Planning/Thinking Ahead

@Cherryann01

This is very typical behavior for a Filipina, especially an OFW to send most of their earnings home to support other other family members who are not working. A Lot of those family members could work but choose not to do so because it’s simply easier to take the hand out. She is most likely embarrassed to ask you for additional monies.  If you enjoy her company and feel there’s future in your relationship then I would simply set a limits on how much you send her based  on how much you can afford.  A lot of Filipinos live day to day and do not plan for the future nor are they good at multitasking.  She doesn’t sound like a scammer, but does sound like somebody that simply overwhelmed by her families unreasonable financial  demands

I don’t send her money for an allowance and will not even consider that yet and she has never asked. My problem is that we have little contact while she is sorting her problems out, due to het not contacting me.

I think she needs to realise that she can not  pay for the whole family and if her brother just sits on his lazy arse doing nothing, she should not pay one peso to him for his family.

Cherryann01 said . . . . I don’t send her money for an allowance and will not even consider that yet and she has never asked. My problem is that we have little contact while she is sorting her problems out, due to het not contacting me.
I think she needs to realise that she can not  pay for the whole family and if her brother just sits on his lazy arse doing nothing, she should not pay one peso to him for his family.

***********************

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

A few fleeting moments in a shower can loosen up the tightest of ATM's.

Experienced Filipina's don't have to ask for money, Expats trip getting out of the shower in a rush to the nearest ATM.

Better check if she is even in Singapore or even working at a restaurant. It seems odd that someone would take a OFW restaurant job overseas and pay their own way.

I think the shoe is on the other foot when you question her planning. I think her planning was far better than yours.
   

 

Thank you for sharing.  LDRs are fraught with challenges like these.  I see a lot of red flags in your situation, but I have precious little to offer you.  Try to keep your wits about you, although I know it is difficult with these amazingly beautiful Filipinas.  BTW, I would almost rather pay an allowance than have to deal with these recurring financial needs.  An allowance teaches your gf to plan ahead and manage her money.  If she can't do it, that would be a huge red flag for me.  It sounds like maybe you embrace the "teacher" role with your gf more than I do with mine.  I'm trying to minimize my stress and financial conversations with my gf invariably lead to conflict and stress.

The people of the Philippines are not good planners. This is escpecially true for the money. If you give them 1.000 to spend for their needs, they will use it to buy the things they need. If you give them 10.000, they will not put 9.000 on a bank account but spend it for things they want (A smartphone is very important)  or what the family needs.

In the almost eight years I am together with mit wife, she did not save a single Peso. (She gets 17.000 Pesos pocket money from me each month)

So my advice is not to send bigger amounts of money to her.

And there is one more thing to consider about OFW. They usually have more than 1 boyfriend/sponsor.

Greetings from Boracay

Andy

Thank you to all who have contributed so far, I would just like to clarify a couple of points.

Enyzte Bob -She is definitely in Singapore because I have a picture of her in a shopping Mall with the name Singapore plastered on the outside of a shop and I have also contacted her on another social media platform using her new phone number with the Singapore code and although strange and unthinkable for us living in the west I fully believe that she paid for her own flights. I have a female Filipina friend who had to pay for flights for a contract in Hong Kong also and who I asked about this. We have had video calls in the past from her accommodation and I can see the cramped living space with several bunk beds. Apparently there are ten of them in there. They get picked up late afternoon, driven to the restaurant, work a long shift, get home about 4am and mostly just sleep. They are virtually slaves there and seem to have little freedom and I did ask my g/f once if she even had possession of her passport. I think they are accompanied when they go out to buy food but not sure.

Bannor - I will not pay her an allowance, certainly at this stage and having only met her in person once and I would certainly need a full breakdown of where the money is going before I would even consider to do so. That is a conversation maybe for later and to be had in person if at all.

Andy-1963 - I have considered the possibility that she may have more than one sponsor but I am fairly certain that she did not when we were together in person because she never took her phone with her when we were together even when we were at her house. She would leave me in the bedroom while she went to cook or wash clothes and would be gone for maybe 1 hour or slightly longer. I think if she had anything to hide she would have taken the phone with her. She is not always working overseas and has had other jobs in her country. This is only her 2nd OFW contract. She did tell me way before we met that other foreign men messaged her asking for nude pictures and video calls and  she just blocked them.

I will have to consider my options carefully and I can only think of three. I can leave her and put this behind me. I could wait it out until she sorts her problem out and contacts me and then arrange to go back to see her in the Philippines like we planned when she gets home or maybe there is a chance that if she does extend her contract in Singapore, I may be able to some how ask her negotiate a couple of weeks off for a trip home and pay the return air fare for her to Singapore myself or take her to a nearby country for a vacation. I guess the last option is a long shot and would depend on the restrictions on her Singapore work visa and entry requirements to the chosen destination if not the Philippines. I understand Vietnam may be an option for Filipino passport holders and a visa could be obtained on arrival.

When it comes to LDR's formed over any Philippine dating site, the dumbest Filipina is smarter than the smartest Expat.

    When it comes to LDR's formed over any Philippine dating site, the dumbest Filipina is smarter than the smartest Expat.        -@Enzyte Bob

Formed through Facebook Bob, I did not use a dating site. If she wants to end our relationship she can either message me and tell me or take the easy way out and block me but so far she has not done either. I am sure she is not a scammer. Will a relationship with a foreigner be beneficial to her financially in the long run, sure it will and her standard of living will be better if we got that far and she would not have to work but can we get that far. There is no way I would be willing to pay any money to extended family if our relationship went all the way.

Looking at her active status on Facebook - it seems to me that every time she is online, so is her mother or brother. I hope she is not sending money to her lazy brother because he would get sweet FA from me.

I am thinking that if my third option was doable that would be one way to get her abroad without the need for worrying about her being refused departure from the Philippines by immigration. If I took this option I guess I would need to give her an allowance but just for one month and to cover the loss of her earnings.

@Cherryann01

just tot up the red flags as you go

Excuse my bluntness Cherry but I see you have a lot to learn. Firstly from memory it will be 5/6 years before you retire? Could possibly move here? A lady in toe that is also working hard to help family, possibly her friends, the Filipino norms/way and a trait many westerners could learn from.

I estimate I/we spent AU 25K on a partnership visa, driving lessons, school to get a cert 4 in aged care let alone living expenses for 12 months. Now a permanent resident in Australia and worked hard for 5 years, saved money until we retired here, his growth was exponential and a good investment for a now 13/14 year relationship that continues to grow and prosper and no skirting around the edges and maybes. Living together in Manila for a year cemented the relationship for both of us and no second guessing or crap.

LDR's do work for some but not all.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

@Cherryann01

You have pm’d me a couple of times on this one Cherryann and like Bob I did have my initial reservations about your GF’s intentions as you may recall. With additional info and having seen her pics I am confident that (as far as you can ever tell with a Filipina) she has good intentions.

Like many LDR relationships though it can turn out to be a rubics cube of possible permutational outcomes given her work schedule and family responsibilities. You could end up going down a rabbit hole for the next two years and still end up where you started with all the emotional heartache that involves.

The only permanent short term solution would be to marry the girl which given that you have only physically been together for a few weeks would not be advisable.

Doing nothing is procrastination leading to further frustration. But it is the easiest option.

It’s decision time for you to prevent a repeat of your earlier impassioned Filipina train wreck experiences.

Yes Lotus, many think with the wrong head and often ends in grief.

Cheers, Steve.

    @Cherryann01You have pm’d me a couple of times on this one Cherryann and like Bob I did have my initial reservations about your GF’s intentions as you may recall. With additional info and having seen her pics I am confident that (as far as you can ever tell with a Filipina) she has good intentions.Like many LDR relationships though it can turn out to be a rubics cube of possible permutational outcomes given her work schedule and family responsibilities. You could end up going down a rabbit hole for the next two years and still end up where you started with all the emotional heartache that involves.The only permanent short term solution would be to marry the girl which given that you have only physically been together for a few weeks would not be advisable. Doing nothing is procrastination leading to further frustration. But it is the easiest option.It’s decision time for you to prevent a repeat of your earlier impassioned Filipina train wreck experiences.         -@Lotus Eater

Sound advice and I do think she is has good intentions. Like Big Pearl mentioned, I do have nearly 5 years until retirement age so it is a long way off yet. I am not in a rush to marry her and will not be contemplating that or indeed marrying anybody just yet. That would obviously come at a financial cost to me and like I said earlier, I am not willing to send a regular allowance especially knowing some of the money would probably be going to the lazy brother.

The fact that she is a OFW on and off does not really bother me either because with my retirement a few years off, if she wants to do that then that is her choice. I would be quite happy seeing her once a year if that is the case because time is on my side. She did once talk about a friend of hers who was an OFW in Hungary, a place I have visited several times and like very much and if that was ever a possibility and she was not working 7 days a week like she did in Saudi Arabia and is currently doing in Singapore, that would make visiting her a whole lot easier and cheaper for me.

I really have nothing to loose by giving her a little time while I have a serious think about the relationship and if I think it is worth continuing. I have walked away before from bad filipina's who hid their secrets and will do again if there is more to this than her money worries. If we do see each other again and that is a big if at the moment, we would need to have a serious conversation.

The biggest problem I have is lack of contact at the moment which happens when she has a problem and when she is exhausted from long hours working and I know that this is only temporary. This is one thing she will need to change in the future should we continue the relationship and if she will not then I will have to end things. Since she has not messaged me since Monday or even read my messages I can only assume that there is a setting on Facebook that allows the receiver of messages to divert or hide messages from an individual person and she has done that so not to be distracted and until she has sorted out her problem. (Just a guess on my part).

bigpearl said . . . . Excuse my bluntness Cherry but I see you have a lot to learn.

(and) LDR's do work for some but not all.

************************

From previous posts cherryann, I do believe you said: I once had a girlfriend working in Kuwait who had my baby and later learned she was married. Cherryann did you ever get a DNA test to verify the child was yours?

I also seem to remember you said you were chatting with four others at the same time, two in the Philippines and two in Vietnam.

It seems you keep doing the same thing and expect different results.

Just curious what others think.  I've been in a few Facebook groups.  I have encountered scammers as, apparently, have others.  I'm not suggesting anything regarding your gf Cheery.  I'm just wondering if they offer some advantage that dating sites do not?  Maybe because it's free?  I started with U.S-based Facebook dating groups and now I think I have PTSD when it comes to the 10 guys slobbering over every girl format.

    bigpearl said . . . . Excuse my bluntness Cherry but I see you have a lot to learn. (and) LDR's do work for some but not all.************************From previous posts cherryann, I do believe you said: I once had a girlfriend working in Kuwait who had my baby and later learned she was married. Cherryann did you ever get a DNA test to verify the child was yours?I also seem to remember you said you were chatting with four others at the same time, two in the Philippines and two in Vietnam.It seems you keep doing the same thing and expect different results.        -@Enzyte Bob

No Bob I think you have my previous relationships mixed up. I met one Filipina who said she was single but turned out to be married. Her husband according to her worked in Kuwait i believe. I ended that obviously.

I did father a child with a lady from Mindanao who also turned out to be married (The one who got her sister to tell me she topped herself). I did not have a DNA test after seeing a video by The Filipina Pea where she chatted to a lawyer. The lawyer said that if a foreigner had a child with a married Filipina, he had no claims to the child at all so no chance of bringing the girl to the west.

Vietnamese women - only went out for a meal  with one lady for one night whilst in Da Nang on holiday. No romance just dinner.

There were 2 more Filipina girlfriends and the relationships ended after one visit and at no cost to myself apart from the trip, hotels and normal daily expenses whilst with them.

The current woman I did spend just over 3 weeks with in the Philippines in April/May. 3 weeks after I returned home she was starting work in Singapore. I met her family and friends, spent time in Makati, Boracay and Bulacan and there were no demands for money.

I have made some mistakes Bob and I admit them but some I did not know were mistakes at the time. For instance, the woman that I was told topped herself had her status as divorced on her Facebook page. I though did not know they could not get a divorce there until I saw it on this Forum. My mistakes have not been too costly in regards to money and on 3 out of my 6 visits I have stopped off in HCMC, KL and Seoul on the way there or back because I like to travel. Also I have always managed to bail out of any relationships that went bad very quickly with no hesitation. This woman though is different as she has not made any demands for money or tried to con me. I admit to sending her money 3 times but small amounts and she did show me the items purchased. Those 3 times I really did have to insist also for more than a week, one time two.

    Just curious what others think.  I've been in a few Facebook groups.  I have encountered scammers as, apparently, have others.  I'm not suggesting anything regarding your gf Cheery.  I'm just wondering if they offer some advantage that dating sites do not?  Maybe because it's free?  I started with U.S-based Facebook dating groups and now I think I have PTSD when it comes to the 10 guys slobbering over every girl format.        -@Bannor

Because I still have a few Filipina friends (just friends) on my Facebook account, when the recommendations come up about people you may know - a lot are Filipina's, mixed in with British, Dutch and German since I also have friends there. I get friend requests occasionally from women from the Philippines so maybe my profile comes up on their pages. With regards to my current girlfriend, her profile picture came up as one of the recommendations. I usually just press delete and keep my finger down until all are deleted but I saw her profile picture out of the corner of my eye about 3 from being deleted and was attracted to her. I just sent her a short message then deleted her and not really expecting a reply. I did not remember her name so if she did not reply, that was that. She did reply about 3 weeks later and so it began. Then she was in Saudi Arabia. Sixteen months later we met in the Philippines. Great girl, great time, visit to Boracay, met her family, no money demands and all great until she is faced with money demands from her family.

If I had to make an educated guess based on what she has told me about her financial problems and the fact that she said she is very busy and her activity on Facebook which seems to have changed in the last week or so since she is offline for long periods with the occasional activity early morning (UK time) and when she told me she had breaks - I would say she may have managed to get an extra shift or at least a couple of hours extra work a day. When online she is probably calling home since her mum or/and brother seem to be active at the same time. The other possibility is that she is exhausted, sleeping more, maybe near to another breakdown and is only on Facebook chatting to her family about the money issue.

cherryann01 said. . . .
I did father a child with a lady from Mindanao who also turned out to be married tell me she topped herself). I did not have a DNA test after seeing a video by The Filipina Pea where she chatted to a lawyer. The lawyer said that if a foreigner had a child with a married Filipina, he had no claims to the child at all so no chance of bringing the girl to the west.

*************************

The real question have you met the child and do you support the child, if she even exists?  With your past experience with the mother do you trust her to tell you the truth about the child's lineage?

She could have had a whole bunch of FB friends from the past thinking they are the father and supporting the child.

Maury Povich where are you when we need you?

Bob - Yes I did meet the child on my second visit to see my ex. We all stayed in a condo for the duration of my visit. The girl does not look like other children from the Philippines and does look more European. Point taken about other FB friends possibly doinking my ex but I am not sure her husband would believe her excuses for being absent from the family home too many times.

Child support - I did but not since the truth came out and besides my ex has done a runner so even she is not with the child. The husband filled me in on a lot of her skullduggery and the excuse she gave him for being away while she was with me.

@Cherryann01

Vietnamese women - only went out for a meal  with one lady for one night whilst in Da Nang on holiday. No romance just dinner.

Was this the masseuse who dropped you off at your hotel on her scooter?

    @Cherryann01
Vietnamese women - only went out for a meal  with one lady for one night whilst in Da Nang on holiday. No romance just dinner.


Was this the masseuse who dropped you off at your hotel on her scooter? -@Lotus Eater

Yes indeed

Mixing with the wrong crowds Cherry? Sounds like, while you might have had fun and seems you will again by thinking with the wrong head and not reality, I have read your woes over the years and while I made a few mistakes seems you are halfway down the rabbit burrow, I wish you luck with this new lady but given the issues you have raised yet again I would ask while you have to work for the next 5/6 years why not find a nice lady in the UK? Bring her there is another option on a partnership visa if you are serious.

Been there.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

    Mixing with the wrong crowds Cherry? Sounds like, while you might have had fun and seems you will again by thinking with the wrong head and not reality, I have read your woes over the years and while I made a few mistakes seems you are halfway down the rabbit burrow, I wish you luck with this new lady but given the issues you have raised yet again I would ask while you have to work for the next 5/6 years why not find a nice lady in the UK? Bring her there is another option on a partnership visa if you are serious.
Been there.
OMO.

Cheers, Steve.
   

    -@bigpearl

I honestly did not look at it as having fun - each relationship I had was with the intention of it being a serious, long term and committed relationship. I admit that the timing is not in my favour and if I had met a good woman in the Philippines within 1 or 2 years of my retirement date, that would probably have made things a lot easier but it is what it is. I think I mentioned before in another post that the first relationship I had over there surprised me. She was the one who sent me a friend request on Facebook out of the blue and I had never had any contact with anyone from the Philippines before that.

I am serious about this lady but a partnership visa for her to come to the UK would mean I have to support the family back in the Philippines and that is not something I am prepared to do yet.

I do not even know how to end the relationship if that is what I choose to do because I would want to do it properly and gracefully and not simply block her or unfriend her and since she has not read my messages or messaged me since Monday, breaking up by just messaging her does not seem like a good option either.

Like I said before, she could either message me and end the relationship or block or unfriend me but she has not so far and even still has the pictures of our time together on her Facebook page.

Cherry wait until you are ready to retire, whether here in PH or in the UK there will always be the expectation of the rich foreigner supporting the family,,,,,,, the magic word is "NO" from the beginning, worked for me/us.

Work harder and retire sooner as I did.

Good luck sorting out yet another dilemma. Only took me a couple of short lived encounters to learn and prospered to this day, 14 years and going     strong.

Cheers, Steve.

    Cherry wait until you are ready to retire, whether here in PH or in the UK there will always be the expectation of the rich foreigner supporting the family,,,,,,, the magic word is "NO" from the beginning, worked for me/us.
Work harder and retire sooner as I did.
Good luck sorting out yet another dilemma. Only took me a couple of short lived encounters to learn and prospered to this day, 14 years and going     strong.
Cheers, Steve.
   

    -@bigpearl

Thank you for your reply. Retiring earlier is not really an option for me since my retirement fund will be made up of the state pension, an old private pension, a military pension and work place pension. The last 3 will not bring in sufficient funds but all 4 combined should amount to about £2000 which is equal to about $2600 US.

Like I mentioned before, the one advantage of her being an OFW for now is that if we can see each other just once every coupe of years and she is prepared to do that, she will be busy orking and I am not in a rush. We had planned to meet next February but obviously there is doubts about that now and I have the feeling she may be forced to extend her contract in Singapore.

Cherryann said. . . .

the one advantage of her being an OFW for now is that if we can see each other just once every coupe of years and she is prepared to do that, she will be busy orking and I am not in a rush. We had planned to meet next February but obviously there is doubts about that now and I have the feeling she may be forced to extend her contract in Singapore.

****************************

Yup I'm sure she will be ORKING you and possibly others.
   

   

    Cherryann said. . . .the one advantage of her being an OFW for now is that if we can see each other just once every coupe of years and she is prepared to do that, she will be busy orking and I am not in a rush. We had planned to meet next February but obviously there is doubts about that now and I have the feeling she may be forced to extend her contract in Singapore.****************************Yup I'm sure she will be ORKING you and possibly others.                -@Enzyte Bob

I could have made a worse typo Bob and put Porking

@Cherryann01

Retiring earlier is not really an option for me since my retirement fund will be made up of the state pension, an old private pension, a military pension and work place pension. The last 3 will not bring in sufficient funds but all 4 combined should amount to about £2000 which is equal to about $2600 US.

I'm assuming that the above income figures are monthly. This is where it gets interesting. The devil is in the detail. Are you aware that as from April 2024 the minimum annual income required for a Brit to sponsor a foreign spouse or partner is £29K . Initially this figure was going to be £38,700. Given the state of UK PLC finances inevitably the above figure will go up in time above the rate of inflation.

Even amidst a busy life it’s not difficult to acknowledge or reply to a message. I’d say that’s the red flag here. This lady has someone (or something) that is much more important than you, my friend. In fact, you don’t even appear to rate on the texting pecking order. Now, I’ve exercised worst judgement than most in these long distance relationships but the fact you’re going days without a response tells me everything. All the best though!

    Are Filipinas good planners, do they look at the big picture?
My g/f is currently on a 6 month contract working at a restaurant in Singapore. She had to pay for her own flights to get there to start with and I don't think she took the higher cost of living into account before she decided to accept the contract. She says she is the bread winner in the family and sends money home for her family, just who she is paying for I do not know. I hope it is just her daughter and parents.

-@Cherryann01

I laugh every time I hear "family oriented" + "breadwinner" in a Filipina's profile or story. In American culture, the breadwinner is the family member with the highest paying job, the most successful member of the family. In Filipino culture there's a twist. "Breadwinner" is a designated role often given to the least educated, least qualified, least successful family member who's flat broke but happens to be available for the position. Typically an unwed female with no kids or responsibilities. They are mostly breadlosers and breadgrifter – or fetcher or hustler or scammer – are more accurate terms for what they do. The "family oriented" tag just means they work for the family and family comes first ... always. Unless you're okay with that, anytime an expat sees "family oriented breadwinner" in a Filipina's description he should run. 

    Even amidst a busy life it’s not difficult to acknowledge or reply to a message. I’d say that’s the red flag here. This lady has someone (or something) that is much more important than you, my friend. In fact, you don’t even appear to rate on the texting pecking order. Now, I’ve exercised worst judgement than most in these long distance relationships but the fact you’re going days without a response tells me everything. All the best though!
   

    -@Brojeslov

My thoughts exactly - If I knew I was going to be busier than normal I would simply send her a message beforehand telling her and saying that I may not be able to message her as often for a few days but I would still message her at the start and end of my day and at any free periods in the day. This has happened before though and like I said above somewhere, when we were together at her house and she went to do  chores for maybe an hour or a little longer, she never took her mobile phone with her, just left it by me.

@Cherryann01

it’s human nature to believe what we want to believe and part of that is feeling when there’s an innocent or reassuring explanation for something that there must be for everything. you have reason to be suspicious and that reason doesn’t go away because of what she does with her phone when the two of you are together. with respect, you’re drawing dots that aren’t there. i’m not suggesting she’s a bad person because there doesn’t seem to be the evidence for that but there is all the evidence you need to conclude that you are not a priority for her. of course, you can take that and do with it whatever you want. all the best mate

    @Cherryann01it’s human nature to believe what we want to believe and part of that is feeling when there’s an innocent or reassuring explanation for something that there must be for everything. you have reason to be suspicious and that reason doesn’t go away because of what she does with her phone when the two of you are together. with respect, you’re drawing dots that aren’t there. i’m not suggesting she’s a bad person because there doesn’t seem to be the evidence for that but there is all the evidence you need to conclude that you are not a priority for her. of course, you can take that and do with it whatever you want. all the best mate         -@Brojeslov

I obviously knew from the outset that I was never going to be top of the pecking order, Family first obviously so it could be a close family related problem and from what she told me before is financial.

She does not have a great deal to gain though by staying in a relationship with me if she wants to end it,  but to leave our picture on her Facebook page would not be a great idea for her if she was in a relationship with somebody else or chatting to another possible suitor. I would expect to be blocked, unfriended or at least messaged to tell me she wants to end the relationship by now if that were the case unless she simply overlooked that. I think she may have muted the notifications from me so she does not receive notifications when I messaged her and I did send a lot of messages before.

Well today my g/f messaged me and I now have my answer and it is my fault that this played out. I had though about it but dismissed it at first but a couple of days before the messages stopped my ex's sister sent me a picture of the daughter with my ex and also sent it to my g/f. My g/f forwarded the picture to me and I thought I had explained the situation. I told my g/f when we first started chatting about my previous relationships and that I had a daughter there because I wanted to be honest and upfront with her from the start. Today she said she has been thinking about my daughter and that I should clear the situation up quickly. Maybe my ex's sister sent her other messages and lies, I do not know but I should have blocked the sister long ago.

So I have explained that I have never had a DNA Test to prove the daughter is mine or not, that since my ex lied to me and cheated, she may have been doinking another foreigner and that my ex's husband believes  that the little girl is his anyway. I also explained that a foreigner who fathers a child with a married Filipina  has no rights and the child is deemed  to be the husbands and that my ex did a runner somewhere and I have had no contact from her.

I should have blocked the ex's sister long ago so I did bring this on myself but if these women would just talk things through instead of taking ages to mull things over, it would be a lot easier.

Cherry, wait until you retire if you are not in a position to bring your prospective partner to the UK, not a cheap exercise as I have been there but at least the better half is now a permanent resident in Australia though we live back here now for over 5 years.

Sounds like you found a few live ones over your sojourns here and online, honestly? I did also but weeded them out early days, move on and focus on your life and future in the UK, LDR's are fraught with danger and as you know or are finding out Filipinos love their tsismis and stirring the pot.

Next time if it happens use a raincoat or get a vasectomy so you know.

From memory you have 5 years before you retire, focus on building your wealth until that time, you will need it as US 2,600 per month for a good life if you rent, consider a car etc. will be similar to what you have now but in a foreign country and here plenty with their hand out, NO is the operative word.

Make your money in the UK and guard it with your life as you won't get a hand out or help here. Think and plan with the big head and then enjoy.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

Teddy Roosevelt said to avoid problems. . . .

Walk softly, but carry a big stick (morning wood) and a trusted raincoat.

    Teddy Roosevelt said to avoid problems. . . .
Walk softly, but carry a big stick (morning wood) and a trusted raincoat.
   

    -@Enzyte Bob

I believe he also said - The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything.

I also heard Japanese manager from Marubeni (construction company) about 40 years ago delivering a speech in broken English. He stated his English is not good.

. . .

If I make long speech, I make many mistakes.

If I make a short speech, I make few mistakes.

If I don't make speech, I don't make mistakes.

Thank you.

Deja Vu

Teddy Roosevelt said: Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.