Job Discussion Forums

[zondervan]

What about investing abroad?

i.e. Buying property in Asia with the intention of renting it out or until the value of the land matures.

Whilst travelling in the Philippines I met a number of people who were there to buy a property or land on which to build a property. The Philippines doesn't interest me particularly, but it did get me thinking about other possible investments in Asia i.e. Thailand.

It'll be a long time until I can retire, but have already done a little research on this.However, it does seem quite risky and the companies pushing alot of these 'investment opportunities' don't really inspire confidence.

Has anyone hear invested in property/land?How difficult was it? Have you received any returns on your investment yet?

[tedkarma]

In Thailand you can legally own a condo if 51% of them are owned by Thais. You can not legally own land. You can own a house - but you can not own the land the house sits on.

That said - the rents - in Phuket anyway - do not bring a similar return on investment as property would back home. Usually, where I come from anyway (own own a couple rental properties there) the rents will roughly equal 1% of the value of the property. In Phuket it tends to be about .05% or less. So, if you invest back home - your money will bring greater income. And - you have much greater legal protection.

Other issues: property management costs much more in Thailand. Property taxes are much lower on Phuket. No such thing as title insurance in Thailand (that alone should make you think twice).

There are many other variables involved - pro and con. But that is the basics. Best to invest, imo, where you are very familiar with the problems and legal system.

[Stephen Jones]

owning to rent in Asia is a recipe for penury, and would still be so if the sellers were honest and the government transparent.

As tedkarma has said returns on property are around 5% per annum, whilst in the States or UK you would expect closer to 10%. Note, however that the States and the UK are more of the exception here, and the 4-5% figure is general for much of Europe.

Let me tell you the little secret about increasing your savings I have learnt the hard way. The secret to increasing your savings is increasing your income. If you are living in Latin America, or Thailand, or Southern or Eastern Europe, earning peanuts, you will not save.

Even in the highest paying markets you will not save a lot with TEFL.

So sort out your priorities regarding earnings first; then decide how you are going to salt it away.

[khmerhit]

As a couple of my colleagues used to tell me, it makes no sense to save money in places like cambodia---or the Czech republic, or any other republic, for that matter, where the currency is known to be pretyy worthless elsewhere. When the viets invaded Cambodia they found money in the streets. No one valued it, not least the KR, hence, hence it could not be traded. It aint so different in Ruritania. But please--don't ask me ME about saving. Ask Valleygirl!!

[Mchristophermsw]

I have currently invested in property in the Caribbean and I am working on my second piece of property that I plan to develop and use as a rental and Iam very happy. I could never do this back in the bay area in California. And when I use the term bought, I mean I own it completely..no loan, mortgage, nadda, zip.

But I did live in Trinidad and Tobago first for two years and become well informed about the real estate market before taking the plunge. Listen to TEDKARMA and others regarding first do your research and be well informed.

But please dont be scarred about GLOBAL INVESTMENTS. Read some work regarding "John Templeton" and the more you research this topic the more you will see that there are great oppertunities abound for the INFORMED.

One example that really hit home for me was that my retirement system is CALPEERS. It is the largest retirement system for public employees in the state of California. Two years ago, their investment management group came out with a report and they had lost near 20% of their domestic investment but they gained over 75% on their International Investments for the fund. AMAZING!!

Back to Trinidad:

My goal in Trinidad is to basically own my home outright because a mortgage is the largest bill most people have. And secondly has some residual income from a rental property. This will allow me to free up large amounts of money from my income/payroll two invest in fixed income and long term low risk investments. This is were the Magic of Compound Investments will come in and the real money will start to be generated.

We all have different goals....but one important variable is GET STARTED

[snorklequeen]

i'm curious what it's like for a single middle-aged woman living and teaching in the Middle East -- i've heard stories about how women are treated/perceived there and am not sure what to actually believe -- i'm used to going where i want, doing what i want, having a beer or a glass of wine or a margarita in a public restaurant, saying what i want, and so on; i can't imagine having to be a shrinking violet

Queenie

[tirelesstravelerasia]

You might do some research on REITs - these are basically corporations that do real estate investment on a large scale and let you buy shares, minimum investment of as low as 1000 US. It's kind of like owning real estate without the hassle, as REITs are required by law to pay out 90% of profits to shareholders in the form of an annual dividend -- yes, that means 10% is going to the fund managers, but because they're working with tons more capital than an individual could, it turns out to be a decent deal.

Over the past 5 years, average annual returns for REITs have been just over 20%.

[Echidna]

I'm just curious; other than investing in real estate or the stock market, does anybody have investments in mutual funds? IRAs and that sort of thing? My wife and I have a Roth IRA, and slowly but surely (and I do mean slooooooooowly) we seem to be making money.

I was led to believe that mutual funds might be a reasonably safe alternative to the stock market, though they may not provide you with the most dramatic gains (or risks, for that matter).

Do you think that these funds might be a wise choice? Or am I wasting my time when something else could bring safe, higher returns?

Thanks!

[Delahoya]