I have been a lurker on this forum since August 2005, and have really enjoyed reading the many and varied topics (and the wonderful responses) over that time. I thought maybe I should jump in with my question, which is very similar to many others, but you are all so welcoming to newbies I hope you won't object to my query.My husband and I (50 + 49) are hoping to sell our home and retire to Bali when John turns 55 and we will be eligible for the retirement visa. We have been to Bali on 12 occasions, and loved every minute of it. We always travel away from the tourist sites up into the mountains or away on the east and north coasts. I have been watching the real estate sites and we have decided against buying a home in Bali, we think renting is probably a better way to go.My big question is: if we have $250K - $400K (depending on circumstances) is this enough to live a pleasant and comfortable life in Bali. We wouldn't require too much luxury, a small pool would be nice, a couple of bedrooms in case of visitors from Oz, bit of room to spread out, and a high speed internet connection (so John can partake of his online PS3 hobby), and satellite TV would be good but not essential. We both enjoy Indonesian food, John likes a drink and I smoke. We don't mind where we live, I quite fancy Singaraja or maybe Ubud, even Candi Dasa appeals. Krobokan, Legian and Sanur are also on our list. John doesn't mind where he is as long as his PS3 works well.If anyone can give us a realistic rundown on whether this is possible on our budget, I would be most grateful. Frangipani
Waterlily,As Allan said, it depends on your lifestyle. But, from what you wrote, your income seems quite reasonable. Singaraja is still relatively inexpensive as far as locations in Bali. Just to give you an example. I am planning on retiring next year with about $200-250K and a wife and four children to support. We plan on living comfortably but certainly not extravagantly. We already have a house in Singaraja so that is a major expense that we will forgo. If I were not married to an Indonesian, I would certainly go for renting over buying, and rents in the Singaraja area are quite reasonable.Anyway, best of luck.
Allan & drbruce,Thank you for your replies to my question. They are both most helpful and reassuring. As John is not quite sure that moving to Bali is the right thing to do, such positive advice is very helpful in convincing him. drbruce - if you can do it with four children in tow, I am sure we could manage quite well, even if we do have rent to pay. We have two children - grown now - 17 & 21, and know they are not very cheap to run :roll: Anyway, thanks again, and anymore comments would be most appreciated.BTW I signed off as Frangipani in the original post, as that is my usual forum name, but it was unavailable here, and I forgot, sorry, hope it wasn't too confusing.Waterlily
FrangipaniMy wife and I are in a similar situation. I hit 55 this year, have visited Bali more than ten times, and have thoughts about relocating to a place like Ubud. Like you and your husband, we would like a comfortable lifestyle and a home with room for guests. Financial planning is no doubt vital. But I am just as concerned about how well we would fit in, in particular how we would occupy ourselves if we were retired. What would we do with our time? I guess being in a semi-retirement mode would be ideal, having some work or business to keep reasonably busy and dedicating some time to local community work. I am contemplating staying 3 to 6 months in Bali to get a better 'feel' and hopefully to gain guidance from expats who have gone before us. I hope that we can exchange what we learn along the way.cheersGazer
Gazer, sounds like a rock solid plan, visiting 6 month would give you pleny of time to figure out if Bali is for you,, just try to hit all the areas(if you havnt already) for a couple of days, especially amed,singaraja, lovina, ubud etc,... and most of all relax and have fun........try to hook up with a few of the forum posters here, they will be more than willing to give you the local scoop, have fun, Frog
Thanks Frog. That is very encouraging. I will certainly try to meet up with the seasoned expats when I come on this 'study trip'.cheersGazer :D
Gazer,It is such a big step to relocate your life to another country. I also wonder what we would do with all our new found spare time. I think I would cope well, as I have several hobbies I could follow up in Bali, but I wonder if John would cope as well, having been fully employed for 40 years, to suddenly have nowhere to go every day may come as a shock to his very busy system. He is a mechanic, and I wonder if he would be able to help the locals with their various vehicles, he would enjoy that, and as I mentioned before as long as we can get a stable, high speed internet connection he can still partake of his PS3 (online racing) hobby.If you are on the retirement visa you are not allowed to partake in paid activity of any kind, so any work would have to be undertaken for the pleasure of it alone. I like the idea of helping out in the local community, and wonder if I would be able to assist local kids with their English language studies, as although I am not a trained teacher, I am quite good at spelling and grammar, and would enjoy passing this on to the local kids. It would be nice to give something back to the lovely Balinese people. I have many wonderful books I would like to share, but think the cost of shipping them over might spoil that idea.Anyway, it is wonderful to communicate with someone with similar dreams, as so many people here (including John) think I am quite crazy to want to do something so adventurous in our later years :wink: Waterlily (previously Frangipani)
WaterlilyPerhaps John could help train locals in the repair and maintenance of vehicles in between his PS3 hobby. A high speed broadband would be very desirable for me too, but I am not sure there is access to this in all places. There has been a lot of discussion on internet access in the forum.You would be right about the limitations that come with a retirement visa. I guess it is ok to do some business and not take up paid employment. Suitable employment for expats may not be easily found anyway. A major decision is whether to rent (as in a longterm lease) or buy a property. I live in Singapore where the pressure to conform and not venture to do the extraordinary is probably greater than in your community. Yes I understand perfectly when you say friends think you are crazy to be adventurous. We only live one life. cheersGazer
Well, the bad news is Indonesia's hi-speed connection is still pretty bad, and playing online (with Australians I assume) - your husband will lose every time. I've tried to do this from Jakarta on an Xbox 360, and it wasn't pretty.The good news is that amount of cash should last a good while in dirt-cheap Singaraja. Good luck with your plans. Yasa
Waterlily, just go for it. What is there to lose. The worst case scenario is you return to Australia and if that happens, you would have had a wonderful adventure. Good luck.
Hi Waterlilly. We are trying to work out our finances, but with a 6 year old there are different expenses. like the $7000 Aus for school fees to begin with! Another factor we have been trying to make sure we factor in is airfares for visa requirements twice a year. Quite expensive if you aren't just going to nip over to Singapore on a day trip.What you really need to look at with your money is where you are going to invest it, and what the sustainable return is. $250,000 invested in Australia at 10% will give you $25,000. You'll want to re-invest around a third of that ($7000) to take care of inflation. Assuming you need that money to last for the rest of your lives, you can't eat into the capital.
a year later
As shebitme pointed out, how you invest your money is key to understanding how far your money CAN (not necessarily will) go.But I think if you purchased an annuity then that could give you some kind of stable income and you will know how much you can spend?There is a concept about a 4% "safe withdrawal limit", meaning that if you invest your money in stocks (widely diversified - i.e. low risk - I presume) and only spend 4% of your nest egg annually then it is likely to last 30 years.[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_study"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_study[/url]Im no expert on these things and I would urge you to do your own research and find out whats best.Good luck!
4 years later
Never say how much money you have especially here in Bali
Never say how much money you have especially here in Bali[/QUOTE]I definitely agree with ANZAC, it's amazing how many very heart rending stories you will come across on Bali. Unfortunately no one can afford to help everyone. If you can adjust to living a much more humble and frugal existence, you will be happier and be able to survive fine. If you are not willing to change your life style, it will be much harder. I look back at all the NEEDS I use to have and cannot even imagine how foolish I was! Wish you the very best!!!