Retire in India and live off interest payments?

Nick-H

Permanently, jasmin. I have no home anywhere else and, even affording trips back to the UK is going to be tough. Think about how some of you guys save up to come to india (like I used to) then think about saving up to visit a place where the cost of living is maybe ten times your home cost of living

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York Stiller

Hi Nick, I wonder if this thread isn´t a contradictionary one put into account that living in india means you need to have the right visa. I don´t know, but I would like to learn how all the posters want do deal with this problem when their time has come to move and live on their savings in India?

Or are they all of indian origin? I don´t get it.

monkgonemad

im actually doing this. it was initiated not at my desire - my it job/s went abroad (india) so i pulled up stakes and have been living abroad for 3 years. prior to that i had basically worked a contract/job and when it came to end - i often went back to asia (92-2003). i had it down to a science and was able to save huge money by living abroad when job prospects were dim and returning homw and sleeping on friends-realtives floor for first 6-8 weeks whicle finding work. when i would go id plan it all out so that my flat would free up a few days after i would leave the job.

anyway...

you must be disciplined saver/spender and forgo many luxuries for simple pleasures. this has not been difficult for me.

you must start with enough money. i did not and will be broke by the time i hit my social security. the way i figure it though, i will collect @ 62 (money finishes 65+/-) and i am the least of those they will not give full amount to if ss goes bust (in usa) as i will be broke.

next, as stated i do not have enough money at current rates so i have to pull from my principle. this is not a good thing but it is a necc thing (for me).

i have for years taken my medical/dental treatment in thailand where i have by and large resided. thailand has best value in the world for this.

thai baht has appreciated 25% in last few years. this has killed my living and even long holiday prospects in the country. it had great economies of scale. you must be prepared an dflexible to go wherever you must when these things happen.

my parents fly me back once a year so i dont pay for this. i do lots of gardening/yard work for them -but its not a swap. i love to work in the yard and told them after they moved to eastern usa in rural seaside area they would foot th ebill for the flight becasue it was very costly and hassle for me to get there. they are very ok with it. during this time i dont spend any money and when i go they buy me toiletries (razors). i beg money off no one.

my parents are kind and often give me about us750 a year in gifts which is about half what they give my siblings and their kids in gifts. i never beg money but know i could fall back on them if i had to. that is valuable.

about 75% of my money is covered and i pull about 25% off the principle annually.

not only has this worked for me, i have a great life that millionaires have told me they envied. no responsibilites, simple life, get up-go to bed as i wish, months of time with family. can go anywhere in th eworld i want -funds permitting. in thailand i had a great/exciting life that most at home throughly envy. i am a FREE man.

i have an inheritence to fall back on as well - or so my parents tell me ;-)

other than a few years w/ uni loan i have never been in debt.

YOU CANNOT BE IN DEBT

YOU CANT GO BACK after tasting three years of full freedom. yes, you can work jobs. but you cant become a work-a-day slug again, you will always need to know that in _____ youre back on th eroad.

the biggest thing i would tell anyone:

have your money saved, you cant go back
have a game plan financially
you should be in low/no risk investments
back up persons you can trust if all falls aprt (good not necc)
you should have a keen understanding of what your money will get you and be able to be happy with that.

in recent years i have had to move my monthly alotment up. im hoping that spending more time in india will help, but it is not the bargain it used to be and that goes for all of asia as well.

ive thought about writing a book about this subject - would anyone buy it? curious - pm me! there are many -retire early books - but mine would be differnet.

finally, everyone is in debt in usa, massive credit card debt, crap jobs, no health insurance... hell, im not doing bad! ive got tens of thousands in the bank, no debt, no kids next year will only draw about 5-6k us from my accts. its predictable. my health is good and so are my teeth.

does no good to sit in a crap job in a crap flat and be miserable - SAVE and realize your dream!

what do people do when they get old and have lots of money. they go traveling (on tour buses)!!!

dzibead

This is a good point, and one that seems to completely escape these dreamers. Keep in mind that Nick is married to an Indian citizen. A foreigner who wants to "retire" to India had better be a PIO or married to an Indian citizen, or he/she won't have the kind of immigration status that allows a long-term (much less "permanent") stay. And if you're retired you won't qualify for an employment visa or a business visa, so that leaves only a tourist visa -- which does not permit one to stay in the country for more than 180 days at a time, with no guarantee that a subsequent tourist visa would be issued if you left and wanted to return immediately. Foreigners who have the idea of retiring in India simply seem to be thinking, "Oh, it's cheap and my paltry retirement funds will go a lot farther." Unfortunately for them, that's not the only factor they should be taking into consideration -- and nowadays, a lot of the areas where foreigners have focused their retirement fantasies aren't so cheap anymore anyway! See, for example the thread on foreigners buying property in Goa.

monkgonemad

NOTE: you guys are talking about 8 vs 8.5% can be diff between rate and yield although th espread sounds too great

reverse mortgage is undesrable in a big way and not of value to a traveler. just sell the property.

nick - you sound in a similar position as i ??

monkgonemad

dzibead:

i know youve not read my post but what one must do is to commit to an expat life - not necc a life in india.

i have been traveling/living abroad for nearly 15 years. i have never had a non immigrant visa. always tourist and a rare business. thai govt is obviously not happy but ive been living there for years intermittently on a T visa.

you can easily get a one year visa in cambodia at the moment as well.

i have ten year visa for india. that is good but if they tell me i have to go - off i go. this is actually occuring to me in thailand -hence back to india.

no need to moan although life in thailand was good. ill sort it out in india or indonesia or whereever...(but i do love asia).


great pieces of advice:

dont buy land
dont marry an uneducated 'native'/local
dont bother with cumbersome visas
dont start any business that costs you money you cant blow on a bong party
dont loan money - its a gift always

capt_mahajan

Not only the proper visa, but being a foreigner (or an NRI) you cannot invest in almost all the small savings schemes, which till recently carried the highest rate of interest. Bank deposits are at par right now, though.

But (at least) I always assumed that the visa issue was a given for this thread.

monkgonemad

many people here posit the eternal question that will keep them on the hamster wheel until death:

what will you do when your old and have no money? it is valid.

but what will the govt do when the entire nation is broke -becasue thats the way its heading anyway.

currently - home values are down in usa, lending 2nd/3rd mortgages are up, crazy types of borrowing up-up [payday loans], 45% of americans are w/o healthcare, 1st cause of bankruptcy is health care, bankruptcies in arguably a 'good' economy are record high and so are foreclosures. 3-5 americans are carrying us13500 in ccard debt. the largest emplyer in usa is WALMART. most american families are one paycheck away from disaster.

i am of the opinion that these inequalities must come to balance firstly. second, at 46 i will collect minimal ss at 62. third, i am very happy to live to 85 and put a bullet in my head. finally, if you spend your life worrying i guarantee you that youll never do more than tale a few trips here an dthere and live out your life on the wheel HOPING you have 'enough' money for whatever your lifestyle needs.

that is all way too complicated. i have more money than 99% of the world and bettter education as well. ill sort it out.

monkgonemad

capt:

while indian investment looks good on the outside (equities indexes and a few big companies). im not losing sleep not being able to buy bank bonds, corporate or govt bonds.

india is not china. india has a massive way to go to fix its internal issues.

my money is too dear and i would never counsul someone with just enough to live off of on interest/dividend to be putting one farthing into india. sorry ...

Sama

not true.

both my husband and I were raised to believe if you can't afford it, you can't buy it. We are certainly in the minority nowadays, but that comes from being raised by parents who lived during the Depression.

Many of the financial messes that people get themselves into are created by choices, not circumstances. I live in an area where people buy $500,000+ houses, because of social pressure to "move up", "keep up" with whoever, and their kids need a brand new car at 16 along with the latest gadgets to keep Junior happy -- choices. then they still moan and groan about how they can't afford anything. how about asking "when is enough, enough?"

I've been socking it away since my first job at 16, so I plan on having a comfy retirement somewhere with the least govt. help as possible, since who knows what shape Soc. Sec. will be in down the road.

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capt_mahajan

I want to be a fly on the wall when china fixes its biggest internal issue.. reconciling its communist government with its capitalist morph. Anybody care to predict the outcome of a general election there?

That dragon will have to be faced sometime. And China is not as homogeneous as a lot of people think.

Chinese internal issues are hidden. India's are not. Thats the difference.

monkgonemad

good for you. you are in the total minority. you are also obviously stuck in a job/career that presumably affords you little time outside th etwo and perhaps 3 weeks per year walmart provides you.

you are doing well - provided the dollar does not crash and burn. america has HUGE HUGE DEBT both in dolalrs and % of gdp and much of the debt (iraq) is off budget. add to this the declining dollar, if oil is no longer traded in usd but euro.

you may very well get to your retiremnet after decades of nose grinding only to find the usd on par with the chinese rmb 1:1.

but good luck and all -

Sama

HUH?!?

I left my "career" about 7 years ago, and have my own business, and I don't even shop at WalMart!

and at my age, I don't have decades until retirement. I spent decades in my career, which is why I left!

monkgonemad

yogagirl: indeed. that is great for you. you are two of a tiny minority.

capt: while china does have obstacles to overcome, india has decades of work to catch it - and it has yet to even get out of the gate. at present its only it offerings are code monkeys and call centers - and the philippines are pulling up fast on the latter. as for mfg ... india could never open up to chinese goods becasue indian goods are so inferior (they remind me of soviet offerings). indians have not a clue when it comes to quality (and service). i have never bought anything in the country and said DAMN now that is a nifty gadget/gear/whatever... its always made shoddy, it always breaks. sorry.

like the ac adapter plug or the heating coil or the stich job on my lungi or all of it.

being free or not only matters after your stomach is full.




buts lets not divert the conversation -

Nick-H

York, the visa thing is one the major aspects that someone with this kind of an idea must juggle and, so far as India is concerned, it seems to be getting tougher. At this time there seem to be more than a few people coming and going on tourist visas: the big risk is that this will be clamped down on.

This board has its fare share of dreamers, who mostly get quickly fed up with our look, you can't, so forget it replies. The whole Goa expat property developer market seems to be a cynical exercise to make profit at the cost of such dreamers. That's another story.

But there are also those of us that have and are doing it. There are those running legit, legal businesses here; there are those who spend at least several years on student visa; there are those who 'married in'. Living in India can be done. Note that I said living, rather than retiring!

And yes, capt... this thread is sort of 'after the visa stuff, what next...'

There are several big differences between Monk's scenario and mine. The main one is that I am not a rootless traveller by nature; I need a home and roots. I am not interested in wandering from country to country.

Secondly I have no source of income other than the interest on what capital was left from selling my small house. Actually this has been diminishing so fast this year I have more-or-less decided to 'retire early' on a pension plan, which will be enough monthly to cover all our basic living expenses.

But it is easy to say stuff like that and forget that the rate of inflation in India is way higher than UK (no idea about US) at well over 5%. That actually means that any cash I have on deposit in UK is only just keeping pace with inflation; not earning anything!

We bought a house. That way we should never be on the street, even if we had to sell it and rent or buy a smaller one, or one in a village somewhere.

The two big black-shadow unknowns are inflation and exchange rate.

When I first planned to come here I thought I would always keep money in UK. But ow, married and 'settled', it really doesn't make sense. We can currently get 8 or 9 % from low-risk bank deposits (although money is tied up for 15 months to 3 years to achieve that); so why should I faff around with 4 or 5 from London? Emigration is not just getting off the pane; it takes time to realise that you have cast your lot in with a new country, that you are now working in that economy, and that it makes sense to stay within that economy.