[wing]

A friend of mine from is about to get his early retirement package (layoff) from IBM (San Jose). He was surprised that I am in Hong Kong, at least part time. He is half Chinese and his wife's parents were from Hong Kong originally. They are interested in moving to Hong Kong to retire. They wondered how much do they really need to retire in Hong Kong. I talked to a few friends here in Hong Kong. I got a few different quotes, from $20K to $50K a month. They are in their 50s. I doubt it very much that they can get any kind of jobs here in Hong Kong in doing the kind of research that they have been doing in IBM. Without a PhD, can they find teaching jobs in some junior or community colleges ?

I pay only $7000 per month for a 2 bedroom unit in DB. It is a very nice unit with view. My food cost is very low because I don't eat much and I seldom drink. Sometimes, I can't even use more than $100 HKD a day. My travel expenses (mostly to the Mainland, Taiwan, Korea and Japan) are paid by my employers. But, I am only here less than 6 months on part time basis so far. I don't think I am qualified to help them.

Would someone please shed some light ?

[shri]

The problem with retiring is .. rent. That is a very high outgoing cost, when you don't have an income.

Say you've saved US $200K ... would you want to spend $1-2K a month on outgoings when you don't have a steady income?

IF you can buy a property .. with no mortgage payments due, then your fixed outgoings are low... which actually makes Hong Kong a great place to retire, considering the low medical costs, low taxes and cheap food and transport (compared to California..).