drogon Posted February 26, 2008 Report Share Posted February 26, 2008 Just noticed a trend for the USD and GB pound to weaken against other currencies these last months. Of course when compared to the Bht it is a bad deal and I must say that some expats/retired in LOS will certainly suffer. The fact that the pound is weakening made me refuse a job offer 2 weeks ago..... Remember checking pounds against euro a few months ago and it was around 1.5 euros for 1 pound, this last month it dropped at 1.3....... A job looks immediately less interesting in the UK especially if one takes into account the crazy cost of living there..... From what I understood reading the bkk post and the nation, the bht will not weaken anytime soon since the central bank tried to take measures to weaken it but the new "government" just decided to revert back.......while claiming to attract investors. Was planning to build a house in Thailand/buy a condo next year but I will wait. OH: Why do not you leave your USD and come work in Europe? :grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickman Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 It's really hard to know what to do with one's money. I guess in an ideal world one would try and have income coming in in different currencies. Maybe income from employment in the country they live, and investment income from another country perhaps... That is about the only way I think one can somewhat insulate themselves from currency fluctuations. I know a few American retirees in Pattaya. I remember having a conversation with one who felt that $300,000 would be enough to retire on. At the time that was north of 12 million baht, a tidy sum. Now it is not much more than 9. That changes things. And for sure, there are plenty of guys retired who have much less. Tough times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drogon Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Wow You can now exchange 1 euros for 1.5 USD......... Wonder what it will imply for Asian currencies and therefore the baht?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 It's really hard to know what to do with one's money. I guess in an ideal world one would try and have income coming in in different currencies. Maybe income from employment in the country they live, and investment income from another country perhaps... That is about the only way I think one can somewhat insulate themselves from currency fluctuations. Stick, Fully agree with you. I don't think that I would consider retiring in Thailand based purely on overseas investments / incomes and be reliant on the fickleness of exchange rates to support my lifestyle in retirement, not unless I was a millionaire which I am not, it seems too risky. On the other hand though, Thailand has been my home base since 1991 when I first worked here, if no work in Thailand I went wherever there was work for a few months and then back "Home". Early 1998 when the baht was at its weakest and property values slumped I decided to take a gamble and invest in property here, I have always been of the opinion Thailand is like a Casino only play with what you can afford to loose. I think this was the time I made the concious decision of spending the rest of my life here. As it stands nowadays, on paper my initial investment has increased over 7 fold, but these are Thai investments so one can not be too careful and rely on them fully, it is like have a good run on the roulette table. As you stated dual source income, I get quite a decent living allowance in THB and my STG salary is paid and invested offshore which gives some sort of redundancy against any major catastrophies in the global financial markets (I hope). I am planning on retiring when I am 55, so I have another 11 years to go before then by which time I would have been Thai based for 28 years and 21 of those years would include Thai investments as well as offshore. IMHO it is a long term stratergy in order to protect oneself / ones future and not just a simple decision of "I am retired I have US$300K in the bank lets retire to Thailand" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 would you retire with just 300k usd? it also depends on life expectation; of course for those who drink and fuck themselves to death in Pattaya it is enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Samak, I have stated in previous "how much do you need to retire" type postings, that I would consider 150,000 Baht / month at todays prices a reasonable amount to maintain the lifestyle and enjoy freetime of retirement. At 30-25 THB / US$ that is US$ 5-6000 / month for life plus additional for reinvestment to keep up with the rise in cost of living, 300K would not last very long. My Grandfather was 92 when he died, my father is 77 and only stopped running marathons when he was 75, hopefully I do have a long retirement ahead of me and need to plan accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nordicman Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 We are heading into unchartered waters with all the all the bad debt that is out there. Also, 18 of the 20 major currencies are inflating their currencies by double digits. For eg. the US dollar's (estimated M3) money supply is currenting (yoy) growing at approx 15%. Last I heard the Euro was at 11% and similarly for the Pound. Obviously these economies are not growing at these rates, therefore, I would expect prices to increase accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTO Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Mekong - yu run Marathons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 CTO, I have done a few in the past, but in Thailand the BKK Half is a killer, I sometimes go out with PH3 (Pattaya Hash House Harriers) I dont have the time for every hash. How do you think I keep the weight down? it sure aint my diet or my limited alcohol intake! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIGJAM Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 Obviously you guys dont remember the exchange rates of pre-97 when is was approx 25 to US$ and 40 to STG. And obviously you guys don't remember pre-97 prices (in Baht, in Thailand)... As for "the dollar is falling" argument as the sole or main explanation for the strong Baht, the Euro has just hit its record high against the Dollar yet it's worth "only" 47/48 Baht so it's relatively far from the highs of few years ago and the peaks briefly reached in more recent times. And in recent times, we have even had lows of 42/43... In other words, along with the dollar weaking the Baht has definitely been strenghtening! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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