having converted some of his funds to Euros (he would probably not be complaining now!) budgeted (again, a few years ago) a minimum of 75,000 baht a month for himself, his wife and young daughter just to eat at home (not including eating out), and a typical meal was a bowl of spaghetti bolognese (topped with some very expensive cheese, washed down with a glass of very mediocre wine)!

If you want to compare costs then you have to be pretty specific, as although you will get some honest opinions (as well as a lot of bullshit) you have to realise that what one person sees as "reasonable" in terms of lifestyle / quality / cost others will see as cheap /expensive / luxury / survival, etc. It is also very misleading to compare "like for like" with only a few selected items, be it food, cars, houses or boys - you need to look at the overall picture and that is not always easy. As has been said elsewhere, if your sole reason for retiring or moving to anywhere in Thailand is financial, then don't even consider it.

I think you're right! Oh and there's one other charge you forgot to add to the list. Board's biggest bore.

Well, Aunty, anything is better than the Board's biggest bullshitter - but at least you are thinking (or so you claim), which is unusual.

[quiet1]

(B2,000 per day X 365 days/year = B730,000 ~ $10k-$11k per year)


*footnote: US$1,000 is currently B35,000, GBP 685, EURO 737, AUD 1400

So let's see, B730,000/ B35,000 comes out to $10,000 ???

Whoops. B73,000 ~ $20=-$21k. Khor toht!

[quiet1]

" ... As I have exposed before, I am not your typical "sex tourist" living in Thailand, as I have almost zero libido, so I guess that saves money on off fees and tips. (B2,000 per day X 365 days/year = B730,000 ~ $10k-$11k per year) ... "

Why the zero libido? I would not bring it up except for the fact you did yourself.
I suspect that there are either no other dudes on this Board who have such an interesting 'problem', or, none are about to admit it . . . being ~ as they are ~ surrounded on all sides by hundreds (nay, thousands) of Members here who think of little else besides sex.
Up to you if you wish to elaborate.

Nothing much to elaborate on. Sex is a very low priority and becomes increasingly so as time goes by. Tried testosterone therapy, amongst other things, and it lead nowhere but to a killer zit on my butt cheek that required minor surgery to remove. (I have before and after surgery pictures of it, if there are any morbidly curious folks here.) My USA doctor tried testosterone injections, pills and an ointment. When I was in my early 40's he said I had the testosterone level of a 75 year old man. Though I haven't checked, I'm sure it's gone down since then.

I do have occasional gusts of sexual interest, but they are brief and infrequent.

Enough thread drift (hijacking?) for now.

[brandon]

Thanks incredibly, guys. This is great stuff, especially your different viewpoints & seeing how different things that are important affect the cost of living.

I am definitely going to want boys; now it's about 2-4/week & I suspect I'll have the same drive there.
I hope the Thai's are more tolerant and accepting of age, which is one of the reasons I consider it so highly as a possibility.
I also hear that, in general, the culture is a relatively happy and enjoyable one, and I would like to live in a very different culture for a major change.

I'm not real flashy (except for the odd car or whatever, but don't expect to have a car over there so these will be sold). I'm not a luxury freak; my total cost of living (phone, utilities (heat & air), electricity & insurance) plus 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment with fairly simple washer/dryer, dishwasher, parking for 4 cars, etc. is $2,200 US/month excluding food. I don't drink alcohol at all or smoke. So that's pretty cheap living for San Diego. The biggest exception, though, is that San Diego temperatures are between 45 and 90 degrees Farenheit year round with 20-40% humidity (we get an ocean breeze) so I don't need A/C to keep the apartment around 70 degrees. However, when we lived in Philadelphia, in a similar size place, our power bills were in the $500-600/month range. That's why I worry about bandwidth and power so much, I guess.

Knowing my personality (odd), I'll probably at some point meet up with a Thai I'd like to be with. I guess I would then pay for him as well, and would want a 2-bedroom apt, although a 1 bedroom 1 1/2 bath would probably do as well. Lots to think about, but you have advanced my thinking and I appreciate it. Thanks.