Why Everyone’s Retiring in the Philippines

If you take a trip to the Philippines there will be something about the expats that stands out. They are old.

Retiring in the Philippines

There are lots of retired expats all over Asia but in the Philippines there is definitely a much higher percentage of old expats then young expats. There are entire online magazines about it like RetireToThePhilippines.com.

That’s because retiring in the Philippines has many advantages.

Retiring in the Philippines – Top 3 Reasons

In any South East Asian country the cost of living is quite low so you can get a lot more for your money then you can in the western world. So why do many expats choose to retire in the Philippines in particular, over somewhere like Thailand?

Easier Retirement Visa

There are many different retirement visa options in the Philippines that will allow you to stay long term without having to make visa runs (border hopping). Even at 35 years old you can file for the Smile Philippines Retirement Visa if you have $20,000 and will deposit it in an approved Philippines Bank.

You can also get the SRV Classic retirement visa if you are willing to deposit $10,000 in an approved Philippine bank and have at least an $800 a month pension. If you are married the pension needs to be $1,000 and you need an additional $15,000 for each dependent.

Even if you don’t get the retirement visa you only have to go to immigration once every 6 months in the Philippines and leave every 3 years which makes things a lot easier. Most just do that.

Contrast that to Thailand where you have to be over 50, any younger that and you’ll have to border hop every 90 days unless you enrol in language classes or pay $15,000 for a five year Thailand Elite card.

Ease of Living

With the cost of living being so low you can live like a king when you retire in the Philippines. You can hire a live in maid for less than $5 a day. You can hire someone to go get your groceries for you. You can take taxi’s everywhere you go for very cheap. Your money will buy you so much more when you retire in the Philippines.

You will never have to cook, clean, shop or do any errands again if you don’t want to if you retire in the Philippines. You can spend your time doing the things you want to do and spend a very small amount to get the boring nuisances of life done for you.

And of course unlike the rest of SEA everyone speaks decent English, and they follow western culture quite closely, you’ll see people wearing the shirts of US baseball teams and be referred to as ‘Sirrrrrr…..’ It’s basically the Mexico of Asia.

Retirees finding a younger girlfriend in the PhilippinesFinding a Younger GF

This is probably the main reason.

If you retire in the Phils you will have no problems finding Filipina women half or one third your age that would gladly be your girlfriend. They will take complete care of you and make sure that you are enjoying your later years as much or even more than you enjoyed your younger years.

You can go on any dating site like FilipinoCupid and Pinalove and find thousands of Filipina women that would move in with you in no time at all. Why would you want to rot away in a nursing home in the western world when you could have a lengthy list of sexy Filipina women that would want to take care of you.

Retiring in the Philippines certainly has its perks.

This grosses some people out, e.g. SingleDudeTravel called these guys ‘Grandpa Boners’. I’m not sure how I feel as that will probably be me in 30 years.

I’ve even had girls tell me they prefer older guys as they’re not ‘players’ like the young guns. Not sure about that but I’ll remember to use that line when I reach that age.

In Thailand on the other hand girls are a little more picky about appearance (‘saving face’) and have options – there are lots of young digital nomads over there.

6 Responses

  1. jspill says:

    lol’d at pics

  2. Brianmark says:

    I was back in the Philippines recently and noticed the lack of younger Western retirees. It doesn’t look like many Western men younger than 69 are there. All the Western men all looked about 70+. The place is now full of young Korean and other Asians. Where are all the Western men going?

    • jspill says:

      I know a few younger guys there through online forums, they mostly hang out in or around their Makati condos and surrounding nightlife as they work from home, e.g. Gramercy condominium. But yeah in general not many compared to Thailand. Maybe Philippines is a better destination when older – Thai girls for fun when young, Filipinas for a more meaningful connection / starting a family given they speak English and have a culture closer to a western one

  3. kick2dante says:

    ya one thing i really hope to have where i’m living is MORE young attractive western dudes around

  4. Anonymous says:

    The picture is Soi six Pattaya

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