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Hi Cheryl.

My savings for retirement were all accomplished in my home country as are dividends, interest and other incomes.

We transfer 8 to 12 months worth of living costs to our bank here, draw it out and stick it in the safe at home and use as required, sorry but I have little faith in the banking system here being mostly franchises and not really a cooperative entity. Just our take and better to look at it than look for it.

Little chance for us to invest here at all levels.

Cheers, Steve.

I'm only new to living in the Philippines and all my sources of income incl retirement savings are kept in my home country. I use WISE to transfer a generous amount equivalent to all living expenses to my Filipina partner's bank account every fortnight and allocate between her bank, her Gcash and cash as appropriate. I get by day to day pretty much using cash only although I have a WISE card and another credit card that I use occasionally for bigger shopping expenses which I pay off directly from my home country bank account. Larger unscheduled amounts like major purchases (recently I bought a portable AC or could be holiday airfares or accommodation) I pay online using my credit card and pay off directly from my home country bank account. We're talking about establishing a bigger reserve in the Philippines (12 to 18 month expenditure like Steve above) but haven't done anything about that yet - maybe using my partner's bank account or a joint account. I'm retired and have sufficient retirement income so my appetite for risk with investments in the Philippines is nil.

1. All I can add to this is not to retire here unless you have a wise retirement fund/s based in your home country, been coming here for 14 years and like most countries the living costs keep rising so plenty of back up is or can be the winner.
2. What was a third of the price 10/12 years ago here is now about half the price compared to Australia, used to be one third the cost, prices have risen everywhere but I see here the wages remain stagnant and why many can't get ahead and put up with third world living, sad yes very.
3. 
   
4. OMO.
5. 
   
6. Cheers, Steve.

bigpearl said . . . .All I can add to this is not to retire here unless you have a wise retirement fund/s based in your home country, been coming here for 14 years and like most countries the living costs keep rising so plenty of back up is or can be the winner.
What was a third of the price 10/12 years ago here is now about half the price compared to Australia, used to be one third the cost, prices have risen everywhere but I see here the wages remain stagnant and why many can't get ahead and put up with third world living, sad yes very.

**

Addendum to Steve's good advice, especially for US citizens planning on living on SS benefits.

Each year do to inflation your COLA will increase.

But,

Your COLA will not reflect the real numbers of inflation, so what's livable today may not be livable in the future.

Totally concur with what those fine gentleman said.

I keep all investments in US brokerage and bank accounts and make transfers monthly from Wells Fargo into my partner's account at BPI, using WFB Express Send service (direct bank to bank). It has a low fee and good rate.

I also pull cash from ATM's occasionally, although the fees are high (yes I know about the Schwab card) and send her cash for unexpected expenses via World Remit - for cash pickup at M Lhuillier or Palawan Express.

I agree with Bob and Steve that the inflation rate for food and other basic items seems to be high in the Philippines, partly due to the steadily eroding value of the peso (rel to USD) although for those of us spending in USD it is compensated by the fact that we get more pesos for our dollar. When I first moved to the Philippines in 2014 the exchange rate was 45 pesos per USD, it's now around 57.

However I really feel for the locals who do not have the benefit of financial arbitrage and are stuck with low wages that do not rise with inflation (despite the min wage laws)..

@Enzyte Bob

Your COLA will not reflect the real numbers of inflation, so what's livable today may not be livable in the future.

Never underestimate the pernicious effects in time of inflation. This is especially true of expats who have retired in the Philippines 99% of whom rely on their pensions and unearned income from investments and savings.

One countries well managed economy today can suddenly turn into a nightmare in terms of fiscal rectitude tomorrow.

For example Venezuela (yes no mis-type) had the worlds lowest inflation rate between 1950 and 1980. Today suffice to say that 14 zeros have been removed from the Bolivar since 2007.

It's one thing retiring in a well managed western economy but quite another in an emerging market country like the Philippines. I'm not suggesting for one minute that the Peso will suffer the same egregious fate as the Bolivar but as they say: " Never say Never" Indeed the Philippine central bank was given total independence by the 1987 Philippine constitution and relatively speaking is a well run economy given the resources at its disposal.

In 2024 the average inflation rate was 3.2% against the US rate of 2.9%. The 'COLA' as referred to above by Bob ( for non US citizens this translates to 'cost of living allowance') thus has lost .3% of its purchasing power in the Philippines albeit somewhat neutralized by exchange rate swings which of course cut both ways.

The Philippines main attraction to foreign male expats that make up 99% of the expat population is the relatively cheap cost of living and beautiful women (though not necessarily in that order.) Unfortunately a good % of expats who retire there are on a minimal pension. They have not for various reasons built up sufficient savings for the future either through their own financial ineptitude or because they got 'cleaned out' by their ex. The irony is that many of those expats that did not suffer this fate end up in the same situation with a Filipina.

Fortunately for UK & US citizens the state pension is inflation protected unlike for our unfortunate Australian friends. It should be noted that not all countries in the world like the Philippines have a bilateral agreement in place for index linked pensions. A brit moving to say Canada or Australia will suffer financially in the long term as there is no linkage.

For those Brits surviving on a UK state pension only there is some uncertainty in the future as to whether the state pension will have the gold plated protections in place currently.

My message to potential expats  thinking of retiring to this country in the future is to build up as much private pension provision that you can.

I plan to keep my retirement savings in the US. I now always say I am retiring in two years so no one really knows how near it is. I will follow the lessons learned from the fine young members in this forum who are more mature than I am. The local banks now report account balances of US citizens to the US IRS. My accountant here says if the balance go above USD 10K, the IRS will be flagged. I still believe it is still more affordable in the Philippines if staying long term or snowbirding, not as tourist. The price of food and daily necessities here is !@#$%^^$ high. The price of restaurant dining in Manila is high. I think to get the same dining experience, i have to pay almost the same as here, sans tip. Beer drinking bars there is much more fun and affordable  though, and that is nice. They have great live bands too. (Was there in July).

There was time I think in the 90s (or 80s?) The peso went from 26/$ to 50/$, good for converting your $$ but bad if you have local properties or bank accounts in peso.

Hallo, and what about cryptocurrencies?  I recently read that the Philippine government is creating bitcoin reserves. Is it possible to exchange crypto for cash without any problems? Is there such a thing as a Bitcoin ATM?

Greetings