Comments on: Can you Retire on $500 per month?

By: John

John — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:51:03 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to comment Graham.

I agree that more money is definitely better. As a couple, my wife and I can have a pretty decent lifestyle on $2000 per month in most countries around the world. Often it is only around $1000 per month. We do make some sacrifices, but I don’t feel we are giving up much. We have found that most of the things we used to spend money on were unnecessary, unhealthy, or both. It is very liberating to cut back consumption and live a simple lifestyle.

Sure it would be nice to have three or four thousand dollars of disposable income every month, but then we would also have to work to earn that much money. Instead we have the time and freedom to volunteer and work on projects we enjoy. We are still young, and will certainly earn an income again, but it will be because we enjoy the work, not because we need the money.

By: graham

graham — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:22:27 +0000

i might add that $400 a week is as a single person who doesn’t frequent bars or the girls-double that if you are a young person intending to go out every night.

By: graham

graham — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:15:48 +0000

lots of fascinating stuff here.i retired 5 years ago at 57 just in time for the gfc.i have lost 20 percent of my lumpsum invested with a financial advisor(should have taken control of it like i suggested initially).anyway,since then,it has taken a number of years to really figure out what is a reasonable income in retirement.i am lucky in that i own my own home and have rented a room at 7000 dollars extra income a year the last 2 years.i have been getting a private pension of 25000 since i retired.(i realise what a bonus this is)and i draw money out of my lump sum.i am a divorced father of three and have always been very frugal(no choice)and apart from my earlier mortgages have never got into debt preferring to save first then buy something.i have been spending 2-4 months a year in thailand(not bangkok or phuket which are expensive)and find if you get a hotel room or condo for a month you can save more than half for accommodation.i can get a hotel room for 10 dollars a night in offsaeson-no one seems to mention high season which is approx nov-mar in thailand and is almost twice as expensive.
girlfriends have been known to call me a tightarse but i would not want to live on less than 35000 dollars in retirement if you want to feel like you can do things when you want.i live on 400 dollars a week in tahiland-wouldn’t want to do it on any less than that.that gives me a 3star hotel with pool on the coast,a motorbike,and eating out with the occasional bottle of red(anything western in asia is expensive!)
other things to consider-a friend of mine in this hotel-an english pensioner-has seen his pension reduce from 60 baht to 47 baht per pound and he doesnt get the inflation increases he would have got if he was living in the uk-basically a 25 percent reduction in his pension and not a damned thing he can do about it.just another thing to trip you up!
in summary,whilst the idea of early retirement is appealing to many people,if you leave work early it will drastically reduce your final pension and if you live overseas you are hostage to the exchange rate.also,asia is getting dearer-you may have to look at alternatives in the future.i’m so glad i’m old!

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By: td

td — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 06:14:37 +0000

US$500/month is not much. US$2,000 would offer a much better quality of life.

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:47:23 +0000

Right now in 2011 if you put your dollars in a Vietnam bank for one year they will pay you 14% interest. Granted over the last 5 yrs inflation has been at 5% but still that’s a 9% return which ain’t bad from a bank.

By: John

John — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:39:40 +0000

My wife and I can sometimes get our expenses down to $1000 per month depending on where we are. So $500 per person, is certainly not impossible. However, travel costs, insurance, medical expenses and general entertainment can quickly inflate those numbers.

I recommend trying to live as cheap as you can, but always have a year or so of back up income in case of emergencies.

By: Neale

Neale — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:54:44 +0000

I agree those things we tend to forget If I was to factor in a trip home each year + health insurance I would be around $700 even though I don’t want for nothing I do have to continuously be aware of what I’m spending otherwise I would be spending a lot more.

By: John

John — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 20:50:53 +0000

Hi Neale,

Thanks for the update. $500 per month is a tough budget to maintain. I am glad to hear that you can do it. My uncle is based out of Chang Mai and he says he easily lives for less than $1000 but he has Corporate health insurance from his old company in Canada. Travel costs also probably add several hundred dollars a month to his expenses as well.

By: Neale

Neale — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:00:01 +0000

Well three months on and I feel the need to update my post I’m now basing out of Chiang Rai and the $500 a month number is fairly easy to do here. A small studio here in a brand new building nice area goes for about $100 per month it’s easy to eat for less than a dollar I have been living here for way less than $500 pm without wanting for anything. I can add though this comes after 12 months of learning all the in and outs here in Thailand, which did cost a lot more than $500 per month.