New Semi-early retiree

[RP]

Hello, my name is Dave Starr and I'm a retired (CSRS) US federal employee and a USAF annuitant. I'm a US citizen living in the Philippines. I maintain an active blog on civil service and military retirement issues and do occassional consulting for attornies in the field of federal benefits, pension valuation for division of assets in divorce and valuation of other than pension federal benefits.

Hope to learn a lot and meet some interesting folks here.

[Leonidas]

Welcome Dave.

I perused you website briefly - I have enough difficulty figuring out my own system without trying to take on the fed's - and I had a question. Since you live in the Phillipines, do you do your consulting via long distance or is there much business for what you do on that side of the world?

[RP]

Hi Leonidas. Any work I do is for lawyers and pension evaluators in the US. There's no difference in being here or being in Colorado where we spent the past few years. I use an online voice service (netzero.net) which provides me a US phone number and calls either way are very cheap ... under $4 a month for essentially unlimited calling. A typical assignment is to answer a specific question regarding a retiree's benefits or to provide a citation in the Federal Code or an agency's regulations to support a lawyer's position. All this info is online so it's typically a case of finding the necessary paragraphs and writing up a position paper with references.

Much case law is not on line in public sources but it's all there in Nexis, a fee for service research tool ... in the event an attorney wants info there it's up to him to provide access.

One thing about retirement I've found after nearly four years away from the routine of punching a clock is, where you are located has little to do with what you can do for supplemental income. I have an acquaintance in the Philippines who did custom programming of industrial process machines before he retired. He still does work for the same company remotely when called upon, it makes no difference where the keyboard and where the machine is located ... I think many folks limit their choices by ignoring the business aspects of the online world.

[RP]

I thought this thread might take off but apparently it died aborning.

Just because it's something near and dear to my heart I'm going to expand upon it a little.

Many are almost at the point they could ER but just feel they need a little extra coming in.

I'm in that category and also, like some others I suspect, not willing to give up "doing something." I'm not a golfer, boater, outdoorsman or interested in any of the other stereotypical "retirement" activities. I also abhor television and sports ... so what can I do and what can I make a little money with.

For some a blog is an easy answer. Entry cost is virtually zilch (don't succumb to any of those 'get rich on the Internet gimmicks', everything you need to know is freely available.

This guy is a resource I have learned a lot from:
http://www.johnchow.com/from-the-comfort-of-your-home/

Likewise:
www.problogger.net

You may indeed find something interesting, both my wife and I are actively blogging and earning from othe comfort of our retirement retreat. Note: these are not affiliate links or anything I make a dime from, just a couple of sources with a wealth of information ... don't buy, read and learn.

[wstu32]

how do you like living abroad?

can you give me some positives and negatives. i live in hawaii (orig from n.y.) just curious!

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Quote:

This guy is a resource I have learned a lot from: http://www.johnchow.com/from-the-comfort-of-your-home/ Likewise: www.problogger.net

Interesting links. Thanks, RP.

Our Nords is interested in publicizing military retirement issues, too.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

RP,

Thanks also for the filfaqs link.

[RP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wstu32 how do you like living abroad? can you give me some positives and negatives. i live in hawaii (orig from n.y.) just curious!

I live abroad by choice. It's the best situation in the world for me, but I couldn't recommend it for everyone. The pluses for me:
Cost ... compared to Hawaii? Wow, can't even begin to imagine how much cheaper I'm living here ... rent on a decent 3 br house, $140USD, Electric with four computers and two aircons on most of the time: $65, water $8, LPG for kitchen range $2 High speed Internet $20 ... there just isn't aren't any other utilities.

Most exspensive golf course I know of, public daily fees $20, caddy $5

Medical care: Doctor's office visit, $6, hospital basic daily rate, $30, teeth cleaned $4, manicure/pedicure (at home) $5, haircut (also at home, when I call, $2.50). Maid/ironing lady, $6 a day, competent carpenter, welder, electrician $8 a day, install new drain for US washing machine, including materials and labor (2 hrs) $5

Bit cheap isn't what retirement is about. I'm here because I like the people and the laid back lifestyle, and because I have nearly no family back in the USA.

For others, the distance would be the biggest detriment. Here I have a big, close warm family that I 'married into" but if I had grandchildren. aged parents, etc. back in the USA then my needs/desires would probably be different. I do have two grown sons, single, as far as they're concerned they can come visit me and have a great vacation as part of the deal.

[RP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy Interesting links. Thanks, RP. Our Nords is interested in publicizing military retirement issues, too.

Well there are alot of us US military retirees here. In my case I worked long enough to retire from a second job as well, but one of the attractions of the Philippines is that the average military retiree can actually afford to retire on the actual amount a military retiree receives. We have a lot of retiree support infrastructure in place here, US military mail system, full coverage medical insurance and a livable and cheap visa system so that living in a foreign country is not too burdensome.

[RP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed_The_Gypsy RP, Thanks also for the filfaqs link.

Not a problem, I hope you find something useful there from time to time. I've bene busy as the dickens with that international balloon festival I featured there, this is the big weekend coming up, hopefully I'll have some more time to update things on that site after the big event.