Dreaming of Early MM2H

[asia2020]

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum, as you can probably tell I'm all FIRE'd up about the prospects of eventually being able to move to SE Asia (most likely KL!) and settle down there for a while, I'd like to do it while we're still relatively young and while traveling is still fun. We've been all over SE Asia and I've got a good handle on cost of living etc. MM2H looks like an attractive option but will still consider other neighboring cities. I'm aiming for 45 but that might be too early, however it will be my goal until I can prove myself wrong! I've been working my own spreadsheets for a few years now, I admit I'm not as knowledgeable as some of the posters here but I've confirmed since joining and reading posts here that most of my calculations are fairly solid - although I haven't used FIREcalc yet. I think I'm about halfway there but that's only as good as the underlying assumptions which we all know can sometimes be as reliable as flipping a coin. He're the part that might shock some of you, we'll still have school aged kids when we hit 45, is that crazy? I've seen other posters who have kids too so I guess it happens, but still it's not common. Anyway the allure of living in the land of smiles with perfect weather all year long and half the expenses (your savings are doubled!) is just too hard to resist.

If there's anyone else out there looking at MM2H or any other similar type visas in the SE Asia region I would be interested in hearing more about your findings.

Thanks for sharing everyone...

 

[Davis65]

What's MM2H?

 

[splitwdw]

Malaysia my second home

 

[ER1970]

We thought about MM2H, and checked out both KL and Penang a few years back. We liked the country, the food, and people a lot. I used to follow a MM2H forum, tons of info provided there. Unfortunately the forum was closed just couple months ago. Not sure why. Since then I haven't found a MM2H expat forum nearly as good.

We are still a few years away from retiring so I haven't done too much research on MM2H. I haven't been to Malaysia in the last 3-4 years, but I have friends who also were interested in moving there but have recently backed out. They say KL has turned much more religious and conservative (Muslim, that is) than 5 years ago. The city is unsafe, crime rate has gone up, and the atmosphere has changed. The current admin is quite corrupted and much more pro-Malay Muslim than the privous ones. But I did hear good things about Penang, where Chinese are the majority I think. They have excellent international schools and medical facilities, so perhaps a good place to raise a family.

Good luck on realizing your dream, and please keep us posted!

 

[ER1970]

There is a thread on this forum discussing retirement visas, not limited to SE Asia though:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/list-of-countries-offering-retirement-visas-23742.html

 

[latexman]

I've moved around a lot with 5 kids. What age/grades would they be in when you are 45? If they are high school age, especially a junior or senior, I'd recommend waiting until they are in or through college and you make the move without them.