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BigBlackEquus
Joined: 05 Jul 2005
Location: Lotte controls Asia with bad chocolate!
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 Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:50 pm Post subject: Do you worry about your future and retirement? |
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Here I am, teaching in Korea, and living in a society where the old are cared for by the young. I have no plans to marry, and absolutely no interest in it. I would feel trapped and unhappy, locked-in with a partner or any sort. Because of this, I would have no children to care for me in the future. If I go home after years of living here, I won't have much for my retirement.
I am reconsidering uni work as being a good thing, based on the fact that they are on a "private" pension. Those plans sound sucky, because you must become vested, and are let go before that. In short, I have no trust in them, and wouldn't be at all surprised if they came up with some reason why I can't get my money because I'm a foreigner even if I were vested. Still, that amount of money would be a pittance, and this government would do nothing for me once I'm old.
Does anyone else fit my situation, and worry about retirement, or living here long-term and not marrying? |
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bellum99
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: don't need to know
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 7:08 pm Post subject: |
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Well...if you are smart and save your money then there isn't a problem. Save the money and go home and buy a house when you are older. Life is easy after you own a house or two. Chicks dig a man with property  |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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| bellum99 wrote: |
| Well...if you are smart and save your money then there isn't a problem. Save the money and go home and buy a house when you are older. Life is easy after you own a house or two. Chicks dig a man with property |
Assuming that this is in retirement , and that no children are involved:
Why would you buy a house? The equity you build isn't going to do you any good. Plus, you're involved with a very undiversified, unliquid investment, prone to bubbles and bursts.
Saving money here isn't a problem, it's just a matter of saving enough. I'm calculating that I'll need about US$400,000 to retire on. A 5% draw down a year (which should maintain the principle in perpetuity) will be US$20,000. With that, I should be able to live very comfortably in a nice developing country (Argentina is the leading candidate at this time).
Running a simple retirement calculator (saving $10,000 a year for the next 20 years with a fairly aggressive investment strategy), it gives me a 84% chance of having $350,000, and a 50% chance of having $490,000 in 2025. I'll be 55 then.
Now if I can only go 20 years without going on any more year and a half long vacations... |
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Hanson
Joined: 20 Oct 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| 400,000$ in 20 years probably won't be worth much... |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:00 am Post subject: |
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| Hanson wrote: |
| 400,000$ in 20 years probably won't be worth much... |
Well, there are those who say it isn't worth much now. But wherever I go, it'll be plenty. |
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SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:12 am Post subject: |
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| bellum99 wrote: |
| Well...if you are smart and save your money then there isn't a problem. Save the money and go home and buy a house when you are older. Life is easy after you own a house or two. Chicks dig a man with property |
I don't know the price of property in other countries but in my country I'd have to work in Korea and save for 20 years to get enough to buy a house outright (ie no mortgage/interest) and even then - at this point in time - my property would be bottom of the pile. It's amazing how little $200,000 can get you these days.
We all probably need to buy property eventually but it's probably the least likely scenario to save up in Korea for all that time and then buy.
It must be possible to save for the future, because our salaries are on a par with many people back home if not better. People who save 10k US per year or more are the exception, not the rule. The average person lives a life of debt and with no guarantee of a state pension facility because that's so costly for the state (too many old people, I don;t mean that in a nasty way). Everyone has to sort their own plan out back home and here. If you ask me, we're all in the same boat. We'll all be working til we're 70 or longer, so I feel no immediate hurry to get on the property ladder etc.
I know this sounds horrible, but my plan is to inherit property first and foremost and take it from there. I'm in a fortunate position; I'm an only child with a relatively wealthy family - my future is pretty much set. It's an unpleasant fact of life we all might as well just acknowledge. |
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bellum99
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: don't need to know
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:45 am Post subject: |
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Nope, I will retire by age 45. I made a lot here in Korea. I bought a house around May 2000 and it doubled in one year. Then I sold it when I won the housing lottery (Bundang) and bought a new one and it doubled. Then I sold it and bought in Kangnam. Soon I will have reconstruction and the sky is the limit. Korea has been good to me. You have to be aware of what's happening around you to make money.
--Nothing is better than good property. |
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jlb
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:12 am Post subject: |
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There is definitely hope for you! It's called the power of compound interest. Once you start investing, even at a moderate 5 or 6 % return, it starts to add up if you leave it in the bank for 40 or 50 years. Bigblack: I assume you are in your 20's? If yes, then you have lots of time. Say you make 2 million, invest 1 mill. in various mutual funds, stocks, t-bills, etc. It might take a little research but find some good books and knowledgeable friends. Saving 1 mill in Korea is very reasonable.
It just takes a little discipline to start now. Don't depend on some government pension with no guarantees if you have the means to be financially independent (which I would argue any teacher in Korea does). |
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xingyiman
Joined: 12 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Well, there are those who say it isn't worth much now. But wherever I go, it'll be plenty. |
Yeah I am off to the Philippines in 5 years. I figure that I will have enough money by that time to pad me so I can live out the reat of my days. I already have a house that I am eying. |
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Wangja
Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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| huffdaddy wrote: |
| Hanson wrote: |
| 400,000$ in 20 years probably won't be worth much... |
Well, there are those who say it isn't worth much now. But wherever I go, it'll be plenty. |
I am not far off retirement and my pile is larger than that.
It is not enough. Not by a lo-ooong way. |
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SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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Wanja = ���� !
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Wangja
Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| SPINOZA wrote: |
Wanja = ���� !
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hahaha!!
Wangja was, but a mid-life divorce soon sorrted that out.
Next time, I won't get married, I'll just find a woman I really hate and give her a couple of houses. Saves legal fess. 
So, as my sig says, I left the palace and have to work for a living again. |
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huffdaddy
Joined: 25 Nov 2005
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Wangja wrote: |
| huffdaddy wrote: |
| Hanson wrote: |
| 400,000$ in 20 years probably won't be worth much... |
Well, there are those who say it isn't worth much now. But wherever I go, it'll be plenty. |
I am not far off retirement and my pile is larger than that.
It is not enough. Not by a lo-ooong way. |
Where are you going to "settle down"? 5% a year would be $20,000 a year, which would be plenty in Argentina, Thailand, and probably 150 other countries. Heck, it'd do you well in BF America, where my parents recently bought their house for about US$20,000. |
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Wangja
Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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Well, one place here, one in UK and one in USA is the plan.
Where in USA can you buy a house for 20,000 USD? Utah? 
I thought Houston was pretty cheap with decent sized houses for less than 200,000 USD. |
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kangnam mafioso
Joined: 27 Jan 2003
Location: Teheranno
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| Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 5:17 pm Post subject: |
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| the important thing about retirement is to live an interesting life so that you will have something cool to think about once you can no longer get around. haven't you been paying attention? material possessions mean nothing. |
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