Dumaguete Info Search


A Filipina wife who doesn't really want to return.....

Discussion in 'Expat Section' started by garbonzo, Feb 20, 2019.

  1. furriner

    furriner DI Forum Adept Restricted Account

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    The “median” income is per person so a married couple in the US making 3K is equivalent to 6k household income or 72k as you say. Yes, that is pretty good in the US and very good for the Phils.. Something people moving here do not realize is that if they retire and settle down at 3K household income or 36k, they can become trapped, unable to afford moving back to the US. It is very hard to re-settle back home on that income; I know people in that situation and they would have go back and live with the kids, even if their 1.5k per person is relatively ok in the Philippines where they are settled down. And as long as there are no financial or political calamities, everything is fine. With 3K per person, one should be able to “bug out” if the time ever comes, or move back to the US and use Medicare if their health fails here in a way that even Philippine medical costs are in the millions of pesos for healthcare that is not as good. I always recommend American friends to keep paying for Medicare B and medigap because they will usually be able to go back to the US after they are stabilized here. Yes, in the bigger cities here and even Dumaguete you do not need a car or motorbike but it can be a bit inconvenient in those tricycles. They are dirt cheap. For insurance, we all must buy auto insurance when we register but the max payout is so low that the 2000 php you pay is not worth it. I think it is a standard coverage with no optional coverage but purchasing it is mandatory if inconsequential to your budget. So I guess we basically agree. On this forum I have been criticized before for saying 3K for a couple borders on marginal but single people who bring in 3 k are doing very well here. I am talking about 3K per married couple which I still think, for living a western lifestyle, is OK but not too much slack unless they own their house and there is the danger of being “trapped”.


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  2. TheDude

    TheDude DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster

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    I do like this point. This doesn't necessarily mean that you need X income, but you do need to have X emergency fund and the discipline to pull the cord to get out once you have hit a certain trigger point. But then you get into all sort of other possibles which could overwhelm even that discipline, such as an unexpected medical emergency.

    Through everyone's forum discussion on this issue, we can circle back to an emerging theme which may be inescapable. Your citizenship is a safety net. Previously we mentioned this for people who are living off social benefits (to include Social Security) but we can expand this to everyone. The Philippines gives people a false sense of affordability because they see they are relatively cash poor in their home countries but they don't see the other non-cash benefits of living in that country. They see that their cash may go further in the Philippines but they don't see that the cash is just one part of their survival package.

    Maybe this wasn't such an issue before the internet when borders were so much farther away. Today everyone can reach out to other people anywhere. It seems like such an easy leap to go from one country to the other. To make this jump requires a certain level of crazy or extraordinary resources (enough to reach the escape velocity of that safety net) for the normal.

    I feel myself reaching the same conclusion as you are, though through a much different route. It's okay to be poor in your home country. To live abroad today, you should be relatively well off. The exception to that rule is for those who will truly and dramatically upgrade their situation (a Filipino who has a shot at legal residence which comes with a greater wealth package.)
     
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  3. Mark K

    Mark K DI Member

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    Why are so many people talking about the cost of a Western lifestyle in The Philippines?

    We're not in The West. Last time I looked The Philippines was in Asia. How can you come to live in a country and refuse to eat the local food, and use the local transport? Embrace the country. embrace the country, smile at the idiosyncracies, get stuck in and have fun. And it you're really worried about your budget, don't marry a local.

    What's the point of coming to live in Asia and looking to live a Western lifestyle. Good grief gentlemen!
     
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  4. TheDude

    TheDude DI Forum Patron Highly Rated Poster

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    I changed my outlook of "Western lifestyle." As a non-citizen, you have far fewer rights. Drop a random American into the Philippines and see how long that person is able to survive before waving the white flag. A Google search shows a study which claims 4 out of 5 working Americans live paycheck to paycheck. There's a good chance that random person would run into immediate problems (even with eating local food!) The solution for a broke American here is to find another job, which very few Americans in the Philippines are able to do.

    Most retired Americans got to that point by working hard and paying tax dollars into the social safety net. These retirees may have savings, but many are living off not much more than Social Security. That Social Security is just one piece of the social safety net. To come to the Philippines is to ditch those benefits you paid for and to chance living off the cash portion of those benefits. The cash works fine until something else goes wrong.

    For example, a friend of mine (from Europe) recently passed away while working out the logistics to get home to receive the potentially life saving medical care which was available to him. This option was his right as a citizen of his country.

    To me, Western lifestyle means that I can live here without the social safety net (which I paid for) available to me in my country of citizenship. Most can't do this and they're not going to move abroad anyways. There are many who try and end up running into problems. I could name a few!

    If you're going to move here as an American, then you should have the resources which puts you above the mean (better off than at least half.) If you can do that, then go ahead and live as cheap as you like. But you need those resources available to you.

    NOTE: Largely talking from an American viewpoint because that's what I know. If you're dodging bombs in Syria or carrying wheelbarrows of cash in Venezuela, then you might have a different view.
     
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  5. liannastar

    liannastar DI Member

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    You nailed it Mark. Absolutely, the same thing I been saying.
    A Chinese person shouldn't come to America to live a Chinese lifestyle.
     
  6. furriner

    furriner DI Forum Adept Restricted Account

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    Touche’, it is easy to jump into a discussion like this and take a position such as this, usurping others who have made valid comments while you contribute nothing of any value to the discussion. Apparently you only do this to make yourself “feel” good, to exist on a higher intellectual plane as if, for example, there were no vast variety of Western consumer goods for sale here in what you apparently regard as a 3rd world back water where no western style consumer goods can be purchased, no Japanese vehicles like those sold the west can be had, American groceries, western AIRCON, washing machines were not available, where I suppose we are supposed to transport ourselves except by swinging on fines ala’ Tarzan of the jungle hehe, as if we should not chose to live any lifestyle we want, wherever we wish, if we can afford it, where many many people choose to live this way, where the local population is only too happy to sell westerners such goods and profit from such businesses handsomely. Thank you for your useless contribution but now that you have punked a perfectly good thread, why don’t you go the your first world country and play with yourself on the freeway during rush hour, blindfolded lol.


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  7. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    These comments are simplistic and blatantly ignore the reasons why people talk and ask about things from their home country.

    There is nothing wrong with living whatever lifestyle you want to live anywhere in the world. Just know that living up to every standard of a "Western lifestyle" is going to cost a god-d*mn fortune in the Philippines. Of course, anybody thinking they are going to move to another country half way across the world and live a life exactly like their home country is also d*mn fool...but I seriously doubt anyone is talking about that or thinking that they will be able to do so

    It is good for people to know the differences and what they could be potentially missing from home. There will always be something that a person isn't willing to give up from their native culture. I'm sure both of you two haven't fully adopted Filipino products and culture and given up things from your home country...that arrogant holier-than-thou attitude being one of them. Since everyone is different there are going to be a lot of things brought up to see if the country is compatible with the individual's needs.

    And the comment "if you're really worried about your budget, don't marry a local" is....I don't know how to explain it other than "idiotic". Only billionaires shouldn't be "worried" about their budget. Everyone needs to figure out the lifestyle they want and can afford, especially in a foreign country that has zero social nets for you. Only a buffoon would go into a foreign country blindly without any worry for cultural and economic differences. And marrying a local isn't any more expensive than having a live-in partner. And I would argue that a good partner is going to save you just about as much as they costs you. Thinking you are going to save money running around all by yourself with that skin and long nose...lol good one.
     
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  8. liannastar

    liannastar DI Member

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    Yes my comment was very basic, and didn't go deep as you did. But I'm not going to draw out every scenario where one would feel this way or that way. I was giving my opinion based on my own experiences.

    Never said there is something wrong with living a certain lifestyle anywhere in the world. But since the poster said 3k = a poor life in the Philippines, I was pointing out why that may be the case for him.

    Definitely agree with you that it's going to cost you a fortune if you want to live that way, also evidenced by the poster stating that 3k a month (which happens to be a fortune) in the PI was not cutting it for him and his family.

    And yes, definitely a Westerner can't give up everything they had in their homeland as you mentioned. But you can pick and choose what you want to keep and what you don't want to keep based on analysis of is the high cost really worth it to you to not make the sacrifice?

    Personally, the only thing I need is a house, aircon at night when I sleep, and a reliable car. Those things aren't going to cost me 3k a month.. not even close.
     
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  9. furriner

    furriner DI Forum Adept Restricted Account

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    Whether or not you approve, plenty of Chinese people emigrate to the US and other countries and live a largely Chinese lifestyle, neatly combining the culture they bring with the culture they move into. They associate with other Chinese, teach their children Chinese language and culture in special Chinese schools every week, open Chinese restaurants, laundries employing other Chinese etc. etc. Man, if you were trying to make a point about total cultural absorption into a new host country, Chinese immigration is the worst example I can think of. Right, for someone who is moving to another country just for the culture change, sure, your “Mark nailed it”. But I don’t know of virtually any people who moved here just to experience the new culture other than some US Peace Corp volunteers I had met in Siquijor some years ago...and man, were they surprised at how different it was here, unlike the primitive conditions they expected. They liked it here though and one person I know made plans to stay when their term was up, but he did not into to come back and return to living in a treehouse off the beach. With binoculars, where is job was to observe and call in illegal fishing by environmental criminals setting off explosive devices near the coral reefs. Hey, can you believe that he actually liked, and so did his new GF, AIRCON, running water, indoor toilets, foods additional to rice, bananas, camote and mangos, and other western amenities which he had decided to save for before returning? Most of us did not transition here to live like Peace Corp volunteers; we are here for many reasons; for many, our wives are from here and we promised them we would move here after we retired. They are Philippine NATIVES who definitely 100% want to live here BUT with the Western life style they became accustomed to during decades of marriage in the US. Would you criticize native Filipina’s who wish for that? What is your standing to even comment on that? Some people are here for employment purposes, working for foreign government agencies and western companies. Do you expect such employees to take on the George of the Jungle lifestyle too lol? Sorry, I am just having a little fun with you guys. Next time before you post like that, just remember the company slogan of my former USA employee whose initials begin with an “I”: THINK.


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  10. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Well if that's how you want to live your life, go right ahead. Personally, I like big bikes, easy women, a large house, swimming pool, traveling wherever I want whenever I want, never making a plan, eating out daily, , drinking daily, paying someone to clean up after me and flying to other countries when I feel like I need a break from the Philippines.....but I would absolutely NEVER use an air-con or drive a car...such a waste of money! Amazing what some people blow their money on.
     
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