has anyone thought of retirement plan in Vietnam?

Yes, easy to do and your state pension actually covers living costs!

Ho Chi Minh is pricey, but there are many other great places, with and without Foreigners, with lower costs of living.

Easier than Singapore? 
I mean, business.

Yes, I have thought about running a small business in Saigon and retiring to the city. I am coming over on the 19th of Dec to check out a few things.

Ash.

Its good to do small biz, be an owner and do simple work here. You can run a small n special restaurant or coffee shop with live music or something else. Just depends on what do ya like to do and what make ya happy

Inform us what u want to do biz then we can come to support if we can

Good luck

Sarah

Sarah Ly wrote:

Its good to do small biz, be an owner and do simple work here. You can run a small n special restaurant or coffee shop with live music or something else. Just depends on what do ya like to do and what make ya happy

Unfortunately, what is simple for Vietnamese like Sarah, actually involves a pile of paperwork for Foreigners.

You need a company, registered with the city and several departments. BUT they also want information you cannot supply until you have some address to work from.

BUT to get a premises the Landlord will need to see your company registration!

Whatever funds you say you are forming the company with MUST be produced and attested to in the documentation.

But you start with City Hall. Start here: http://www.eng.hochiminhcity.gov.vn/bus … fault.aspx

Hi Jaitch,

Your right. He will need help from Vietnamese friends. That may be much easier. And he will need advice from lawyer and this person will do all documents for him. What I mean is just to open a smal restaurant ( not a really luxury one) or a cafe in other districts of HCM. As he want to live his retired life here and do simple stuff. Therefore its a suggestion that I think its suitable for him. There are many kinds of biz and u can choose to do big or small and u get support from your friends. Coopertating with vietnamese friends who he really trust to do biz is a good choice too

Best regards

Sarah

thaimaishoe wrote:

Hello my name is thai.  I'm doing good tonight thank you

 

Again you are off topic and offering nothing to the thread. If you have nothing to contribute to the subject of retirement in Vietnam then please do not post at all.

And  again I say this forum is not a dating or matrimonial site. Go elsewhere or you are likely to be banned.

Haha Stumpy, absolutly right :-)

Sarah

Vietnam, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Thailand are my retirement plan. I am living a very comfortable life here. Where as in the USA I would be just that poor ugly crazy guy, here I am rich handsome foriegner. Guess which one I prefer?

Unless you have good contacts, and can play the "game" the best way to get into a Small business here is to buy a Big business and wait.......

I see a lot of people come here and get their asses kicked.  Commercial Rents are a killer.

It's best to sit back, watch and observe and see what mistakes others make.  Learn from their mistakes and not your own. And there's always a new " Guinea Pig" coming to town to observe.

Generally the most successful operators are involved in some sort of export game. You make it here for Pennies and sell it elsewhere for Dollars.  That's how the big textile players make a killing in these countries.  Paying commercial rents of $3000 and up....just to sell food items for pennies is tough going.

Yeah. I must say the export angle is right.

If you have contact overseas, and just operate in VN for goods/services to sell there, it will be much better.

VN business environment seem to have many quirks. A fresh-off-the-airport may not know enough to survive.

It's simple mathematics.  A foreigner will be paying through the teeth in lease Payts for premises, and the local guy he's competing with is operating from his own house.  The foreigner also has to jump through more hoops as well. Every time he jumps , he pays. 

Another killer, is if you look like your making money, next week there'll be half the district copying what you do.  There's goes your market share.

Hi Ancientpathos,

Yeah, handsome rich king.... I agree w u on that. Also south east asia is a good place for retirement. U can choose whereever u wanna live for example, beside the beach, in the city or the countryside...

Thanks

Sarah

Agree with you. It really is easier than Singapore.

Very true. The Vietnamese operate on a razor thin margin. Foreigners need big margins to pay rent and party.

I've been in Vietnam 11 months now and it is great not having to work. I can't say I'm retired because evidently retired means collecting a pension and not having debts it seems.

Beware of Vietnamese friends. I don't have first hand experience but read too much horror stories of Vietnamese friends and even family turning on foreigners and running off with the foreigner's business. Just be wary who you trust is all I am saying and have protection guards in place.

Even my Vietnamese brother in law who is a Vietnamese local had all his scissors stolen when the owner closed shop and ran off somewhere. He saved up all his money to buy each scissors which were worth millions each. Now he can't afford to be a hair stylist again.

That is to say you just need to beware before entering the market, it's all.
It's not like you can not make a business works, even a small one. But you need to know players, and build up local contacts...
..
.
Come to think of it, it's not that different than other markets, after all.

just remember this.  Any astute investor will always assess the HONESTY, INTEGRITY , TRUST and REPUTATION  of the people you are dealing with.   How about Common Courtesy and decency as well. ?

As much as I like it here, there is very little of the above on display here.

Also, the World Banks and Global analysts rate this country at around 100th on the global ease of doing business index.   Singapore is No 1, Japan ,Taiwan, Sth Korea , Malaysia , Indonesia and Thailand are in and around the Top 20...    Wonder why...? 

It's just that cronyism, nepotism, corruption, etc etc are way out of control here.  There are good people here, but they will never get into the important positions unless they're born into it or PAY for the job. 

The talented and the honest are left behind unfortunately.

So if you want to do business in this country ,  be prepared to cope with the nonsense that goes on.  It's a shame.  So much potential , but "managed "by idiots.

That's my take on it.