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Snowbird?

Discussion in 'Expat Section' started by cabb, Dec 28, 2022.

  1. Pedro

    Pedro DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer Veteran Navy

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    My wife's sister has accomplished something like this. She immigrated to Canada with her whole family, something Canada seems to encourage and the US not so much. She is an accountant so she was skilled and in demand and stayed employed, sent her kids to collage and after seven years she wants to move back and retire in the PI. She does still have a big family in the PI and I guess that is a big factor besides the fact that housing and commodities are really expensive in Canada and maybe everywhere else in most of the world. Oh yes, did I forget to mention Canada and most of North America has a lot of snow.
     
  2. Pedro

    Pedro DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer Veteran Navy

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    I really like that jimeve.

    Cabb we are spending some part of the time in the PI and most of the time in the US but we are not doing it because of the weather or a particular season more because of family to catch different birthdays or different events that interest us. We take advantage of the Balikbayan visa meaning we can stay for up to a year if we ever want to but of course you have to be married to a Filipina and travel with her if you want to take advantage of that type of visa.

    Way back when we first got married I asked my asawa where should we live and she chose the US for its many advantages which some may disagree with but if you are still able and want to earn wages its much better to be where you get paid more for your labor, ideas or skills. And although I was single I did own my own house so it just was the better economic choice but I would have respected whatever choice was made.

    We're at the stage where I can retire soon but asawa wants to work for about ten more years and that is for the best so in the future I will be making some trips without her to see and prepare for if we eventually do want to retire on her family or other property. I can try out retirement while I wait for her but I also know as much as she loves her family in Duma she will never want to be far from our kids for too long a period. Maybe they will finally get tired of being smothered but that is not guaranteed either so no matter what, we will still be living in two worlds as best I can figure it.
     
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  3. charlyB

    charlyB DI Senior Member

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    Transferring money into the Philippines is easy but going the opposite way if you can do it at all seems to be expensive :greedy:
     
  4. Dutchie

    Dutchie DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    Over the last decade politics in many countries have increasingly come under heavy influence of extremist populism, leading to (but not ending with) Chávez/Maduro, Trump, Boris Brexit, Jan 6, Marine le Pen having a fair shot at becoming the next French president, Wilders in the Netherlands, the AfD gaining ground in Germany, the current neo-fascist far right government in Italy, and a whole bunch of other unappetizing developments elsewhere, creating a climate in which those preferring violence to compromise have (almost) free reign. It's a shame really, but it seems traditional democracies are struggling almost everywhere you look.
    Obviously developments like this leave precious few places where immigrants are still welcome (because blaming adversity on "others" is one of the hallmarks of populist politics).

    Canada might well be one of the last places on the planet where a non-white immigrant can expect to be welcomed and not encounter too much racism/hostility (dominant political parties are still all centrist, center right and center left).
    A definite no no would be any country in the middle east, because of the prevalent lack of respect for women (I feel compassion with the roughly 2 million OFW's who didn't have much choice but to go there).

    An alternative might be to yes sell the house here, but buy a bit of land before moving to Canada. Land here is currently still cheap (even if prices went up quite a bit in the past decade or so) relative to most developed countries, and I would think it won't stay that way, especially not with a longer horizon.
     
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  5. jimeve

    jimeve DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    Thought you might bring BREXIT into this political post. Since when have all British people who voted to leave the EU been right-wing?
    You never mentioned the hard right Israel's government.
    Israel's new government is the most right-wing ever
     
  6. Dutchie

    Dutchie DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    I didn't qualify any British voters as right-wing, I only qualified a previous P.M. as an extremist populist leader.
    To be sure, I included Chavez and Maduro (far left populists) in my post.
    Populism is bad, whether left or right. Populists are only interested in gaining votes by appealing to emotions, rather than common sense, not in keeping promises.
    And when they hold extremist views they cause lots of damage for their country.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2022
  7. jimeve

    jimeve DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    I agree hard left or right are bad. Not sure if Boris Johnson is a populist though he does think he's a Liberal.
     
  8. Dutchie

    Dutchie DI Senior Member Showcase Reviewer Veteran Army

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    I don't think Johnson ever supported the Liberal Democrats nor their predecessor Liberal Party, so he can hardly claim to be a liberal. But then again, for a man who is used to getting fired because of lying, it's what you would expect maybe.
     
  9. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    That is an idea but still depends on the relative inflation of land prices in Canada and Philippines - plus currency exchange rates. The Philippines has shown good growth rates over the past years but it is so beset with problems that who knows if it (or Asia generally) will continue to prosper. Then there is the non-financial issue of the returning Filipino perhaps deciding to settle somewhere else within the country. Obviously the land could be sold and purchased in the new chosen location but perhaps having cash in hand is easier.

    The choice really comes down to guessing as none of us, or any expert in the whole world, has a clue which countries will grow and which will sink and where the best investments lie. If we did we would all be very wealthy - but investing is a gamble. I know of huge swathes of land in Daro owned by a Filipino based in the US and he has seen a massive increase in its value - but the past is no guide to the future.
     
  10. Notmyrealname

    Notmyrealname DI Forum Luminary Highly Rated Poster Showcase Reviewer

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    I don't want at this time of year with all its jollities and goodwill to use expletives (apart from the fact the automatic mod here changes everything, such that v a g i n a becomes 'wee wee hole') but if the fecking UK banks were not so difficult to deal with, the movement of money UK > Phil would be a lot easier. It seems it is easiest for crooks to move money (not including Jimeve who recently wrote he moved 15k, as he is the person I would least expect to be a crook due to his support for Manchester City).
     
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