There is a popular saying about my hometown of New York City, "It's a great place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there." With one exception something similar could be said of Thailand, "It's a great place to visit. Now what do I have to do to live there?" With the Baby Boom generation closing in, retirement age seniors from Europe, America, Australia, and other parts of Asia are looking for a place to spend their senior years; a safe place with a nice warm climate, great food, affordable health care and friendly people; a place with a cost of living that won't throw you into poverty. Could that place be Thailand?
In this and subsequent columns we will explore the answer to that question both for those who are considering a move here and, for those who have already made the leap. We will try to help smooth the transition to a retired life in Thailand.

Do I have enough to retire yet?

Before we answer the question of where we are going to retire we need to know if we can retire yet. If you have been like the ant and not the grasshopper, and you have some savings and other assets, then you stand a decent chance of making that old nine to five existence history.

How much you will need to live on in Thailand will largely depend on your lifestyle. Talk to other retirees in Thailand with similar lifestyles and find out how much they spend. One thing to keep in mind is that you will always spend more than you think you will. Calculate how much you will need per month. Take that number and multiply it by about 1.5. That will take you closer to what your true expenses will be.

You will need a sufficient cash flow to live at your particular comfort level. Do you have enough? If you are looking for a way to increase your cash flow don't overlook the fact that you currently have many expenses that will disappear or decrease once you make the big move. Spending $100 less a month has the same effect on your bottom line as increasing your income $100.

Calculate the disappearing expenses. When I first asked myself the question of whether I had enough to retire (at the age of 55) to Thailand, I first did an assessment of what my income would be. Answer: Not a lot. Then I looked at what I was spending in America and which expenses I would be eliminating by pulling up stakes and leaving it all behind. Here are some of my numbers.

U.S. monthly Disappearing Expenses:

Property taxes $300
Utilities $100
Home Heating $150
Auto insurance $100
Home insurance $50
Health Insurance $500 (we'll discuss this in a future column)

Total: $1,200 or about B45,000

There are other expenses that maybe won't disappear but will be a fraction of what they are at home. These are your decreasing expenses: Telephone, cable TV, Internet, clothes, auto/home repairs, health care, dental care, medication, food, entertainment, transportation, and the biggie, mortgage or rent.

Even without Social Security or a pension I could quit work and retire to Thailand years before I could ever retire back home.

And I haven't seen a nine to five day since.

Next Column: Is Thailand Right For You?
For general information on retirement to Thailand try:
www.why-thailand.com/retire.html
Send your questions on retirement to Thailand to:
retirement@chiangmaicitylife.com