Korean expats in the Philippines

What are the Koreans doing in the Philippines?… that was the question posted by an OP in PEx. When I was in the Philippines, there was a thriving community of Koreans in my city. In fact, one of the biggest houses there was owned by a Korean. A lot of them have set up businesses catering to their fellow nationals. In my neighborhood alone, there were three internet cafes owned and operated by Koreans. One of my friends works at an English school started by a Korean. If they aren’t doing business in the country, they’re studying and of course, vacationing.

The Philippines is a dream place for Koreans. They can stretch their money and live a luxurious life there. A kilo of rice in the Philippines is cheap at about 25 pesos (500 KRW) compared to 2,000 KRW (100 pesos) here.

An article in Dong-A Ilbo describes how well Korean expats live in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand and Nepal. They are retirees living on their pension and rental income, spending about 2,000,000 KRW ($2,000) a month. There, they can have luxurious lives playing golf on their free time with maids catering to them.

A married couple, Jeong Won-yeong, 61, and Kim Sun-ok, 60, who moved to Baguio, a mountain city located in the Philippines, after retirement, said, “We are enjoying a comfortable and satisfactory second life here.”

They also said, “The lives here are busy and pleasant,” adding, “We will stay here until we die and visit Korea a couple of times per year to see our sons and daughters.”

My husband who loves the Philippines so much would really want to have a retirement home and spend his golden age between the two countries. He really had a great time there despite getting held up twice at gunpoint!

Life in the Philippines can be a real heaven if you have money. Two million won ($2,000 or PHP 100,000) a month can afford you a lot of luxuries. I just hope it’ll be a little safer in the future.

The cost of living is, even though there is a little difference depending on individual cases, two million won per month in Philippines, from 2.2 million to 2.5 million won in Malaysia, 1.5 million won in Nepal, and from 2 million to 2.2 million won in Thailand. This cost includes traveling expenses to Korea (a couple of times per year), payment for hired domestic workers and playing golf.

How to spend the rest of one’s life more comfortably is the biggest issue to retirees and those who are facing retirement. While average life expectancy is increasing, the retirement age is lower. Their kids are no longer taking care of them. Under such circumstances, preparation after retirement is not the matter of others, but the matter of us.

Because of this, many people are considering moving to Southeast Asian countries that have lower living costs and have more favorable weather conditions and environments.

This coverage was made at the request of a number of subscribers, many of whom are older than late 40s, living in 32-pyeong apartment residences and expecting two million won income after retirement, mostly from pensions and their property lease.

They hoped to live the half the year in Southeast Asian countries, including winters, and spend the rest of the year in Korea when they reach old age.

Full article: Retirees Live Well in Southeast Asia on Allowance of Two Million Won Per Month

Tagged as: korean expats, koreatown