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I guess this happens because some senders mark the mail as "do not forward" or equivalent. I never experienced this problem because I solved it in advance. I simply gave the credit card companies the virtual address as my mailing address (while leaving the residence address unchanged). It...

Without giving a comprehensive history, the short answer is that a nomad in Asia might live in hotels (esp. with a long-term stay discount), an AirBNB, a serviced apartment, a spare room in a friend's place (paying them reasonable rent), university housing provided for foreign teachers, and in...

Yes, I'm still liable to the IRS and my state. The forms I fill out are the same, regardless of whether I'm physically located in the US or elsewhere. So far, I've never been required, according to their rules, to do FATCA/FBAR. If you mean being taxed in Thailand, I don't make any money in...

I was in Chiang Mai only during January and didn't notice much while there. When I flew from there to BKK on Feb. 1, while approaching BKK, I did notice a sea of smog covering the city. Since then, I've been on the ground here and haven't noticed much (not that it isn't there, maybe I just...

Oh... then I guess I'm more "old" than I am "old school". I thought it wasn't unusual for people past the age of having kids to not make marriage a priority (as in, some aim for that, some don't). I know of older people who have a partner, in some cases long-term, but don't get married. Who...

Is that an assumption you're making about SE Asia in particular, or about relationships in general? If the latter, then I'd have to disagree, based on experience. I've had girlfriends before (including in Asia, but not SE Asia) and usually there were no financial demands. In the rare case...

Regarding the following (from the predecessor "Expat Corner" thread): Does that mean "a partner who expects financial support", or other cases as well? Just curious.

That's cool, if you have one. The figures I've seen are that a minority of Americans over 65 (one-third or fewer) get a pension (here and here), with the median pension far below the LTR visa requirement you cited (with pension+SS also below that figure, at the median). In my own case, I...

OK, I see now that they're different categories. So there's O, O-A, O-X, LTR, and Elite (also known as PE, Privilege Entry). Alphabet soup! As you probably know, most Americans don't have pensions, and most of the ones that do don't get nearly the above-mentioned amount. I'm in my 50s, no...

If I understand correctly, the "pensioner" option is the O-X visa, which has the insurance requirement. That being said, I think the Elite Visa can make sense for people over 50 if they don't want to buy Thai-based insurance (or that's administered under Thailand jurisdiction; there are forums...

Just for completeness, it should be mentioned that the above-mentioned options have additional requirements (e.g., some options require purchasing insurance that meets their criteria; some options have a proof of income requirement; etc.). Glad you found an option that's OK for you. I did the...

I also visited Chiang Mai. It's smaller and quieter, but I'm more of a big-city person, so I'm in Bangkok and planning to stay here.

Yes, it's easy to get (easier than the more ordinary retirement visas, which are "O" and "O-A"... not that you won't get approved, just that there's some amount of bureaucracy and extra requirements to fulfill). And yes, it's costly, so a person has to decide if those simplifications are worth...

(It appears that the Expat Corner thread got locked, due to being 345 days old.) Greetings from Bangkok, and happy Year of the Rabbit (2023)! I accomplished the following: I obtained the Thailand Elite Visa, left LA at the end of December, and arrived in Bangkok on January 1, 2023. I...

That's what I had thought as well, so I spent a few months there, about five years ago. I can say it was "OK", but somehow I wasn't feeling it. Of all the places I've been, it doesn't rank high in terms of my feeling that I want to go back and explore further... just a subjective thing...

In fact, I know almost zero about Portugal. It's on my radar because a friend is trying it out. I think I need to stay in a big city, partly to be near larger medical facilities as I get older, and also for cultural options that might appeal to me, e.g., hackerspaces, community theater/improv...

Bump! Happy 2022! And happy Year of the Tiger! My situation is that I've been stuck in LA for the whole pandemic... hoping to go back overseas sometime later this year, and maybe retire overseas permanently. Thailand and Portugal are on my radar. I applied for the Taiwan Gold Card and got...

OP here... the diversity of perspectives is interesting. However, I'd caution against the attitude that "they're doing something I can't and/or won't do, therefore, something's wrong with them." I'm pretty open-minded and I'm not seeing a problem in what people said they're doing. It's...

Mick Jagger also subscribes to this kind of idea! Just curious, how did you find the lady in question?

Cool. I'll take that as a yes.

Total return (price performance plus dividends) of the S&P 500: 1929: -8% 1966: -10% 2000: -9% My answer to your question is that the above kinds of results are well within the range of likely outcomes for 2023. And a run-of-the-mill, garden-variety bear market (such as between -20% to...

If I understand correctly, your meaning is that, in your experience of being single while also post-FIRE, most of the time you have some kind of relationship or dating happening, and once in a while you don't, yes? If so, that's pretty cool. For me, it's been the other way around!

You'll get a better treatment on the topic from the Brookings articles I linked to. You should read them. I see that crypto evangelists like to "psychoanalyze" people who don't share their opinions. Everyone needs a hobby!

In order to maintain some balance in the discussion (i.e., to bring more points of view than just that of "crypto evangelism"), here again is my response to the OP's question... for your convenience! More from the same author: Digital currencies are transforming the future of money Five...

Kind of like saying Swiss francs never go up or down, because one is always worth one franc. Of course we know, there's no requirement for crypto evangelists to have logical reasoning. It's also not unusual for evangelists to have a penchant for dividing the world into "believers" and...