New members of the Philippines forum, introduce yourselves here - 2018

Hello everyone!

My name is Jon and I'm a professional translator/writer/editor (English-French), working mostly online as a freelancer. I am seriously contemplating a move to the Philippines and pursuing my online work from there. I haven't had a chance to visit just yet as I'm gathering information to see if this would be feasible.

I've started reading posts on the forum and I'm glad that most members here are making relatively positive/neutral interventions; I'm always cautious when there's too much sugar coating or ranting.

I've been chatting with some Filipinas for the past couple of weeks and some of them have been a great help, but most have never traveled within the country and couldn't give me a portrait of the differences between regions. That's why I'll be counting on you guys to give me a personal review of the place you've been living in if it fits my criteria. I'll be posting another topic on that subject very soon.

Hope I can meet some of you when I get there for a visit!

Jon from Montreal, Quebec.

Hi Everyone,

I have just recently joined up to this site,
After many trips to the Philippines over the years and getting closer to retirement I thought its a good now to start learning about all there is to know about permanent living in the Philippines, as well as to make contact with Aussie Expats living in Cebu.
I travel to the Philippines at least twice a year to see my fiancé who lives currently in Cebu, I was there recently over the Xmas/New Year period.

Thanks for the opportunity and I look forward to years ahead living in the Philippines.

Tony.

Welcome aboard, mate.  You will find plenty of your countrymen willing to help you once you start posting under specific threads.  Good luck!!!

yes welcome to Philippines one day, I am Sam from Melbourne, any way you have been here many times, so you are half way in the door, how much more to learn hmm  that will depend on you, to live here permanently is very different then been here on holidays, just hope you have plenty of money with you haha sorry been sarcastic here, yes and no, up to you Mate.

Hi all.
I have been visiting the Philippines for about 15 years now. I met my wife there and she has been living here in Australia with me now for about 13 years. In 2016 we built a home in Concepcion Tarlac, and yes we learnt many a hard lesson on that project.
We hope to be living there full time in about 5 years time, but until then will be there 3 or 4 times a year if possible.
Just wanted to introduce myself to the group.
Ray

Hi every one.
I live in Concepcion Tarlac BRGY Matalusad, have been here from 2015, married with one baby Boy who is 2 this Month, must say joy of my life and my Wife's, as most of you here we did things the hard way, and we build our house here with problems that only here can be done, but any way it is on going maintenance, but hope one day I will fix it the way I wanted to be, we are independent from family here, we do visit them some times but not all the time, they too come some times to visit, we did have few problems with family and it is best this way, I come from Melbourne Australia, and miss my home very much, I am permanent here but not sure for how long.

Sam, we are going through the same problems after having our house finished.Lots of ongoing problems that we are working through one at a time. I gave up getting the original contractor back to fix things as it wasn't worth the headaches. I have since found a very good cabinet maker/ handyman and a very good painter. They are both local in Concepcion if that helps

Cabinet maker I can use, even handyman, but not painters, I am ok doing this jobs my self, providing it is not to hot and humid, Ray who was your contractor hope not the same person? is the house big? I have 2 storeys about 225m2, and finished in 2016, but we build a shop as well. Wife wanted to open Convenience Store, but I run out of money and then again there is no money to be made in a sari sari shops, or for the batter.

Hi Y'all.

I'm a retired professional from the US in the Great Lakes. Originally from the Philippines and may use the Philippines as a "snow bird" destination at some point. Not sure that I really want to retire there. Have relations and visit there once in a while. I speak tagalog, Ilonggo and Ilocano. Was fluent in Pampangueno but got rusty from lack of practice.

I have experiences and knowledge that I can share from both sides of the fence that I believe can be beneficial.

Thanks Mugtech,

I’m sure the upcoming years will be some what testing and also enjoyable.

Hey there all ,
Am just wondering if anybody here know some team that play football or "soccer" in the philippens ?
I've been playing almost everyday and am planning to move and live in the PH ..
So am hungry for some kick - around .
Anyone out there ?
Don ..

Don I wish for one as well, but you will see when you get here, it is not much in sport wise, they are drinkers here, so this is their sport to see who can drink more, or how many cigarets they can smoke in one seating, I am not sure about the rest of Philippines, but no such a luck here in Tarlac province

samangelevski wrote:

Don I wish for one as well, but you will see when you get here, it is not much in sport wise, they are drinkers here, so this is their sport to see who can drink more, or how many cigarets they can smoke in one seating, I am not sure about the rest of Philippines, but no such a luck here in Tarlac province

Sam, no offense but you need to get out more. Football or soccer is quite popular in the Philippines. Many colleges have them as a collegiate sport. UE and Ateneo for example and many more. Google it to see where you can play. My brothers played soccer in college.

NO OFFENSE TAKEN, YOU TALKING ABOUT COLLEGES, MAYBE THAT IS DIFFERENT, JUST REMEMBER THIS IS NOT EUROPE AND NEVER WILL BE, DO YUO EVER SEE PHILIPPINES PLAY IN ANY STAGE AS COMPETITION FOOTBALL OR SOCCER?? ANY WAY AS WE ALL DO YOU WILL LEARN TOO, GOOD LUCK ON THAT..

Sam, I guess I do not see your point of bringing up this subject. First you insult Filipinos that they are drinkers and smokers. Then it's not Europe. Then there's no competitive team. I thought you were mainly looking for a group to play with. And am saying they are around if you look for them. No, it's not the most popular sport there. Who do you hang out with anyway??

I am not the one who is looking to play or any groups here, I did my bit back in Europe, will I play it again not likely, who do I hang out with, well that all depends on who I meet on the day, can be Japanese, Korean, Chines, and not to forget Philippines.

samangelevski wrote:

I am not the one who is looking to play or any groups here, I did my bit back in Europe, will I play it again not likely, who do I hang out with, well that all depends on who I meet on the day, can be Japanese, Korean, Chines, and not to forget Philippines.

Oh, that's right. It was Donkaka. Well, hopefully he is following this thread. But I'm still saying that drinking and smoking are not sports. You are however correct that many Pinoys like to sit around (tambay) drinking, smoking and probably getting in to drugs - which is the cause of most of the crimes there. That is why many Filipinos are very supportive of Duterte's war on drugs. At least the man is tryijg to address the matter compared to his predecessors who did absolutely nothing.

That is so interesting when you say Dutere's war on drugs, now is it really or is he making room for his Son to run Cartel in Philippines, think about this for a moment, his Son was asked publicly to explain where are P6.4b drugs are missing, his father said go to hearing but do not answer any questions about missing drugs, war on drugs can not be won, not now not ever, in real terms it is getting worse with drugs here, but one thing he is doing is cleaning up streets from homeless people, they do not use drugs but they sleep in the parks and every way, what are excuse to get read of less fortunate people in the world, this are homeless who need help, but not to be killed, we are flooded by drugs from China and Mexico, they come in from every side, as we never seen it before, funny about all this the people who are real drug uses do not get killed, as Duterte said people who use Herovan is better for people, then  who use Shabu, so all the politicians all the Actors and all the Business Man are safe from been killed, and who is dealing with drugs, Mayors, Politicians, Business Man  and Police run Cartel here,  so what is all about war on Drugs ??? I believe the war on  drugs is about war on territories, from Cartels.
The war is on every one who do not use Drugs, kids get killed every day here.

I don't want to sound like a smart arse but a club side in soccer just beat Brisbane Roar in a knockout stage of the Asian Cup and also Australian  players play in there league in the Philippines .

Hello, everyone.  My name is Darryl and I am a 60 year old manager at a movie theater chain.  I currently live in Amarillo, Texas, U.S.A. but will soon be retiring and moving to Manila where I will marry my lovely fiancé.

I decided that I could continue to work for my pay and be unhappy every day, or I could retire, collect the spouse benefits I get from Social Security and be happy in the Philippines with my wonderful lady.

One guess which one I chose.

LongDoggy wrote:

Hello, everyone.  My name is Darryl and I am a 60 year old manager at a movie theater chain.  I currently live in Amarillo, Texas, U.S.A. but will soon be retiring and moving to Manila where I will marry my lovely fiancé.

I decided that I could continue to work for my pay and be unhappy every day, oar I could retire, collect the spouse benefits I get from Social Security and be happy in the Philippines with my wonderful lady.

One guess which one I chose.

Welcome Darryl.  Perhaps you will work until age 62 and retire on 75% of your full SS benefit.  Please contact us through other threads to answer any questions you may have.

Actually, I am widowed and am receiving spousal Social Security benefits which I will lose if I continue working full time where I am now.  So instead, I will move to the Philippines, live on my benefits that I am getting now and when I am 70, I will switch over to my retirement benefits. 

I could continue to work and draw from my retirement savings and be miserable or I could retire to the Philippines, live on my Social Security and be happy.  I chose to be happy.

Just so I know and maybe lot more of us here, what is Spousal Social Benefits ??
I believe what I know this applies to Females only am I right ?? and to wait till 70 years old to get Pension, is this what you cal retirement funds ??

samangelevski wrote:

Just so I know and maybe lot more of us here, what is Spousal Social Benefits ??
I believe what I know this applies to Females only am I right ?? and to wait till 70 years old to get Pension, is this what you cal retirement funds ??

In the USA a surviving spouse, male or female, can collect SS benefits before retiring based on the deceased spouse's earning history.  Waiting until age 70 maximizes the amount he will get per month, will be 8%/year additional up to full at age 70, so he will receive 32% more per month at age 70 than if he started at age 66 while still collecting his survivor SS until he switches over to his own SS based on his earning history.

Thats assuming he is referring to his social security when he says "pension". Normally, a pension refers to a benefit from a company that someone had worked for years. Social security is social security.

No Pension is when you reach your old age,  which is not sure now, but use to be 65 years,  I think that is gone to 67 to 70  years, depend in the year you are born in, for me is 67 years, not they yet, Social Security is for people who are looking for work and they will get this benefit till they find work, then there is Family Benefits, and lots more, but if our spouse dies, Man or Woman we do not have this Benefits, but you know what i think it is great idea, i mean to have spouses benefits to help you out.

Sam, I am referring to the system in the US where the OP resides. In technical terms, social security is not considered a pension. And yes, there are age eligibilities with social security, the earliest being 62. The benefits of which go up depending on what age you claim it.

With a pension you have to be vested first before being eligible. Meaning you have work for an organization for say 5 years. The longer you work the more you get. The federal and state government have a slightly different structure. If you worked for an organization that offered a pension then you can technically get both pension and social security. Pensions are not as popular anymore. Private companies have been phasing them out. There is talk that the government may soon too.

Thank you for that, now I know what is what, we have system called Super, it is money employer must pay in to, about 10% of income, then this money are invested for you, till you get to Retirement age, system is ok, but all depends on how many years you work, the longer you work the more super you will receive weekly, I am not sure about this system if stock market is down then your super will go down as well, maybe not a great idea to invest in stocks,   but again this is what they do there.

Is this the Philippines you are referring to? Employers in the US have something similar. It's called a 401K for private companies and 403B for government. Although none will contribute unless you contribute. Its voluntary. They will contribute or match only up to a certain percent. But you can contribute as much as you can. The monies are invested in mutual funds. You can choose among the ones provided in the plan. This has nothing to do with the pension nor social security.

I was talking about Australia, you right Government got the same system, but they pay 22% in to Super, and yes we can Contribute as well, but we can not chose where to invest this money.

Hi everyone. Just introducing myself. My hubby is considering a position in Manilla. That means I am going to be a stay at home person in an unknown country. I would love to hear from anyone else in same situation. I am not sure how I feel about it. We currently live in Australia and are of the older generation :-)

Hi I am Australian my self, my understanding is your Husband will be working and you will be here with him is that right, but you will stay at home and wait for him as all good wife here do, if this is the case it is not to bad, you will have to find some thing to do or have some kind of hobby, Manila is very busy place with lots and lots of people and children on the streets bagging for money, it is not a safe place, but then some may say it is, I have been here since 2015, but I live in Tarlac Province, with Wife and 2 year old son. they are lots of Philippine Wife here staying at home and looking after children, while husband is working over sea some way, and then you have lots of Husbands stay at home looking after children and Wife works over seas, it is their way of life, they see nothing wrong with this, or they have no choice in any of it,

Why not check  with the Australian embassy to see if there is any support group or association you could join.

Hi Josephine
Exactly where in the Philippines will your husband be working? Manila is a very overcrowded city. How you find the Philippines will depend a great deal on where you are located.

I am confident the embassy will be able to guide you on places to reside and other Aussies in the area. Depending on what you can afford and how much hubby wants to commute there are many gated developments in the area that will be more secure. Again, a question to ask embassy. They may already have a housing guide available. I would not trust property brokers as everyone I've met always have other agendas.

Not exactly sure yet. The company is giving us a rent free 1 bedroom appartment somewhere. We have just been told Manilla so far. If we decide to go we will have more info in the next two weeks.

In that case you have nothing to worry about, every thing is take care of for you, I will say go and enjoy stay there, see other culture and people how they live day to day, you will find it very interesting and informative as well.

Sam!!?? Nothing to worry about? Isn't that all relative to location?

Yes it is true, but I am not asking you to walk night times, if you do some back ground checks,  you will know by now night times in Manila is dangerous, like playing Russian roulette, hit or miss, best if you pln to go out night times do it in a group, never alone or with Husband,