Well, I did sleepwalk through flames to get the batteries. 
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You forgot the smoke wedged between the gap in your teeth again. That one will always get ya.
My inner timbers are heavily oiled.
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Look guys, my boss as an example: she has a civil servant pension, though reduced by recent amendments. She insists on the 16 million mark. She has a full paid house.
Most civil servants, if female, retire early while their health allows them to enjoy the fruits of their labor. The guys work until they get kicked out. And then find jibs any job, even as guards. Or croak.
Well the military official I know works as a security guard because he gambled it away. Fairly common story although still minority. A lot of teachers retired young. Anyway they aren’t relevant to us.
Here is an article about Taiwan’s pension system:
I believe the number assumes no mortgage or rent, i.e. housing is already covered, and also factors in the pension, otherwise it would be a pretty miserable existence.
BTW, I’d rather have guaranteed steady cash flows (e.g. pension, rental income, etc.) than savings that you can lose in a stock market crash…
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Dunno. My landlady has a couple of properties, plus her pension. It is different from the old country both my parents are also civil servants and their pensions are more than enough for them. There is no need to complement.
Of course that is not the case of younger generations.
For myself, I foresee working until 85 at least, as we live to a 100 or so.
I know several civil servants who lost it all and are now living in the streets. Really sad situation.
This is the old civil servants with their famine mentality , most of them are loaded with gold plated pensions.
Look there’s no point getting into this they discriminate against us foreigners for civil servant pensions generally.
The local laobao is better than nothing but I reckon I may try for my home country pension at some stage, I just need ten years tax receipts gor the minimum or plead poverty upon return. We don’t have reciprocal deal with Taiwan unlike Korea for instance.
I don’t know if I’ll leave the laobao in Taiwan to claim at 60 plus or take out the lump sum.
Of course I am not only depending on these public schemes.
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Yea my dad swears he has no money to even help my business in a little bit even though his property in the SF bay area is worth almost a million dollars. He uses the most expensive medical treatment available in the US (which is saying a lot) and drives a Lexus. This is in addition to all the generous civil servant pensions, 18% bank accounts (I do not know what this is, and he won’t tell me either), vastly preferred rates for property tax, etc.
But he thinks he’s poorer than some african kids.
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An exception: those working as faculty members in the public university system.
Discriminatory pensions existed for years until the Tsai government changed the system to bring the pensions of APRC holders in line with Taiwan citizens.
Guy
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I saw that a while back and it was a good change . I was more referring to how difficult it is to become a citizen so you can actually apply for a civil servant job in the first place.
And they dont hire many foreigners in the civil service compared to some other countries (yes I know in Asia blah blah ). Certainly they aren’t offering them pensions routinely.
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I don’t disagree with any of this.
Guy
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It’s kind of a form of legal apartheid. It really is.
It can be dressed up as ‘protecting citizens’ but then they make it so hard to be a citizen . So how you gonna win ?
What I mean to say is that like, when it comes to pensions in Taiwan, the civil servants are supposed to have the cream if the cream…and yet they hurt and scream and say they will not survive, even worse now after the reforms.
Yet average Joe is still barehanded and will depend on recycling fare to survive in the old age.
Youngsters ain’t doing that well either. Can’t even buy a house, how can they save for retirement?
As a foreigner I worry if my savings will be enough. I am also paying for a hefty health insurance and I wonder how long can I continue with the Audi of coverage.
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I am now “retired” before reaching my savings goal (For one thing, I no longer own a primary residence) and targeted retirement age… I am content as there are many affordable places to retire in the world if Taiwan is not an option in the future for whatever reason.
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Hey retired old fogies (and young retired, and those thinking / planning on retiring) – did y’all have a goal for percentage of income that you wanted to replace in retirement? How is the spending comparing to the goal? Higher, lower? Wished you would’ve pulled the plug with less, earlier?
I’ve always planned on retiring early (latest at 55, preferably before 50), and my job is looking somewhat precarious, and I find my self wondering whether I should look for another or just pull the plug and bail on the working life…
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Didn’t have to worry (at least not much) as I had a part-time WFH job I could (and have) rely upon. Never eaten into my aggregate (non-real estate) assets yet, and in fact have seen them grow with 2 long-term holds on stocks.
The part-time WFH job is thinning out a bit, but not worried as targeting income from selling options (no need to explain to you how to get income from them, as you’re well-versed) on a select few target stocks I like and know.
So you’re semi retired? When did you pull the plug, and what % are you spending vs what you used to make? What made you switch to part time WFH?
Objectively, I should have more than enough money to just quit, but psychologically, am very, very uncomfortable with it. Probably due to some very lean times when I was young…
I’m 95-99% retired.
Had high-pay career and left over a decade ago.
Fixed costs now are car/home/health insurance, food, and flight tickets once or twice a year. We eat at home. Eat out only at fast-food restaurants.
The WFH was always a small side gig for many many years.
Once retired, it covered all family’s yearly fixed costs.
Hence, never ever had to sell stocks to “fund” retirement expenses. My assets have gone up in aggregate during retirement. The markets would have to crash like 80% for level of assets to go back to when I retired.
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Low aim is the crime