I am an American living in the Philippines. Every now and then I hear some horror story of an expat who came here and is now broke and has no idea what to do.
Often this happens because they came here with totally unrealistic expectations. Like, someone told them, "In the Philippines, you can live like a king for $500 a month." Sorry, but no, that's just not true. The cost of living here is low and you can live better on $X here than you could live in the US on $X. But you most certainly cannot live like a king for $500 a month. I don't know what your idea of "living like a king" is, but if you're thinking, live in a palace with an army of servants, a fleet of limousines, and a couple of private jets, that will cost millions here just like it would in America. Fewer millions, I guess, but still millions.
In the same vein, I hear of many Americans who come here with savings of like $20,000 or $30,000 and think they're going to live on that for the rest of their lives. I wonder if these people even did some basic arithmetic. If you're frugal, you could live here for maybe $1,000 a month. I wouldn't want to live on that, but it's possible. So at that rate, $30,000 will last you about 2 1/2 years. So then what? Do you have a plan?
Some say, "When the money runs out, I"ll get a job." Good luck. For starters, if you're here on a tourist visa, you cannot legally get a job. But even if you could, the average person in the Philippines makes $400 per month. Not per day, not per week, per MONTH. Are you prepared to live on $400 a month? Let's say that costs here are half what they are in the US. So that would be the equivalent of $800 per month in the US. Whoop de doo.
If you came here with investments of $1 million, and you're making profits of, say, 5% per year, than sure, $1 million would give you $50,000 per year, enough to live nicely here. But do you have that kind of nest egg?
Expats I know of that are doing well here are mostly retirees, living on a pension and/or social security and/or profits from investments. Personally, I'm collecting social security and I supplement this with profits from investments.
I've heard of people who have some kind of on-line job, where they're working for a western company at a western salary, but they can work remotely, on-line, here in the Philippines. That could work.
If you're planning to come here, I urge you to examine your finances and do some basic math. If you have an income, is it enough to truly support you? If you're planning to live on accumulated savings, how long will it last?
Have a plan. Don't just come here thinking, I'll figure it out when I get there. Don't just expect you'll be able to get an on-line job or start a YouTube channel after you get here. Have it lined up before you come. Know how much you'll make from it, and make sure that's something you can live on.
© 2024 by Jay Johansen
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