We need more threads on how to escape workcel

[Pinayhunter]

Even having a girl in my life wouldn't offset the pain of working a 9-5 office job. I desperately need out. Seriously considering hoarding all my income for the next few years, moving to some backwater in the Philippines, and living off the interest.

Fortunately I live with my parents and have been able to save almost $150K so far. I guess I'm wondering how much more I'll need to retire. I don't care about having nice things or social status; I'd be perfectly content just lying in a cabana all day with a cute Pinay.

If early early retirement isn't practical, is there perhaps some way to make a living that isn't so depression inducing?

[hammanta]

Even having a girl in my life wouldn't offset the pain of working a 9-5 office job. I desperately need out. Seriously considering hoarding all my income for the next few years, moving to some backwater in the Philippines, and living off the interest.

Fortunately I live with my parents and have been able to save almost $150K so far. I guess I'm wondering how much more I'll need to retire. I don't care about having nice things or social status; I'd be perfectly content just lying in a cabana all day with a cute Pinay.

If early early retirement isn't practical, is there perhaps some way to make a living that isn't so depression inducing?

Thought I was the only one who felt this way. If you count commute time for myself, I work about 60-65 hour weeks plus a little extra work I do solo on the weekends. I have a few pinays I met on my last trip that I'm still chatting with regularly and a local American girl that I by my time with though I still feel something missing. I'm 26 and have done more than most of my friends and family in life but that wanderlust is truly a welcomed bitch. I'm an adventurous guy, really into trekking and exploration and want to do so many extraordinary things in my life though thoughts on my career, future family, and security are always overwhelming. I truly envy those guys who can make a decent living while traveling. Honestly I wouldn't even mind a 9-5 job if I could do it in a location of my choosing. I really don't mind working and often volunteer in my spare time to give me something more constructive and new to do.

150k is a good amount of money but don't think it would earn enough ROI to live comfortably. 300k+ would probably be a better figure if you take the normal return at around 4-5% in moderate mutual funds (maybe off a little on numbers). I wish I had even close to half of that saved up though. I think the amount of money you would need would depend on your age and how you would adapt to your area. The Philippines is cheap but can be expensive to live like you do in the United States. Most figures I see around the internet are about $1000-1500 a month to live decent though if you are truly comfortable with immersion then you could live on much less.

I'm also interested in ways outside of the normal English teaching, online business, etc. to earn a living overseas. I'm going back to school in the fall and plan on moving to the Philippines for 3-6 months while taking online courses. Luckily I'm not in a lot of debt, have no kids, and am in the process of switching careers anyway.

With the amount of money you have saved you could look into just moving away for a year or two. Sure it looks bad on resumes but it will give you time to potentially pursue other avenues- Learn some languages, take some relevant business/computer classes, network, volunteer at an orphanage, pursue business ventures, etc.

Another possibility, though know little about, is buying condos. Condos are one of the few units a foreigner can completely own in the Philippines. They start out at roughly 1,000,000 pesos ($20,000) in Manila and Cebu but can be much, much more. Just a thought but something to potentially look into.

[The_Adventurer]

That's why I got into HA. While the majority here seems to be interested in mongering, my goal was to escape work, escape the rat race and all that. I truly wish there were more discussions of this topic around here too. Sadly, it's all about women.

If you are not into online business, I can only think of two ways.

1. Investment. Preferably outside of USA. Find companies trading for less than they have in the bank and which pay like a 4% dividend. It wouldn't be impossible to generate the equivalent of $1000 per month income for living in Philippines.

2. Real Estate. I know a guy who owns a house in USA. He rents it for about $1500 per month and lives in Philippines, playing video games all day.

If you ARE into online business and are a creative, there's always Patreon.com and other such sites. You could be a writer, musician, artist or make videos. I know a guy making about $7000 per month (yes, seven thousand US dollars per month) doing comic books. There are guys making Youtube videos, doing video game reviews and such, making as much as $20,000 per month. (twenty thousand dollars per month)

[gnosis]

If you ARE into online business and are a creative, there's always Patreon.com and other such sites.

Could you list a few more sites? This is interesting.

[Moretorque]

You should by real SILVER, this monetary system is saturated with debt and rotted out. The whole system is one gigantic rig job at it's end shortly and metals have proven themselves throughout history to be a safe bet against paper promises which cannot be kept.

[Eric]

If you ARE into online business and are a creative, there's always Patreon.com and other such sites.

Could you list a few more sites? This is interesting.

Could you explain more about Patreon, and how you would make money using this system?

Nvm, I just saw the vid on their site. You'd have to be really good, I feel, to make it on that site. I'll bet that guy who makes that much making comics probably does it ALL DAY long, and that's all he does - because he's probably good at it.

Anyways, that's interesting - thanks!
How the hell do you make 20 grand a month doing video game reviews...?

If you have 150K, I would think investing is your best bet. You can really ride really far and well off that - if you play your cards right.

[Devon]

OP, 150K is a huge amount of money, I assume you're reasonably young given that you're still living with your parents so well done! I'd continue to hoard for next few years until you reach a point where you can pretty much sustain a life overseas from investment returns for a long long period of time if that's what you want. That could mean having enough for $2000 per month for Thailand or $1500 per month for the Philippines depending on your preferred standard of living, of course. Any other income you pick up through teaching english or whatever is a bonus.

I'm at a more advanced stage than you and probably a lot older. I won't leave the workforce until I got all my ducks lined up. If everything goes to plan, that could be in less than two years. I'm lucky in that I like my job but life is short and it's time to do something else. Once I leave work, I know there's no way I'll be going back (can you imagine how hard that would be?) so at the moment I'm saving just about saving everything I earn. I do take the odd reconnaissance trip here and there, however. They're all part of my retirement preparations.

[The_Adventurer]

If you ARE into online business and are a creative, there's always Patreon.com and other such sites.

Could you list a few more sites? This is interesting.

IndieGogo, Kickstarter, GoFundMe, AniPoPo, it all depends on what you are doing. Some are geared towards one time projects, sombre geared towards "subscription" support, which is ongoing. You can find what works best for you. Of course, they are best used in combination with tools like Facebook and Twitter for building a fan base.

[The_Adventurer]

Nvm, I just saw the vid on their site. You'd have to be really good, I feel, to make it on that site. I'll bet that guy who makes that much making comics probably does it ALL DAY long, and that's all he does - because he's probably good at it.

That's exactly the point of sites like Patreon, to let you follow your passion and make a living doing what you love, rather than slaving away at some job. It's extremely unlikely he would get such a job drawing for Marvel comics, and even if he did, he would be drawing their stuff rather than his stuff.

Anyways, that's interesting - thanks!
How the hell do you make 20 grand a month doing video game reviews...?

Be funny, interesting and have lots of fans. The part that many people are not prepared to do is spend months or even a couple of years building a solid fanbase, by releasing free content on Youtube, Vimeo or anywhere else. The same goes for too many beginning writers who think they will stick a book on Kindle and be a millionaire overnight.

The internet currently offers the greatest opportunity in this world for building a steady and loyal following, whether you sell information, entertainment, or anything else, but you have to put in the work.

[zacb]

One thing, which I have been thinking about, is temporarily relocating to Asia and teaching English. That way I could save up some money, maybe find an online business there, and start to create a PT lifestyle. Or barring that, I could use that savings to buy real estate, and allow me to live where I really want to live, which is Latin America.

[The_Adventurer]

One thing, which I have been thinking about, is temporarily relocating to Asia and teaching English. That way I could save up some money, maybe find an online business there, and start to create a PT lifestyle. Or barring that, I could use that savings to buy real estate, and allow me to live where I really want to live, which is Latin America.

If you can find an english teaching gig that's light on the hours and pays the bills you will certainly have a lot of time to build your online business. You just have the have the patience to put in the time and not seek overnight results.

I once taught two classes, just two days per week. One class on game design and another on traditional animation. The pay was almost $1500 per month. I had the rest of my time to work on my own online endeavours.

[xiongmao]

Just find a job you enjoy. I get paid to write code, which is what I love doing anyway.

I took two weeks off between jobs recently, and got really bored. I couldn't imagine not working.

[chanta76]

Real Estate can work but you have to have the cash to buy it in the first place to make it work. I work in real estate. To be honest if I sell everything and even after all the capital gain tax I think I would have enough money to retire and move back to Asia. That's my long term plan. Move my family back to Asia but it will take some more years to build the funds for it. If I was single it be easier and sooner to make the move but since getting married not as easy since I have to take care of someone.

Down side of real estates is management aspect of it. I have a number of income producing properties but it;s hands on land lording that I do. I have to collect rent each month do the books and maintain the properties. Sure I can take 1 or 2 weeks vacation here and there but not 2 or 3 months vacation which I'm trying to work towards. I thought about using property management company but they take too much of your profit that's it's not worth the effort. Outside of that I try to see what else I can do to build income.

[chanta76]

the_adventurer,

What art skills do you have? Is it every too late to learn? I have a friend who does some 3-d animation work here in NYC but always unemployed.

[The_Adventurer]

the_adventurer,

What art skills do you have? Is it every too late to learn? I have a friend who does some 3-d animation work here in NYC but always unemployed.

It's extremely competitive these days, and I couldn't say that even I could make it in NYC now, having been away so long. I did, however, work on some "real" films, usually low budget sequels to moderately successful films, Lake Placid II, Bats II, House on Haunted Hill II etc. My name is up on that screen in the credits and that goes a long way here in Asia. That and "...it's who you know" is how I get speaking engagements etc.

As far as skills, I am a generalist in 2D and 3D, which means I do a little bit of everything, probably master of nothing.

I don't think it's ever too late t learn, but I would say it really has to be your passion, because it ain't easy. It can be lonely and tedious work.I couldn't live without it, to give an idea of my passion or commitment.