Retire in Philippines

7107 islands of heaven; that is what you’ll find if you go to the Philippines.

Expat’s from all over the world are taking their hard earned money to the beautiful island paradise of Philippines to enjoy an early retirement at a place where they can afford to live and be treated like Kings and Queens. Talk about retirement planning!

The long, golden sand beaches stretch for miles and miles around island after island. Cruising between them with your own boat for a week or two to explore a new hidden place in paradise along with your spouse, partner or entire family that you brought with you when you made what most likely will be the best decision of your life.

The South China Sea is home to the Philippines, a tropical paradise that can boast hot and humid weather 24 hours a day for 365 days of the year. Along with the amazing weather, the quality of life when you have a normal retirement payout every month is excellent. Before making this life changing decision there are several things you have to consider.

First of all, you have to think about where you’re going to live and how much you want to pay for it. The most expensive place in the Philippines by far is Manila. If you go to some of the regions outside or to remote islands you can find houses, apartments and bungalows for a lot less than in the large city of Manila. You can get accommodation from P10,000 per month all the way up to P50,000. 10,000 Philippine Pesos is around 220 USD.

The second biggest expense you’ll have is your utilities. That means water, electricity, phone etc. All of the things that will keep your house up and running and that will keep you nice and comfortable in your own little paradise. Your average cost for all your utilities will end up on average around P8,000.

Food and groceries is essential for anyone’s living and it is exactly the same in the Philippines. Now you can go down two roads, you either go for locally and nationally produced food or you go for imported food. Now the imported food will be at a higher cost, still, nowhere near the amounts you were paying at home. If you go for the local food you can save even more money. Budget about P30,000 for a single month if you’re not living by yourself.

Now we’re going to get to the luxuries that you can afford to have when you move to the Philippines if you have a decent budget. Two major ones are a personal driver and a maid. You can get a personal driver for between P3.000 and P5.000 a month, so under 100 USD! All you have to do is make sure you provide food during the day and a vehicle for them to drive in if they don’t have one. A maid is even cheaper than that. For about P2.000 every month you can have a maid doing all the work around the house that you never felt like doing or downright hated.

Taking all these things in to account, the Philippines is an amazing please to settle down after your hard years of working. Spend your money wisely and live the rest of your life being treated as a King or Queen.

Only in the Philippines.

[This article was written by a resident of the Phillipines.]

210,000 Pageviews and Counting

Well, they say the first 200,000 is the easiest part (or at least I made that up).  But anyway, after a roller coaster ride through the year, I checked my stats recently to discover that this blog has garnered over 200,000 pageviews.  It is 210,000 today and I can only say that it is exciting to know that people are coming back for more.  At least, it is a sort of comfort, that somebody is actually reading what I am writing.

I will like to thank all readers for their continuous support.  This is also to readers who hail from outside Singapore like the United States, Malaysia, Slovenia, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, Japan, Phillipines, India, etc..  Perhaps you just stumbled upon this blog but I do hope that you find something useful that you can takeaway with you.  Feel free to drop a comment and say "hi" too!

Bought more Gamco Global Gold, Natural Resources and Income Trust

After reflecting on some of my investment thoughts for 2012, I entered into another position to buy GGN which currently gives a monthly dividend of $0.14 per month.  The fund's investment objective is to provide a high level of current income. Overall, I think I am pretty bullish on commodities and thought that this might make a good investment since it is a close-ended fund which invests primarily in the equity securities of gold and natural resource companies.

My entering into a position in this stock was also partially influenced by Bryan Perry (who wrote the book about 25% Cash Machine) was bullish on this stock. This purchase makes it my first stock purchase for the year 2012 and I thought I better log it down so that I do not lose track of my investments.

Poly Graduates Gross Monthly Pay Rises

According to the latest graduate employment survey conducted by the 5 polytechnics, the median gross monthly salary of poly graduates have gone up by 2.8 per cent or $50 compared to 2010 figures.  That means poly graduates who completed their studies in 2011 and not liable for National Service could command a salary of S$1,850.  Those with National Service earned a median gross monthly salary of S$2,100 compared to S$2,000.

The overall employment rate was also relatively high at 94.7% though it was down from 2010 figures of 95.4%

Poly graduates who commanded the higher salaries studied Health Science and Built Environment, and Engineering & Maritime.

If you look at the starting pay for university graduates, the difference in starting pay between a university graduate and poly graduate is probably greater than $600.

Investment Thoughts for 2012

Today is the 10th day into 2012 and I realised that I have not thought out my investment plan, made any resolutions or done anything fruitful in the past 10 days!  And there has been this constant nagging in my head that tells me that I ought to focus my attention on a few things and try not to spread out my efforts too thinly.  So perhaps now is a good time to update on what are some of my thoughts for 2012.  This includes some of my personal reflections and does not constitute any investment advice.

Passive Income - Monthly Dividend Stocks and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

High on my list is perhaps creating a passive flow of income for myself either through stocks that provide monthly dividends or REITs which either provide quarterly or half-yearly distributions. For monthly dividend stocks, one has to turn to the US market.  One of the monthly dividend stocks that I have bought into is Gamco Global Gold (GGN).  REITs on the other hand are easily available on the Singapore Stock Exchange or SGX.  I am looking at diversifying my REITs holding as I am currently heavily invested in Ascott REIT.

Gold is Money and Nothing Else


For those of you who have been following me, you are perhaps aware that I have been looking towards silver both as a means to hedge against inflation as well as just for collecting purposes.  Buying silver in Singapore is still limited to only a few shops but hopefully this certain industry/sector will slowly develop.

Investing in this Site


I have also decided that I ought to invest a bit more time and money on this site.  This includes some facebook advertising as well as my plan to work on a eBook.

These are all still works in progress but I certainly hope that the perfectionist in me does not cause me to procrastinate or be paralysed such that I do nothing at the end of the year.  It has been my longest desire to write a book and an eBook might just serve that purpose.

How Silver Coins Are Made

I thought this was a rather informative video on how silver coins are actually made.  The video also shows how the die is made.  Enjoy.

Poor People

Some time ago, I wrote about the poor people around us and also some reflection on helping the poor. This message struck  me again even as I was out having dinner today.

After dinner, while I was walking around, I saw a middle-aged man staring intently into a rubbish bin.  At first, I thought he was just rummaging through to look for empty cans which old people often collect to sell for money.  But to my horror, I saw him staring at a plastic plate which had some food left over in it.

He then proceeded to eat the leftovers from the bin.  I was quite shock and taken aback that I was actually witnessing such a scene in front of me.  At the same time, I did not know what to make out of it as he was holding a cigarette in the other hand even as he was eating out of the bin.

Just a few seconds.  But it left a lasting impression on me and will probably haunt me.  I have always known that there are poor people but to witness such a sight is quite heart breaking.  And that is to know that I frequently waste so much food myself while there are actually people who are hungry enough to eat out of the rubbish bin.