When the time comes

[migrant]

As I approach retirement (a few years still, and at that a little early) I get to thinking (dangerous).

I'm a bean counter, so a planner by nature. I've been working out budgets for when I'm in retirement, calculations on what I need to achieve the income of those budgets, etc.

But one thing I'm wondering about....

When the time of life comes where I'm stuck in a wheel chair, or drooling in the corner, do I want to be in Thailand? If I'm struck with Alzheimers, guess it doesn't matter, but what if it's just old age and associated problems.

I'm just picturing myself at 99 years of age needing help and not knowing what's available in Thailand. Married, but she'll also be older, and kids over here.

Where it comes into my calculations is what I want to have in savings around that age. If I need to come back to the states, it will have to be a fair amount as the social security program here is in trouble.

Just wondering if any of you have thought about this, your plans, or experiences.

Thanks

[niggle]

Look, things may go tits up in Thailand - they may not
Things may go tits up in UK - they may not.
Sure you have to think about the what-ifs but whats your choice ?
Sit in the same house, in the same chair watching the same TV programmes ?
Take a chance and do it !
Get medical cover here with repatriation costs , keep enough to get you back home if you have to.
The more you have in UK the less they will look after you.
I had some savings (not much but over the £16000 limit) in UK. When i retired I tried to get help with rent, council tax, jobseekers I was told I had too much in the bank and to piss off, come back when I've spent it.
I think that sums it up so I did piss off and maybe I will go back when I've spent it .... or maybe not

[pfotoguy369]

If it comes to that. getting that sick, then yes you may have to go back to the States. Hopefully medicare and medicaid will still be in place.

You can probably get taken care of here depending on the money situation.

I don't know to much about Hua Hin because I just got here but living in Pattaya for a couple of years I got to see allot of people living there and visiting bound to wheelchairs seeming to do just fine.

Personally I'd probably rather take my chances here then ending up in some "old folks" home rotting away in some bed while someone take my checks and feed me cat food and changes my diaper every other day.

[migrant]

Personally I'd probably rather take my chances here then ending up in some "old folks" home rotting away in some bed while someone take my checks and feed me cat food and changes my diaper every other day.

That's been my thoughts exactly.

I'm not really concerned, as niggle said things can happen anywhere, but I just like to collect thoughts and ideas.

Thanks guys

[Guess]

Migrant,

If you live in California and presumably you do not live in Bakersfield or East LA, why are you thinking of moving. I would have thought that a bean counters pension would sustain you in CA.

[sargeant]

I am in that situation in spades in March heart attack April went to the UK
4th June heart attack no 2 ----------------- (to some note date)
Went into have angiogram to be told that 2/3 years earlier unknown to me I had had a quote massive heart attack which (unknown word) a major blood vessel had occluded (blocked permanently).
Odd sayeth eye can’t remember that happening must have been a good night down town methinks
Point one I pay UK tax on my pension I am therefore fully ENTITLED TO NHS and all benefits and therefore I could return to the UK should I wish

Point two The home sickness for Mrs. Sarge and Hua Hin was so bad it was physically painful. I will NEVER leave here again without Mrs. Sarge

Point three my doctor in the Hua Hin hospital has my full trust

Point four whilst my doctor doesn’t have all singing all dancing gizmos at his command and due to the pressure of the number of patients very limited time I will still stay here no matter what

Point five one nano second after one has croaked one does not give a toss where one is unless someone can prove otherwise at which point i will (not being opinionated of course) reconsider my position

Point six I hope Mrs. Sarge is holding my hand for the ten minutes before I kick the bucket

P.S to update another thread I saved 150,000 by having the angiogram in the UK
I got my divorce yesterdayMrs Sarge is going to become my good lady in 30 days time and the heart problems have made it a cast iron certainty I will be a good boy forever and Mrs Sarge will not be in debt and will be taken care of for the rest of her life

[ozuncle]

Congratulations Sarge.
All the best to you and Mrs Sarge for your marriage.

[sargeant]

thanks oz much appreciated but if you remember i was being pressured to spend the 150,000 and leave Mrs Sarge with a debt for life And which subsequently proved useless as they cannot do anything surgically for me
i did not listen to the posters saying i would not get NHS treatment i now have a shiny new NHS card saying quote i am ENTITLED to it
the doctors and nurses in the UK were fantastic and professional its the beaurocracy that is crap and for certain posters i did not get washed once in the 10 days i was in hospital in the UK but got bedbathed by Mrs Sarge 4 times a day in Hua Hin hospital
My biggest fear was MRSA which is rampant in the UK
the dignosis ie all i can do is tablets and i will never be able to walk more than a few hundred yards without stopping for breath left me very very depressed which thankfully and mostly due to Mrs Sarge i have now started to come out of and i am feeling a lot better hence i am back on line
I will say the other crap from a few members did not help me at all (i will EMPHASISE that i obeyed all and a few extra T&Cs at all times )but i will let that slide until it raises its head again hopefully it wont

[migrant]

Migrant,

If you live in California and presumably you do not live in Bakersfield or East LA, why are you thinking of moving. I would have thought that a bean counters pension would sustain you in CA.

First off, congratulations Sarge Many more happy years.

Guess, you obviously have been to both Bakersfield and East LA! I agree on both counts.

The move to Thailand is not really about money. A late in life divorce did set me back considerably, but that side will work itself out.

My, soon to be, wife is Thai, and has been here ~12 years. I have been, together and seperate, to Thailand many times and enjoy it.

While it is pretty much a given we will spend considerable time in Thailand, we both have never been there more than a month at a time (obviously with her since she moved here). We will keep our options open.

As I ponder the future, my rather active, and oft times twisted, mind comes up with these questions.

[Wanderlust]

Sarge,
I have just re-read the thread in question Healthy Eating After A Heart Attack as I was confused by some of what you have just said. I found lots of helpful advice regarding diet, lots of good wishes and some posts relating personal experiences of the NHS and reports of changes that might affect your status, but nowhere did I see anyone insisting that you do what they say, just giving friendly advice as to the extent of their knowledge. I think you have been most insulting to all those well wishers who only posted, whether correctly or not, to help you. The other issue which was discussed on that thread at the end, as far as I am concerned, is finished, and not worth either dragging up again or even making veiled references to. As you must be all too aware by now, life is too short to let stupid disagreements like that get in the way.
Here's to your health and I hope I get a chance to buy you a beer or whatever you are allowed when i next see you, and bore you with stories and pictures of my new daughter

[sargeant]

all of the advice given to me was given with the best intentions and to my knowledge was all good advice but there was a pressure and i dont begrudge it at all to go out and get it done ASAP and had i had that sort of money i probably would have done just that i would probably give the same advice myself even now
but i did not have that sort of money and was not prepared to borrow here and risk leaving Mrs Sarge in debt (another thread of mine explains why) for the rest of her life which I also made clear in the healthy eating thread
there was also a thread at that time stating that nhs was no longer available for long timers outside of the uk there was also if i remember a link to a newspaper article where the minister of health stated that policy
I laid out my plan and told people what it was and i carried it out
I am rather proud of that
As i said I will let it it slide just drop round we arent far away i cant drink beer it buggers up my tablets but i will have a coke with you i will pm you my phone number and we can arrange it it should make for an interesting conversation

[Wanderlust]

Fair play sarge - see you around.

[dtaai-maai]

Sarge, all else to one side - could you not have got your punctuation sorted out on the NHS?

[sargeant]

punctuation wasssaatt ,,..;'.,

sorry ill try harder