Evan’s team has helped me find an amazing place in Cebu City. I know not the top choices but proximity to amazing diving spots was a priority for me. Their assistance made it so stress free! I'm so happy to finally have arrived in the Philippines! 🎉
@@TheSavvyExpat If you live at the Shangra-La at the Fort, and wear a Rolex in BGC, is that really a big deal? I live in Miami Beach, BGC, seems like Downtown Miami. They even have a Lambo dealer, Prada/Gucci stores, every luxury item/service you can think of.
Great video and advice...would like to see a video of the 5 - 7K lifestyle budget breakdown from housing / apartment options through services...married here and not looking for anything other than friendship cookouts or dinners.
In the context of someone looking to live a “lavish” lifestyle, these cities I mentioned have more western amenities, convenience, cleanliness, and infrastructure than Cebu. I do see Cebu however a solid option for those looking to save money.
Love the vids, I'm actually FilAm myself. I actually saw you in BGC last time I went to see my family. But I was caught up with my nieces and nephews so I couldn't say hi.
I bring $5,200 monthly to the table. We live a stealth lifestyle in a camouflaged house ( dated gated subdivision that is showing its age). We do not flaunt our money, and a hospital is a half hour away by cab or ambulance. As long as you do not flaunt your money, you will be fine.
For me, living in a luxury high-rise condo in Cebu with its Mactan airport (avoiding NAIA) with direct flights to Singapore as my gate to Europe works perfectly 😊✌️ PS: Consider the toll the air quality in Manila could have on your health…
This is all misleading. Prices of real estate and land have far inflated any benefit with exchange rates. Imports are risen substantially. Mazda has increased their cars several thousand US dollars. Land in Nuvali is now 50,000+ a square meter. So there really isn’t going to be any massive lifestyle changes when moving to the Philippines. Your only option is to rent condos or houses which is no security at all and be responsible for repairs. If you marry, make sure your asawa has no living parents or child, for they will inherit any property she owns with you. Make sure you take title as the Filipina married to the foreigner and his complete name to show on the certificate of title. Plus an annotated lease with Registered of Deeds back to the foreigner. Also an annotated joint declaration the certificate of title is being held in a foreigners safe deposit box. Then you might be ok with jointly owning any property.
We have heard of many families interviewed, when they moved from US (like NYC) to Philippines they experienced a 50% lower cost of living. So a $5K lifestyle in PH is a $10K lifestyle in the US, not lavish by any means. Middle class in the US, and lower-middle class in larger US cities.
From my own perspective here are the criteria’s if you want live in a comfortable lavish like a king/queen , sustainability and financial security : investments ,business, and be a minimalist ! In Manila alone these are a must in order for you to survive! Period! Just straight forward talking! If they don’t have these mentón aspects they will struggles a paycheck to paycheck cyles! Well good luck to you savvy expat!
My oceanfront rent El Nido is $3655 a month US. My jet fuel for helicopter is $3000 US. My security is $2000 US. My pocket change is $8000 US. Yes we see the Philippines different than you will.
This is fortuitous. RU-vid dropped this in my suggested videos while I was researching spots to expatriate to. I'm still checking out some spots but if I settle on the Philippines, I'm definitely putting Evan in front to pave the way. Going to have to check the BGC videos since I had only researched Makati and the provinces. My old Senior Chief lives in Dumaguete so of course, that's what he recommends.
If you have let’s say $7000 and up in retirement income, which places would be best that offer western convenience and high quality medical. Would it be better to buy a house, buy a condo or rent a house?
I didn’t like makati, Manila all that much. Don’t get me wrong the people are great but I’m not for cities. I grew up in the country and don’t care for any city life. If it was Tokyo I would consider it but from what I see in the Philippines I say it’s a big no
This is noted John, will get that fixed on the next video 🙏 Our service fee is completely dependent upon each expat’s wants & needs as our packages are custom tailored to each client.
@@TheSavvyExpat 'm sorry, I did not want to sound like a troll, just wanted to give artistic suggestion, and great, I did not know your services are free thanks for letting me know, I want to vacation for 30 days in CEBU to see what its like, then maybe consider moving their in my soon retirement next year or so, thanks and please accept my apologies, I,m an artist in many areas including video and sound and I notice things in the details
BGC is cool, but nasty outside of it. Traffic, pollution, congestion. I like Nuvali which is an up and coming built by … Ayala. Think of it like BGC or Alabang without high rises, no spaghetti wires, traffic is ok. Lots of new schools moving there and couple of good hospitals. Mostly single family homes with a few condominium buildings. 60 minutes to Manila, 45 minutes to Tagaytay, 60 minutes to the great beaches of Batangas. Cooler and green.
@@jetd9716 - yeah, just an option for people who don’t need the in Manila but close enough for convenience. Nuvali has quite a number of work opportunities there also. There is some technology hubs sprouting there and a few other big companies are there too. Lots of western restaurants popping up left and right. I drove from Nuvali to Alabang and took me 20 minutes during off peak traffic..not bad. I just like the slower pace and greenery of the area. They will have a bike path / golf driving range. It’s a massive Ayala project. There is also an SM yulo premiere that is being built next to Nuvali and convenient short drive to couple of golf courses. My newly built house is in Greenfield city just next door to Nuvali Solenad malls.
We chose to buy a house in Cavite in a country club community, basically so I can play a lot of golf. I feel like I live around peers because my Filipino neighbors are doing very well. BTW I saw you at St Louis restaurant last night didn’t want to bother you because it looked like you were on a date. Love your content.
My only concerns are that due to the existing poverty in the Philippines there are many people who may resent foreigners living large in their country. This can entice criminals to target foreigners for kidnapping, scams, robbery and even murder. So my advice for foreigners is to not attract much attention by behaving like a tourist. Being loud, extravagant, disrespectful, or flaunting wealth only makes you a target.
Thats why Evan stressed to not be so open about your financial resources like wearing expensive jewelry all over the place, counting cash in public etc but getting maid, driver, assistant services is private( no one is watching your maid clean your house or what you are saying to your assistant and people are driving cars everywhere.
I feel and hope Cebu will catch up to the medical 🏥 conditions when I hope to go full time like 7 years. I want simple living and just travel around and relax 🧘 Hopefully will be working online in a few years too. But cost are going up in the Philippines 🇵🇭 too. I been to Cebu a few times.
Stay away from buying a condo unless it's in a heavy traffic area with low competition. Otherwise say goodbye to your $$. Remember, this is not like US where you can just sell your property online and get an offer same day. It could take months or years to sell it. Do heavy research before committing. Just rent.
Please do some research online. Exchange rate has nothing to do with affordability in any country. It has nothing to do with why a Westerner can afford more in the Philippines relative to the USA. $1 is equal to 25,000 Vietnamese dong! Does that mean I can live 1000 times better in Vietnam than Philippines? Because the currency is almost 1,000 times less? No! Exchange rate has nothing to do with it because things can be priced commensurate. People earn more in the west relative to Phil because USA workers are more productive. And I'm sorry but BGC food and condos are not competitive relative to anywhere else in Asia, Europe or USA. Even the latest lux condos in BGC are crap decor, crap design, crap quality. Get a few years under your belt and you will be back in the USA. People, relationships and family is the ONLY reason the Philippines is worthwhile. Everything else about the country is substandard.
The subject is about retiring in the Philippines. U CAN NOT AFFORD to live comfortably in the U.S with ur Social Security & even if ur fortunate to retire from the government agencies W/ pension plans. Cost of living here is too ridiculously high. Many here in the U.S. will not retire even when they have all these benefits I mentioned above. Payments for house, bills etc… and yes even just receiving social security u can retire in the Philippines comfortably though not lavishly. With my SS, retirement from government agency & pension plan I can live lavishly there then I can ever do here. There is a reason why almost all retirees leave this country . Yes, exchange rate is a big factor why they r leaving. It becomes more affordable & cheaper retiring outside U.S. Yes, do ur research please & start off by asking people why they left the country to retire elsewhere. It will always be affordability.
@@mojoajinomoto5256 If you're retirement is only around $2K monthly, you're better off retiring in any undeveloped country. Housing & food is cheap. Medical expenses wiil be your problem as you get older cuz it's very expensive. Everything will come out of your pocket. You have to chose between your health or your housing & food.