Best Posts in Thread: Snowbird?

I'd call them blessed.

 

I know of many Foreigners who come and go from their home country to PH. this is much more common than you seem to think? some may have an elderly parent alive and have the family home to go back to, others I know have a house in both places, I would suggest 10% or more of the Foreigners I know do this.

The point you make of testing the waters is very relevant, I also know of many instances where Foreigners have sold everything back home to settle in PH then gone on to build a large palatial house there only to find it is not all Fun in the Philippines for them, some of which found out the hard way, that being they built the large house for their loved one (likely a child bride) only to be kicked out of the house not so long after it was finished, later on that big house is then sold for half its value, In my view it is folly to invest a lot of money to build there and you should only spend what you can afford to lose.

Take my advice I never did use it and now I am giving it away free, I myself made many mistakes, I used up all my savings, cashed in a good investment that was giving me a small income and used up the last of my emergency contingency fund, to get the house I built in PH to a liveable condition, but I never did manage to get it fully finished.

However in my favour I retained my house back here in UK which I am now living in at this time, also I do have a reasonable pension income enough to support myself and the family back there, but I would much rather be back in PH with them. If/when I ever get my family there, over here to UK, the house in PH may be a problem, do we hang on to it or do well sell? very likely to be at a loss on what it cost to build? I am not crying over spilt milk as much as this may sound, I had a good 8yrs there and for the most part enjoyed building my somewhat bespoke house, going where no man has gone before haha.

 

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.

 

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.