How your income stacks up

[Pat]

Oh, and I was speaking with Bmolsson at the Swedish Business Association meeting in Jakarta, about the two swedish kids who had bought a lot of cannabis in Bali (you get asked to buy all the time) and smoked it in their hotel room in quantities large enough for other guests to complain. So the police came, and apparently they didn't know how to bribe them. It seemed they were going down for many years, but Bmolsson told me he had bribed the judges, and they'd only get 3 months (or something). And then much later, when the verdict was given, it was 3 months, as Bmo had told me. (This was a big thing in swedish papers)

OK I've taken a stilnoct and I hope the above text is readable. Should sleep....

[Eddie Teach]

Anyway, the point is, I do not believe it is as easy as "take some spare change, go to a low cost place and live like a king".  Low cost countries are low cost for good reasons.  There are trade offs.

That may be true of countries. The main tradeoff for low costs in rural areas is lack of jobs, which isn't a factor in retirement. Somebody in New York could retire to Alabama for a lot less money.

[Pat]

Americans should probably try to be careful abroad, and in some places it's probably a good idea to say you're Canadian or Australian or British. Probably not as bad in China nowadays though. My grandfather told me about when he was invited to China back in -78. He was taking pictures of some poeple, and a man started screaming at him in Chinese, making gestures with his hand in imitation of his large beer-belly (my grand-father has always been fond of beer). It took some time before my grand-father understood the problem and explained that he was "Ruodian" (Swedish). The chinese man probably thought him an American, but when he heard he was Swedish he instead became very friendly and apologetic. Sweden is well known in China as one of the first western countries to acknoweldge the people's republic.

[Pat]

They won't know the difference between different kinds of english. At the markets in China, I'd tell them I was bulgarian. This is an advice I got. They know bulgaria is poor, so they'll start the haggling at a lower price. One time, however, the salesman tried switching to Russian to talk to me. After that I said I was from the faroe islands, because they don't know where it is and they don't know if it's rich or not.

[Pat]

No sleep, so pardon my kidnapping of this thread while I tell another anecdote of Sri Lanka. My friend and I, both young men in our best years, one night found ourself in want of something to do for an evening in Colombo - unfortunately, this endeavour we made our own we found to be quite difficult in a pitch-dark city under curfew with few cars on the street except military vehicles, and few people to be seen walking except men in uniform with big weapons walking two-and-two one on each side of the street. After some searching, however, our new-found friend the tuk-tuk driver promised to find us a place owned by one of the generals, and hence above the law. It was a nice place, although hidden away, in a cellar, with a non-descript entrance. We were soon approached by ladies asking to join us, which we agreed to, though we didn't agree to buying them drinks. At least not as much as they wanted us to. They were pleasant company, but I assume that was their job to be. As the evening passed and the mental fortitude found itself conquered by beer, my friend suggested we should take them up on some of their more shame-less offers, and I acquiesced.

Anyway, we were informed the ladies in question were for purpose of company in the bar and no more, and we were escorted elsewhere, into another non-descript entrance, up a flight of stairs. I was very drunk, but I made it up the stairs with only the slightest of difficulty. I soon found myself in the company of a stout, short and sturdily built, muscular rather than fat, young lady. The experience was not entirely unpleasant, but not very pleasant either. As this is a family forum, I shall spare you the details. She was quite obviously tamil, based on her complexion and other characteristics, where tamils differ from sinhalese, but it was only later I drew the conclusion she was probably a prisoner of war. The Tamil Tigers employ female cadres with great efficiency, and they also make the best suicide bombers. Sinhalese troops are told to be extra careful with the ugly tamil women, as those women are the most likely to want to blow themselves up, or so it is said, from 25 years of counter-insurgency experience.

You'd all be quite right to condemn me for my lack of morals. Probably not a very good idea of mine to write this little confession of what might be a crime (anyone more well-versed in itl. law here who knows if it might be? I am talking about soliciting the services of a prisoner of war). I blame these sleeping pills, they do strange things to me without making me sleep. But I trust present company to be familiar with the old saying of snitches get stitches. Now I'll try taking another one of these things.

[Habbaku]

No sleep, so pardon my kidnapping of this thread while I tell another anecdote of Sri Lanka. My friend and I, both young men in our best years, one night found ourself in want of something to do for an evening in Colombo - unfortunately, this endeavour we made our own we found to be quite difficult in a pitch-dark city under curfew with few cars on the street except military vehicles, and few people to be seen walking except men in uniform with big weapons walking two-and-two one on each side of the street. After some searching, however, our new-found friend the tuk-tuk driver promised to find us a place owned by one of the generals, and hence above the law. It was a nice place, although hidden away, in a cellar, with a non-descript entrance. We were soon approached by ladies asking to join us, which we agreed to, though we didn't agree to buying them drinks. At least not as much as they wanted us to. They were pleasant company, but I assume that was their job to be. As the evening passed and the mental fortitude found itself conquered by beer, my friend suggested we should take them up on some of their more shame-less offers, and I acquiesced.

Anyway, we were informed the ladies in question were for purpose of company in the bar and no more, and we were escorted elsewhere, into another non-descript entrance, up a flight of stairs. I was very drunk, but I made it up the stairs with only the slightest of difficulty. I soon found myself in the company of a stout, short and sturdily built, muscular rather than fat, young lady. The experience was not entirely unpleasant, but not very pleasant either. As this is a family forum, I shall spare you the details. She was quite obviously tamil, based on her complexion and other characteristics, where tamils differ from sinhalese, but it was only later I drew the conclusion she was probably a prisoner of war. The Tamil Tigers employ female cadres with great efficiency, and they also make the best suicide bombers. Sinhalese troops are told to be extra careful with the ugly tamil women, as those women are the most likely to want to blow themselves up, or so it is said, from 25 years of counter-insurgency experience.

You'd all be quite right to condemn me for my lack of morals. Probably not a very good idea of mine to write this little confession of what might be a crime (anyone more well-versed in itl. law here who knows if it might be? I am talking about soliciting the services of a prisoner of war). I blame these sleeping pills, they do strange things to me without making me sleep. But I trust present company to be familiar with the old saying of snitches get stitches. Now I'll try taking another one of these things.

Quoted for posterity and in case Pill-Popping-Pat feels like scrubbing it.

[DisturbedPervert]

Americans should probably try to be careful abroad, and in some places it's probably a good idea to say you're Canadian or Australian or British. Probably not as bad in China nowadays though.

I wouldn't do that except in some Muslim countries where it might get you exploded or deheaded.

[Eddie Teach]

As this is a family forum, I shall spare you the details.

News to me.

[Jacob]

This is not a family forum.

[Monoriu]

I wonder how he got that impression.

[Zanza]

Sure, if that's your thing.  Retirement planning is all about matching wants and means.  The formula remains the same: starting portfolio must be at least 25 times your expected annual expenditure when you retire.  Retiring to a low cost country will (probably) lower your expenditure, but it won't change the 25 times figure.  The usual problem is that people have unrealisitc expectations, but if you don't expect a lot, there won't be a problem.

If you calculate like that, 25 is too conservative. Most people retire between say 60-65 I guess. At that age, women in Germany still have an average life expectancy of about 23-24 years, men about 20 years or so. It's similar in other developed countries. Unless you are betting that you will be among those dying early, you need even more money.

[Eddie Teach]

You'll still be earning interest off of that money though, so it might last 30 years.

[The Brain]

Interest is against Zanza's religion.

[Slargos]

Migs fucked a POW. 

I don't know whether to consider that worse than knowingly fucking a slave whore, but the difference is certainly minute.

You're a nasty piece of work, Migs.

[Cecil]

Migs fucked a POW. 

I don't know whether to consider that worse than knowingly fucking a slave whore, but the difference is certainly minute.

You're a nasty piece of work, Migs.

I´d like to see him admit doing that at the uni surrounded my the usual femi-nazi pack that prowls the area.