How much salary is decent these days?

[azbob]

I'm retiring after my contract in CT is over and going to live in Vietnam. Just need to find a way to get my pension paid out early

 

[syntax]

I have a retirement scheme provided from my work that's pretty generous but I actually have no plan to retire at the age of 65. I'll work for 10 years beyond that if my health allows. Retirement is overrated.

I feel the same, I dont want to retire, but I also dont want to be forced to have to work after 65 either.
Retirement for me is a scary thing, my wife is terrified of it, because if I stay home I will go insane.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

I'm retiring after my contract in CT is over and going to live in Vietnam. Just need to find a way to get my pension paid out early

And do what?

 

[azbob]

And do what?

 

[CR34M3]

I feel the same, I dont want to retire, but I also dont want to be forced to have to work after 65 either.
Retirement for me is a scary thing, my wife is terrified of it, because if I stay home I will go insane.

But that's exactly what retirement funds/pensions/long term savings are for! So that you can afford not to sit at home.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

View attachment 43540

You gonna be the one steering or the one sitting?

 

[azbob]

You gonna be the one steering or the one sitting?

Steering! The simple life. Vietnam and most of far east asia is a great place to live on a pittance.

 

[Velenoso]

How many houses do you have? They all paid off?

Haha! I have many, I am a property developer. Most paid off yes, but they are 'flipped' (sold for a profit) long before any bond gets paid off, etc

Ok, so 20 - 25k excluding medical and pension i think is a little more fair then.
However, 3.5k extra a month (in your pocket) is not a small amount. To be fair, you are coming from a position of wealth, where it doesn't mean that much.

Others would find that 3,5k extra play money a month is quite a substantial amount to be left with.

As always though, almost everyone lives to their means. I have only just stopped doing this, and am looking at downgrading my car even further, investing a bit more and trying to make life a bit easier for me in the upcoming 10 years or so.
It has taken me almost 8 years of working to realise I need to do this

I get what you're saying, I wasn't always in a position of wealth either, I certainly wasn't born with money far from it. I know 3.5k is a lot of spare change to the average person, what I'm saying is when you have less it's easier to spend it all do you know what I mean? If you have 3.5k you can spend it on clothes shopping, if you have 350k maybe not so easy.

Good for you in planning ahead, just be careful of always downgrading. Next you'll be buying 1 ply no name toilet paper because it's R0.20c cheaper. You can easily get used to a lower end lifestyle, I've seen people get like that.

But that's exactly what retirement funds/pensions/long term savings are for! So that you can afford not to sit at home.

By the looks of this thread most people here like to sit at home.

 

[cerebus]

I feel the same, I dont want to retire, but I also dont want to be forced to have to work after 65 either.
Retirement for me is a scary thing, my wife is terrified of it, because if I stay home I will go insane.

Statistics show that each year earlier of retirement deducts something like 2 months from a person's expected lifespan.

My view is, by the time you reach that age, you SHOULD be at a point where your expertise makes you an invaluable asset. You aren't still doing heavy lifting grunt work but corporations I worked at before had such people that would provide a hugely important role as advisors. And by then in life what do you need? Half a normal salary plus pension plus paid off house is plenty comfortable.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Steering! The simple life. Vietnam and most of far east asia is a great place to live on a pittance.

Cool stuff. Good luck with that.

Haha! I have many, I am a property developer. Most paid off yes, but they are 'flipped' (sold for a profit) long before any bond gets paid off, etc

That's awesome. That's not what you're busy with in deepest, darkest Africa, though, right? Or do you drive houses in on trucks and sell them for bags of cash?

 

[Rocket-Boy]

Well in South Africa, I would say 1000 Rand a day in your pocket and you are okayish. That will be about 30k clean a month. On the other hand I know someone who gets just that and the house and car are already paid off and still barely manages. Thank's God the wife is earning a fairly decent salary too otherwise . . .

Tell them to stop gambling or give up drugs then. If someone is earning R30k a month and doesnt have to pay for a bond or a car and is battling then there is something seriously wrong with them.

 

[Velenoso]

Cool stuff. Good luck with that.

That's awesome. That's not what you're busy with in deepest, darkest Africa, though, right? Or do you drive houses in on trucks and sell them for bags of cash?

Thanks. No it's not. I have a logistics company that runs here, and I'm working on securing a tender for supplying certain specialized mining equipment to the DRC. We just did the first load now, so far so good.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

Thanks. No it's not. I have a logistics company that runs here, and I'm working on securing a tender for supplying certain specialized mining equipment to the DRC. We just did the first load now, so far so good.

Plenty of money to be made in Africa. Just hope that "specialised mining equipment" doesn't have cannons on top. You know, to protect against [-]guerillas[/-] gorillas. :twisted:

 

[cerebus]

Tell them to stop gambling or give up drugs then. If someone is earning R30k a month and doesnt have to pay for a bond or a car and is battling then there is something seriously wrong with them.

I know people who clear 60k a month, our age, and nothing but complaints about money comes out of their mouth.

 

[I.am.Sam]

I know people who clear 60k a month, our age, and nothing but complaints about money comes out of their mouth.

the more you earn the more stress

 

[zululami]

some of the guys here live the South African dream!! WOW!

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

I have a retirement scheme provided from my work that's pretty generous but I actually have no plan to retire at the age of 65. I'll work for 10 years beyond that if my health allows. Retirement is overrated.

I'm the type of person that will never stop working but I my goal is to be able to live and work where and how I want to by the time I'm 50. My brother in law retired when he was 50 but still works. He went from working 7 days a week to now just helping out at his businesses when he feels like it. He no longer has any stress and ironically is making more money now.

Thats what I want to do.

 

[cerebus]

I'm the type of person that will never stop working but I my goal is to be able to live and work where and how I want to by the time I'm 50. My brother in law retired when he was 50 but still works. He went from working 7 days a week to now just helping out at his businesses when he feels like it. He no longer has any stress and ironically is making more money now.

Thats what I want to do.

That's precisely it. Once you're freed from the worry of scraping by (which is currently a constant thing with us), working isn't this terrible burden on you. And honestly I believe that when you can work according to your passion, you will earn more.

 

[rorz0r]

I pay myself 75k a month from the two companies here. The SO gets 35k from which she also runs the household. From this, I don't pay any rent/bond, any car installments, etc.

That's actually fairly reasonable (110k household). I expected more with the 15k dates and whatnot, but then it goes a lot further if you're not having to pay anything towards house/car.

 

[I.am.Sam]

That's actually fairly reasonable (110k household). I expected more with the 15k dates and whatnot, but then it goes a lot further if you're not having to pay anything towards house/car.

if he took his SO out on a normal date he wouldnt need to give her 35k a month