Retiring in Asia ( pros / cons , options )

[alfaman]

.. right .. am likely to be retiring somwhere between 6 months and 2+ years time depending on how work pans out

( have lived 7 years Singapore, currently doing a short term stint in the Gulf )

am Brit and also have Canadian citizenship

anyone have any experience / knowledge of retirement options in Asia ?

( am looking for somewhere that is not too sleepy, has enough of a buzz and things going on and enough expats for a community .. not so much interested in sleazy ish places like Pattaya )

interests include diving , hiking and sailing.

am thinking of perhaps spending summers in UK / Europe .. and rest of year in Asia

considering Penang ( though boring? ) , Thailand (not sure where though) , and maybe somewhere in Indonesia (not sure where)

Malaysian retirement visa looks pretty straight forward and lasts for 10 years, and property title / ownership seems fairly low risk?

would also consider vietnam - but not sure if retiring there is that easy

any thoughts from the Asia contingent on here ?

[alfaman]

turboslippers said:

alfaman said:

.. not so much interested in sleazy ish places like Pattaya

Excuse me? I best whatsapp Dave and let him know his Pistonhead account has been hacked and someone is posted nonsense on his behalf

... st I’ve been rumbled

LOL actual place to live would need to be decent ... though still lively enough

[alfaman]

wisbech said:

Personally I would go for west Malaysia rather than Penang

where do you mean .. KL area? Or elsewhere on West side?

[alfaman]

wisbech said:

Doh - I mean East Malaysia! Sabah/ Sarawak.

Haha OK - I would guess it’s a lot cheaper there .... diving also better (though I wouldn’t live in Semporna ... great diving but a complete dump)

Where do you mean : near KK ?

Someone mentioned Penang was expensive ... decent (1800 ft2+) condos there are around 1.2m RM upwards .... having been on some of the property sites.

[alfaman]

Berw said:

Penang to buy minimum for a forigner is 2m to buy, I lived in East Malaysia for 5 years, I didn't like it very backward, I'd also avoid the east coast of peninsular with the r birth of pas in the election this week. I've been in kl for 20 years I live it, cheap, easy to get anywhere lots of motor sport.

Interesting - do you mean from a regulatory perspective 2m is the minimum ... or just that a decent house there costs 2m ( or both...)?

Looks like there are reasonable condos from around 1.2m+ or so...

[alfaman]

Berw said:

Malaysia has a number of states and they each set a minimum value on what forigners can buy, so it's different in each state, KL 1 million, Penang is 2m, by statute. Some states also take a long time to approve a purchase. Selengor has been known to refuse. Kl took one year to approve my purchase.
I agreed to rent my place while I was seeking approval, as several sellers would not sell to a forigner due to the time delay.
You can pm me if you want advice, I've lived in Kl, Borneo and most of peninsular Malaysia with work.

Thanks for that ... 2m is a reasonably high hurdle ... but quick look at mm2h suggests renting is OK ( though I’d rather own long term).

[alfaman]

Berw said:

. The election last week of Pas on the east coast means it is lickly that alcohol sales will be banned there as they where last time pas run the state.

Oof! If alcohol sales are banned down near Semporna ... that will hit the tourism / diving business (Sipadan is an amazing dive area )

... keep selling alcohol and use the tax the clean and tidy the rotting fish smell from the port

[alfaman]

XJSJohn said:

Berw said:

Problem with Iskander is it is not sustainable, looking at Chinese customers and the Chinese banks aren't to interested to loan, and Johor, Im there as i write this its a dump, weekend is full of drunken Singaporeans.

Oi, we resemble that comment - but yes, it is basically the new Chinese suburbs of Singapore, but the more SG and MY play silly buggers with borders etc the less viable it becomes.

Berw said:

I rented in the same condo as Xks owned in at one time, great place, city center nice two bed, I only moved out because the pool wasn't child friendly when the kids came in the summer.

And we got it at a good price but the ex never did manage to rent it out. Best one was actually the house i got in Horizon Hills, doubled my money, but it as a case of perfect timing.

Berw said:

One issue all the retirement visas insist on a medical insurance, which can be difficult to get at 65+ unless you are an existing customer.

- 100% - this catches out so many people, especially those in Perm employment with company policies and suddenly end up on their uppers when they retire. David, if you want can recommend a good broker here in Singapore than can make sure you have a useful insurance policy that also meets the requirements of these visa's. I believe even Thailand is planning on implementing this.

Very useful to know about the health insurance requirement - had not realized that.

Funny - I went to a sales pitch for buying large plots at Leisure Farm (next to JB) about 5 years ago ... how you could get a Hollywood size mansion built for about $1.5m -2m ... price of condo in SG. I wasn’t hooked - couldn’t see there was much of a liquid market for 8,000 SG foot ‘southfork’ In JB.

I reckon the plots have been flipped around for 15 years with very little actually getting built (at LF). JB has little appeal for me to be honest... like a crappy suburb of Singapore with no SG residency.

... have applied for a role in KL ... so will see how that goes ...

[alfaman]

Agree with the comments on leisure farm- I think a lot of people would rather live in a nice prime location condo in central singapore - or converted shophouse in Joo Chiat area ..

Than mansion in JB area.

( and I’d prefer a decent flat in London to a massive house in Hartlepool ...)