Retiring in Asia ( pros / cons , options )
Discussion
.. 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 ?
Malaysia mmh2 visa, tax free car, no income tax on forign income. problem with Penang is you can't buy a house under 2m rm. kl it's 1m you need to put around 20k pounds in a Malaysia interest paying accout, you can do the Visa yourself easy enough.
Indonesia has a similar scheme. Thai scheme the Visa is expensive.
Indonesia has a similar scheme. Thai scheme the Visa is expensive.
As per Berw's comments, Malaysia is the safest bet if you desire to own your Asian property.
Personally, knowing your hobbies and interests, and your plans to do part of the year in Europe anyway, do 6 month rental stints in different places.
Chaing Mai / Chaing Rai has a fair bit of hiking and exploring to do, Phuket and Samui, lots of scuba diving, Bali, both, more and more places opening up in Indonesia for tourism now to explore. Also there are actually nice parts of the Philippines too.
Then you have opening markets like Myanmar that may have lots of possibilities.
Basically, at least for the first 5 or so years, don't tie yourself down to a large commitment that may not work out long term, try before you buy (just like blowfish .... )
If you are planning on going back to UK half the time, you can also organise yourself different tourist visas instead of committing to retirement visas for teh first few years.
Personally, knowing your hobbies and interests, and your plans to do part of the year in Europe anyway, do 6 month rental stints in different places.
Chaing Mai / Chaing Rai has a fair bit of hiking and exploring to do, Phuket and Samui, lots of scuba diving, Bali, both, more and more places opening up in Indonesia for tourism now to explore. Also there are actually nice parts of the Philippines too.
Then you have opening markets like Myanmar that may have lots of possibilities.
Basically, at least for the first 5 or so years, don't tie yourself down to a large commitment that may not work out long term, try before you buy (just like blowfish .... )
If you are planning on going back to UK half the time, you can also organise yourself different tourist visas instead of committing to retirement visas for teh first few years.
Alfaman said:
not so much interested in sleazy ish places like Pattaya
how long have i known you ????? 
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 ... s
t I’ve been rumbled LOL actual place to live would need to be decent ... though still lively enough
XJSJohn said:
can you remember what the name of the Indo Scheme is, have heard of it but never been able to find any actual useful government info.
Just Google indonesia retirement visaYou have to use agent, it is more opaque than MM2H but - that’s indonesia!
Visa is 5 years. Foreigners can only have leasehold (max 30 years) property.
Personally I would go for west Malaysia rather than Penang
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.
wisbech said:
XJSJohn said:
can you remember what the name of the Indo Scheme is, have heard of it but never been able to find any actual useful government info.
Just Google indonesia retirement visaYou have to use agent, it is more opaque than MM2H but - that’s indonesia!
Visa is 5 years. Foreigners can only have leasehold (max 30 years) property.
Personally I would go for west Malaysia rather than Penang
alfaman said:
wisbech said:
Someone mentioned Penang was expensive ... decent (1800 ft2+) condos there are around 1.2m RM upwards .... having been on some of the property sites.
Penang is expensive basically because it is the main Retirement Island for Singaporeans, so their buying power has driven the prices up significantly above average Malaysia .... this has subsequently had a nock on effect on everything else. 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.
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...
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.
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.
Also rember that the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak can have different laws, so I have a permit until 2022, can live and work anywhere in peninsular Malaysia, but it is not recognised in Sabah and Sarawak. It is not as easy to get permission for Borneo. 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.
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.
or the other option is to buy off plan from a reputable developer and they can assist in the paperwork, as usually they have a fixed number of units pre-allocated for Foreigners, an and the rest Bumi. 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.
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