Calculate the Cost to Retire in Thailand

Retiring in Thailand might seem like a dream—the beautiful beaches, fantastic food, and low cost of living make it enticing for Americans. Fortunately, there's no reason your dream can't become a reality if you budget. To make a realistic retirement budget, find your monthly expenses adjusted for inflation and your income. You'll plug these figures into a retirement calculator to see if you've saved enough.

Steps

Plan to spend 50,000 baht a month on average.

1. This is an estimate of retirement costs if you can't calculate your personal expenses. 50,000 baht currently works out to around $1,500 USD. Keep in mind that your personalized expenses might run you higher if you want more comforts, while you could probably trim this number if you're more frugal.
   • To break down this generalized example, 50,000 baht could get you: renting a 3-bedroom/1-bath apartment (21,000 baht), utilities and entertainment (12,000 baht), health insurance (4,300 baht), transportation and miscellaneous expenses (3,700 baht), as well as food and a maid (8,400).
   • As of November 2021, 1 Thai baht is worth $0.03 USD or €0.027.

Find the cost of housing and utilities in Thailand.

1. Research the price of accommodations in the Thai city you want to live in. For instance, type in "Chiang Mai cost of living" to get an idea of how much housing and utilities usually run. If you're not sure where you want to retire, search for "Thailand cost of living." The results will either show you averages or give you costs by city.
   • Keep in mind that prices are usually higher in cities with beachfront apartments being the most expensive. You can often save money by living on the outskirts of cities.
   • The average utilities cost for 1 person in Thailand is around 1,485 baht.
   • When you research the cost of living, read closely to see what the figure includes. Some results figure in food, transportation, and maid services. Most Thai households hire part-time or full-time maids to clean, cook, do laundry, or shop for the home.

Add food and transportation expenses if they aren't included.

1. Plan on budgeting 9,100 baht for food and 3,500 for transportation per month. Food and transport are inexpensive. A nice dinner in a restaurant costs around 390 baht while fast food is around 195 baht. You can save more by buying groceries. Don't forget to include the price of gas (around 150 baht/gallon), if you own a car or the cost of bus fare which is around 1,140 baht a month.
   • If you want gym or other memberships, don't forget to include these expenses.
   • If you don't want to drive a car but want a more personal mode of transportation, you can hire a taxi for around 300 baht per short trip.
   • Think about other costs you'll have—you may need cool, lightweight clothes to handle Thailand's hot temperatures for instance. If you love catching concerts or performances, decide how much you're willing to spend a month on entertainment.

Include healthcare costs in your budget if you're not Thai.

1. Thai citizens receive free healthcare. However, if you're an American retiring in Thailand, you'll be required to buy a health insurance policy in order to get a visa. Specifically, you need a plan that provides outpatient treatment (where you get treatment and recover at home) worth at least 40,000 baht or inpatient treatment (where you recover in the hospital) worth at least 400,000 baht.
   • The monthly cost of healthcare in Thailand depends on the policy you choose. Do a web search for "American health insurance Thailand" to pull up options. Then, read through them to find a plan you can afford.

Adjust your figure for inflation.

1. The cost of goods and services will increase so you'll need to save more. Traditionally, Thailand has a low inflation rate that hovers around 2%. Although there's no way of knowing what it will be like when you retire, you can save what you're comfortable with. To adjust for inflation, multiply your monthly expenses by the inflation factor. This gives you an estimated monthly expense for your first month of retirement.
   • For instance, if you're retiring in just a few years, the interest rate probably won't swing up dramatically. However, if you're retiring decades down the road, you may want to save more.
   • For example, if you're figuring your monthly expenses are 50,000 baht a month and you wish to retire in 5 years using an inflation rate of 3%, multiply your monthly amount by 1.16—the inflation factor at a 3% rate. This gives you an adjusted monthly expense figure of 58,000 baht.

Include a visa fee and deposit requirements if you're not a Thai citizen.

1. If you meet the requirements for a retirement visa, pay the consulate fee. The cost of the fee depends on what type of non-immigrant visa you're getting. An O-A retirement visa costs 2,700 to 6,700 baht and you'll need to renew it every year, but you'll only have to show proof of at least 800,000 baht in the bank. For an O-X visa that renews every 5 years, the fees are 6,700 baht or 13,500 baht, plus you must show that you have at least 3 million baht or a combined deposit and income that meets that amount.
   • Check with your country's consulate for more information about how long you must keep the amount in your bank account. You can either find your consulate by typing something like "American consulate in Thailand" or downloading the current consulate list from Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
   • Only citizens from specific countries—Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., Canada, and the U.S.—are eligible for the O-X visa.

Factor in Social Security if you're an American.

1. US citizens are eligible to get social security while living in Thailand. If you're eligible, count these benefits as income. Keep in mind that the amount you get depends on how much you've put into the system over the course of your career. In general, most people receive $1,543 a month.
   • You will need to submit a questionnaire to the social security office every 1 to 2 years to confirm that you're still eligible and living in Thailand.

Include pension funds if you're a Thai citizen.

1. You can begin drawing benefits at age 55 if you've contributed for 15 years. Thai social security distributes funds either monthly or in a lump sum payment. The amounts depend on if you worked a formal-sector or informal-sector job. Informal workers are often contractors or self-employed while formal workers are hired through a company so they usually get retirement benefits.
   • For instance, if you worked in the informal-sector as a contractor, you'd be eligible for a lump sum based on your contributions or around 600 baht as a monthly allowance.
   • If you worked a formal sector job that paid into social security, you'll earn 20% of your average monthly wage from the previous 60 months before you retire in addition to any old-age benefits you're eligible to receive.
   • Thailand does offer social assistance to the qualified elderly. They provide 600 baht a month to citizens 60 to 69 years old, 700 baht a month to citizens between 70 and 79 years old, and 800 baht a month for citizens between 80 and 89 years old.

Plug your expenses and income into a retirement calculator.

1. Use a free online calculator to generate personalized retirement figures. Instead of trying to calculate the value of future investments as well as growing inflation, work with a retirement calculator. Input your monthly expenses, current age, age at retirement, amount of savings, and inflation rates to generate your savings results. It will tell you how much you need to have saved and what your current savings rate should be.
   • You can use great online retirement calculators from Bankrate, the AARP, and CNN Money.
   • Another great thing about a retirement calculator is that you can play around with variables like age at retirement, amount you've saved, or your monthly expenses.

Adjust your budget so you're saving enough.

1. Use the calculations to save enough money to reach your goal. Most online calculators will tell you how much you should have saved at the point of retirement and how much you need to save every month to reach that amount. They might give you a specific percentage or amount. This way, you can adjust your savings strategy so you don't have a shortfall at retirement.
   • For instance, you might find that you need a total of 29,000,000 baht to retire and that you need to save around 7,500 baht a month, which is 5% more than you're currently saving.
   • You might make a few changes to your budget in order to meet the savings shortfall. If you're trying to save a little more, you might drop streaming services or eat out less. For a bigger savings shortfall, you might downsize so you can save only your monthly housing expenses.

References

See also

• Make a Retirement Gift Basket
• Know How Much to Give for a Retirement Gift
• Make a Retirement Scrapbook
• Use Life Insurance in Your Retirement Planning
• Transfer Retirement Funds to a Roth Ira
• Start a Retirement Home in Ontario
• Retire from a Job You Love
• Prepare for Early Retirement
• Prepare for Retirement in Your 20s
• Plan for Long Term Care

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