Bro, you do realise venetiangirls was talking in US$. If you need US$1M per year, you must live an extraordinarily extravagent lifestyle.  

[ Last edited by  pisser at 28-1-2010 11:59 ]

you are so wrong bro

wait until the first time you hit a health issue and need treatment.  THEN watch them greenbacks fly ... you gonna trust your survival to 3rd world doctors and hospital facilities??

If you are worrying about your health and standard of living, I agree with you 1 million is not enough to retire.  Then you will need about 4 - 5 million. It all depends on your life style. Then a socialist country where heath care is almost free is where you want to retire and live. Then maybe living in the USA if health care passes.

If you ONLY had 1 million USD, you can live comfortably in a 3rd world and can retiire. Yes, you can't live off of 1 million in developed country and it's not enough.

You can also say the health care is cheaper too. I know one guy did an operation in Thailand because it was too expensive and out of this world in his own country.  Again, it depends on you spending habits and life style on the amount of money you need.

[ Last edited by  Weelock at 28-1-2010 18:28 ]

Damn!  How many times can we disagree in a single thread?


I've lived in several different countries where healthcare was free, and others where it was nearly free, and can confidently state you do NOT want to be choosing to live in a country where you have to get in a queue with a bunch of freeloaders sharing the depleted and scarce resources.  Not even if you are retired and therefore time is not an issue.  The reality is the best doctors choose to work in environments where they have resources, so the best talent relocates from the 3rd world to the 1st world.  Very few are sufficiently motivated by social concerns to give up a lucrative career and struggle with inadequate equipment, second-tier drugs, and the (often) rampant corruption in administration.  

OK VGs premise was $1m, where would you choose to live?  

On that basis we can immediately rule out RETIRING to any developed country that you would really have on your shortlist, since the only remaining options are countries where the cost of living is so low you could string your cash out.  But in that case the question becomes, with $1m would you actually even CONSIDER retiring, given that the only viable option is a 3rd world country?  

I'm really just being argumentative of course ...  

If you're choosing to retire, why is that?  To have a life, and be free to do things you can't do because you're too busy working for someone else.  But if you don't have enough money, your life will either be full of compromises, or short, or both.  So all of a sudden working for someone else, and being able to live in a 1st world developed city, doesn't seem all that bad after all.  

Sticking with $1m - and assuming the money will run out and you go back to work - we could perhaps rephrase the question, would you choose to burn it quickly or would you choose to string it out to the maximum time?  And which city do you think gives you that benefit?  

Or maybe we could simply answer "where would you live, if you had enough money to live indefinitely without working?"

[ Last edited by  DArtagnan at 28-1-2010 14:41 ]

If you had $1Million dollars USD not HKD and one place to live in for the rest of your entire life, where would it be?


I agree...


At this time in my life, NO, I don't want to retire to a 3rd world county but it can change.


If I had the money, I would travel to world to see. At the moment, I don't know where I want to live.

I know may people who retired and moved to 3rd world countries like Mexico, China, Philippines and Thailand with less than 1 million USD so it's possible.

What they said they can not afford not work and retired if they continued to live in a developed country but these people had about 20 years left. Others said they want to move back to the OLD COUNTRY to live and retired.

I think venetiangirls is young, therefore I agree, 1 million USD is not enough to live on for the rest of your life. But if he was a lot older 1 million is enough and it also depends on his lifestyle where he wants to live.  I could see him burning a few mao at the tables again.

[ Last edited by  Weelock at 28-1-2010 16:18 ]

What have you been smoking? Note that I'm refering to USD. I think $1M is plenty to live on in HK. I mean you got macau next door and China right across the border. You give me $1M USD I can retire right now and not work a single day in my life and I would still live a very comfortable life. I am currently in my thirties. So if you say $1 Mil is chump change, you must be worth billions of dolars then.

How much is a comfortable apartment like 2 bedroom cost in HK ?  or you are planning to rent ?  I heard for real Estate, HK is one of the most expensive places to live in the world.  In Shenzhen, the cost is around 150K to 200K USD for a nice 2 bedroom. I am sure it's a lot more in HK. You are 30, what's left for the next 50 to 60 years is not much but it might be possible.

[ Last edited by  Weelock at 28-1-2010 16:33 ]

Completely agree. Just the interest on that one mil would come to 30 or 40 K per year.

I've lived at least a year and rented apts in Boston, San Fran, Seattle, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, HK, and Taipei and I never spent more than 50K max per year - most of that time I spent considerably less. I'm living on half that now in Taipei.

The hit in quality of life that you might have to take in going from whatever to 50K would be more than made up for by the peace of mind and leisure to do what you wanted that would come with not having to work and having one million big ones just sitting in a bank somewhere drawing interest.

A large majority of people in even the richer countries don't have an after-tax 50K/yr to spend as they please.

EXACTLY!!! No one ever thought about the interest you can earn from $1M USD. Imagine a bank paying at 2.5% which at this point is about what we're getting, you'll be earning $25K USD interest per year on that. Most people make $50K  per year in teh US and that's considered good money. Now you're telling me you can't live for one year on $25K plus maybe an extra $25K out of that one million. if you take 25K out of that 1M, you can use it for 40 years. That's $50K per year for 40 years including interest. Now if you are spedning more than that, then you might not consider it much, but cut back a bit and I think it is absolutely possible to live confortably with that amount.

Also with $1M, you can invest as well and could earn you a bit. Man, you guys are way too excessive in your spending if you think $1M can't last your entire life.

And let's not forget that that 50K earned back home is taxed, while bank interest from money held in a foreign account would not be taxed if you too were living abroad - so it would all be available to you. You'd end up with a yearly income that would be equivalent to what a tax-paying guy back home would see if he earned 100 plus K/year.

PLEASE tell me where you can get 3 - 4% interest on HK or US$

Same as Mars, PLEASE tell me the name of your bank, cos it certainly ain't HSBC

[ Last edited by  pisser at 28-1-2010 18:25 ]

All the major banks. Open up a 1 year CD and the yield will be last time I checked 2.25-2.5% depending on the length of time.

I'm planning on retirement at 50 and would certainly do it with US$1M in the bank; PROVIDED I already own my house and am debt-free.

Are you debt free and own your own house? It's not that much to own a house in China, and where are you planning to retire anyways? China, HK, Macau or anotehr city

Just checked my HSBC account - 0.2% for 12 months fixed-time deposit, US$1M.

man, rates have really dropped. But I just checked my wells fargo cd rates. 28 months $5K deposit 1.9%

Haven't decided where to retire, but DEFINITELY not China. HK is a possible but the kind of house I want would currently cost around HK$10M.

i hear they just built some really nice housing complexes in Zhongshan area. was in a bus driving by and saw some really nice houses. dont know how much they cost but they were very beauitful. newly built and with security outside. Right next to macau border in Gongbei area, just 15 minutes or so away by car