Hello everyone,

I'm thinking about retiring in the Philippines and I had Dumaguete in mind as a place where I want to settle. I want to retire in 2 1/2 years. I am only going to be 58 years old then, 4 years shy of an early retirement at 62. I just want to live off what I have put aside for 4 years until I can start collecting my social security which is going to be around $2,000.00 a month. I know $2,000.00 a month in the Philippines is a lot of money to live on per month. I just want to spend half of that every month and put the rest away for savings and investments. My question is; would $1,000.00 a month be enough for me and my girlfriend to live on comfortably in Dumaguete? Are there any decent apartments or house for rent in the area which are perhaps 15,000.00 pesos a month or under? I'm talking about western style apartments and homes. How much would our monthly expenses on utilities, such as cable, internet, land line phone service, and electricity be about? Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

JR

 

Yes, you can live on $1,000/month at todays exchange rate, but who knows what the exchange rate will be in 2.5 years. Yes, you can rent a house for 15,000p also. I would do a search using the search function and read up on current prices as they've all recently been covered. The other thing is that none of them may be relevant in 2.5 years. Prices change as do exchange rates. Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst. If Obama gets re-elected I would be prepared for the worst, sorry to say.

 

Thanks so much for your input. Yes, I agree with you about Obama. I didn't vote for him in 2008 and it's highly unlikely that I would vote for him this coming November election. The information you gave were very important ones, I appreciate that. Again, thank you!

 

My cousin Manila says that the exchange rate could drop to P30 to the dollar within 2 years.

 

Allways look on the brightside of life, not darkside.

 

LOL.....Liking the avatar (darkside of the moon)...lol

 

I read that the Philippines government was not excited about the higher exchange rate. It seems like many of the OFWs get paid in dollars so their incomes, and the inflow of money to the Philippines is being reduced. Let us hope this group has some influence. It would be a catastrophe to the OFW's if their wages were cut by another 25%. Since one of the bigger exports of the Philippines seems to be the OFW's and so many people here look forward to the monthly incomes from OFW, hopefully the government will try to stabilize the exchange rate.

What is the name of this thread again?

 

Exchange Rate

If the U.S./Philippine exchange rate hits 35 you will see a cessation of expat resettlement in the Philippines and if it hits 30 there will be an exodus..

 

I heartily agree.

 

Sofronio, good luck with your plans! Similar to mine, although I'm probably going to have to keep working wait until my early SS actually kicks in. This website is a great way to help me keep the "dream" alive.

Regarding the peso, here's a little less scary view, predicting peso strong but relatively flat at least against he dollar. I do recall reading somewhere else that the Phils Central Bank does take action to keep the peso from rising too high vs foreign currencies.

Peso forecast to remain strong in next 2 years | Inquirer Business