retirement overseas and pool

Chesscat

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Where's a good place to retire and shoot pool? I am thinking of an apartment near a 24 hour pool hall. The Phillipines? Rio? Argentina?
 
How about Florida? I'm close to retirement. I also want to be close to a pool hall and play all the time, but I want to be somewhere where spanish is the primary language I'm not leaving the USA.
 
Phillipines has VA Hospitals, and Clinics if Medical Care CHEAP is important to you. If you trust the VA system.
 
medical care is important, and just gets more so. I wouldn't be eligible for VA benefits, so for me it might be a question of affordable, quality health care. How's the Phillipines if you have to foot your own doctor bills? Florida would be good, but for me I want to get away. Of course, in Fla, speaking spanish, the whole Latin American world is on your doorstep.
 
St. Lukes in Manila is an excellent hospital, however you have to prove being able to pay in order to be treated there. The costs would be nothing compared to the USA.

When I was last in Cebu, I met an American guy about 65-70 with a gorgeous Filipina wife about 30, and the two cutest kids I ever saw(HIS). He told me he was retired USN collecting an $1100 PER MONTH pension. He said that the 4 of them lived quite well on $600 a month and invested $500. That was in 2003.

Of course the pool is world class. I can't tell you much outside of Manila, but other than Cebu, the farther you get away from the cities, the harder it is to get up to the latest medical attention in an emergency. At the same time, the provinces (outlying areas) have a very low cost of living. I love the Phils, but after living here your whole life...there would be adjustments to make, both good and bad...Tom
 
Chesscat said:
Where's a good place to retire and shoot pool? I am thinking of an apartment near a 24 hour pool hall. The Phillipines? Rio? Argentina?

If you're planning to retire in Manila, I would suggest getting a condo unit instead of an apartment. In a condo you can have some 4-5 star hotel amenities that won't deviate much from your basic needs or way of living in the states (oops, assuming you live in the states..). (i.e. hot water, 24 hr a/c, 24/7 building security, mcdonald's, hehe.) You would want to stay around the Makati, Malate or QC area. Goodluck on your retirement..:)
 
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SINGAPORE!!!!!! World Class Medical institutions, Safe, Stable society and Plenty of Pool!!!
 
MasterClass said:
SINGAPORE!!!!!! World Class Medical institutions, Safe, Stable society and Plenty of Pool!!!

Singapore is NOT a RETIREMENT place unless you're a citizen.
 
You can speak with Ted Lerner, he knows the ins and outs of retirement in Asia. He's your best bet to get info. You can contact him via this site -> http://hey-joe.net/
 
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BlowFish said:
You can speak with Ted Lerner, he knows the ins and outs of retirement in Asia. He's your best bet to get info. You can contact him via this site -> http://hey-joe.net/
Me and Edwin are going to settle for..............................................
Samal Islands in Davao. :D :)
http://paradiseislanddavao.com/

Store our wood up in Malaybalay ( only 1.5 hours away, kilometer above see level where humidity hovers around 50% ).
Woohooo!
Ed, get moving.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Me and Edwin are going to settle for..............................................
Samal Islands in Davao. :D :)
http://paradiseislanddavao.com/

Store our wood up in Malaybalay ( only 1.5 hours away, kilometer above see level where humidity hovers around 50% ).
Woohooo!
Ed, get moving.

You and Edwin are considered local. I might meet you there sometime August for that BMPAP tourney. See if me wify will allow me to go. She's now back in HK and directing my life. Darn... :D

So much for being GS (Geographically Single) for nearly 3yrs.
 
Finland of course. For 9 months every year you can feel the gentle winter breeze blowing in your face, see the winter-depressed stubborn Finnish people who only wake up from their miserable lives during the 3 summer months every year just to get heavily intoxicated every day and pass out in the parks and vomit all over the streets. And not to forget the high prices of living and food. Finland provides one of best health care in the world but not before you wait for your turn at least half a year to get your teeth fixed etc.

Just kidding of course, I'd recommend the Philippines or Florida :)
 
id say florida. Great weather, beautiful beaches and plenty of top notch pool. Plus all the ameniteis that the US has to offer.

Two words, South beach
 
JoeyInCali said:
Me and Edwin are going to settle for..............................................
Samal Islands in Davao. :D :)
http://paradiseislanddavao.com/

Store our wood up in Malaybalay ( only 1.5 hours away, kilometer above see level where humidity hovers around 50% ).
Woohooo!
Ed, get moving.
I am. I already got a place in Sasa which is 3 minutes to the dock for the ferry to Samal. hehe Should be there in time for school to start on Monday.
 
Roy Steffensen said:
Well, I am 27 and dreaming of retirement in the Philippines :D
Looking forward to seeing you here in a few days Roy (and Kris). We're good to go in Cebu as we got done fine tuning the event this morning.

The Philippines is the best place to be if you love pool because pool is a very popular sport here. Pool playing too is an accepted gainful employment here and with all our pool champions that triumph in all parts of the world, it is a respected occupation. Newspaper and TV coverage too of pool matches have brought up the popularity of the sport and its practitioners to the level of celebrities.

With our new group, the BMPAP, who wouldn't be a celebrity anyway. We have televised events planned every month to the year 2010 aside from our 3x a week professional league that'll start in September.

Now, what do you think will be the ripple effect of all these things that we did/will do?

-increase in participation in local poolhall and small town events. The BMPAP, in partnership with Senate President Manny Villar will be holding "Search for Billiard Idol" tournaments that'll reach the furthest towns in the Philippines.
- I see another pool boom coming. New upscale poolhalls sprouting up and not just in Metro Manila, as was before when Efren won the WPC, but in every major city of the country.
-New and bigger bar leagues and the start of the use of bar tables. (we're currently looking for bar table suppliers)
-increased participation of foreign players and eventually the formation of a World Professional Pool Organization. I see this new world organization being a reality before the year ends as we're already getting communication from all over the world of their wanting to participate in our events and to discuss the formation of such an organization.

Roy, there are others like you who are coming so you are not alone in your hopes and dreams. Players from Hong Kong, the United States, Middle East and Australia have sent corfirmation of their participation in our upcoming events. Like they say "Build it and they will come".

See you soon Roy.
 
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memikey said:
Thailand (a number of areas except Bangkok) is worth having a look at.
It's true that gorgeous Thailand is a good candidate for a retirement place but it only addresses half of the requirement of the OP ("retirement overseas and pool") The other half, pool, is best addressed by the Philippines.

Other advantages of the Philippines:
1. Almost everyone here speaks and understand English, being the 2nd language here, and some Spanish and Nihonggo.
2. World class healthcare. Proof of quality can be seen all over the world. You'd see Filipino health care practitioners (Physicians, Nurses, Lab/X-ray Techs, Nutritionists, etc) anywhere in the world. And this proves the high academic quality here for the healthcare field.
3. Lower cost of living as compared to most other countries.
4. Even though the rest of the world thinks that the Philippines is politically unstable from all the news that they read it is not. Ask anybody who's been here. Jay? Roy? Mark Griffin?.........what say you?
5. And a lot more pluses...and of course....... top notch POOL.
 
A friend of mine (a young guy) has been seriously looking at buying an apartment or condo in the Philippines. His plan would be to rent it out until he actually goes to live there in a few years. The benefit for him of buying is that, if you own property in that country you receive a permanent visa. He's from a smaller country, so getting visas to travel can be a difficult process.

Anyways, from the sounds of it, it would be a great place to retire.
 
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