Search results

You were still doing comparably well in 1967 so I'm not quite sure what your greater point is. For example, the $200 a week you made in 1967 is equivalent to $1392 a week now, the .50 cent gas is equal to $3.48 a gallon today, the $3000 new car: 20.8k and the 19k house: 132.2k. So with the...

I agree: nothing stands out about Cambodia. It has a wilding element that lurks just beneath everyone's calm exterior. Vietnam would be awesome, I think, especially if you could speak Vietnamese. Laos has great potential as a retirement destination if they could ramp up the quality of health...

They live there most of the year, with maybe 3-4 months back in the US each year. For the most part, they are males with Thai wives. So the wife can own land and they build really nice homes there. Also, they don't live in the cities, but outside somewhat, so the pollution and traffic issues...

Still don't see why you're fixated on a Roth. I think in your case you may be better off with the current tax benefits of a traditional IRA. ERD has a point about term life, but only if you end up having kids. Otherwise, you don't really need it. You may want to consider long-term care...

I'm indeed sad. I'm in a position now where I'm able to put a lot of cash in the market each month. It worked gangbusters in 2011, especially pre-October 2011. Now, not so great.

Run, don't walk, away from this guy. You can certainly set yourself up with a Roth from Vanguard much cheaper than this guy will. I would question whether you will benefit from a Roth as opposed to a TIRA. Given the fact that your income will not grow all that much, and that you will have a...

Not convinced. THIS American would like the freedom to live his life w/o the specter of financial ruin caused by medical catastrophe looming over him...

It was a one-shot deal. I was working at the US Embassy in Laos at the time and our nurse there recommended it to me. I was very satisfied with the experience and would definitely be a repeat customer.

I agree completely. The US health care system works best for those with subsidized health care--military, federal workers and the retirees of these groups. Yet I'm always surprised how many of these types I run into that would not permit the majority of their countrymen to enjoy a similar system.

Oh definitely! They ran tests that I had never heard of, and that a US health care provider would never do for an annual physical. I also thought my consultation with the physician on the following day was quite useful. He didn't pull any punches in telling me what I needed to do. Is your...

Did you go to Bumrungrad International Hospital? That place is amazing. I had a physical there a couple of years ago.

Depends on how much one has in the Roth, I suppose. Otherwise, it seems pretty silly to avoid building wealth in order to lessen the tax burden.

Yes, you're right, but it could do a combination of these things to mitigate the hardship.

Again, though, it's a relatively easy fix for China. The statistics used in this data are for urban populations--the only part of China where the one child policy remains in force. China has many solutions to choose from: repeal the policy for urban dweller--then the problem will solve itself...

Except it may not be all that bleak. The one child policy is not uniformly enforced throughout the country--rural peasants are allowed to have two kids in many cases (and 70% of the people still live in rural areas), and ethnic minorities can have more than one child as well. So the policy only...

Join the Foreign Service! Lots of ex-mils in the dip corps these days.

New Orleans is my hometown and I've never really thought about retiring there, though I'm starting to miss the place more and more the longer I've lived away. I think the city's changed a lot since Katrina. But of course, that's what cities do. My most nostalgic memories are the New Orleans...

As you note, you are certainly out of step with constitutional jurisprudence, and I'd argue also with the framers themselves. Taxes are not a "taking". The Constitution is very clear that Congress has the power to tax. A taking in a constitutional sense requires 'just compensation'. Not so...

I'm thinking much along the same lines. I want to retire in both the US and abroad--if in Europe, probably Italy, but 95% chance it will be in Asia. More and more I'm leaning towards Malaysia, unless Taiwan were to start a similar retirement visa scheme. I'd probably stay 8-9 months overseas...

Malaysia has an amazing variety of food. No limitations whatsoever, especially in KL. I had fantastic Italian there. And you can get a good pizza almost anywhere. Of course, Asian food is most widely available, and what they do best. I can smell those 'hawker centres' now! :dance:

The difference with the military being that, as for now at least, they have probably the best-remaining pension out there. And free health care while on active duty. Even in the case of the military, particularly the enlisted ranks, I think it is unrealistic that most would be able to set...

Chinese in the Mao era didn't make the kind of money that they do now, but they still had high savings rates. They had these same rates of savings in the Republican and imperial eras as well. You can also look at overseas Chinese, especially those in the West. The propensity to save is imbued...

I've been wondering whatever became of Mr Clean!

Roth vs. TIRA is not an open and shut case in favor of the former. My guess is most people who participate in FIRE earn better than average incomes. But when the median HOUSEHOLD income is less than 50k per year, and the median personal income is less than 29k per year, there are a lot of...

I've spent the better part of the last fifteen years outside the US, and I respectfully disagree. I think there are several places in the world that rival, and even surpass many parts of the US in many respects, even health care, except maybe for extremely specialized/chronic conditions. But I...