Harlow Lad

Just try to justify whether its worth the move for someone who not so sure about life in Malaysia.

I'll start;

Britain Life

Pro
You can drive any normal car (nothing exotic) you want?

Con
Everyday living are extremely expensive. Just about to make end meet with working class wages (£25k-£50k).
Unreliable weather.

Malaysia Life

Pro
Good weather summer all year round. Now more heating bill and heavy coat.
Everyday living are extremely cheap especially food. You dont have to earn a lot to live in a comfortable lifestyle.
Lots of thing to do.
Cheap property.

Con
Car price is a joke.

ex reg

'

bakedbean

Income tax
In the UK, if you do well in your work, work hard, and get a good salary, they will tax you to the hilt. You cannot save money. Very difficult to save for retirement.
In southeast Asia, low tax. we retired early, never planned to, but all thanks to low taxes.

Optimism
In the UK everyone seems negative. It's a Mustn't Grumble syndrome
In southeast Asia there's a positive mindset. Even when problems hit, folks seem to just bounce back. It doesn't happen in UK

bakedbean

Dental appointments
In UK. Go to dentist. Book appointment for 6 months time then they tell you what they will do to you and will cost a fortune (on NHS)
In Malaysia . Go along to dentist. Prob get appointment straightaway or wait 10 minutes. Up to date equip. Well trained dentists. Low cost even though it's essentially private. And they ask YOU what you would like done

bakedbean

You need some medication.
UK: hang on the phone forever to make appointment at docs. Go to docs and wait to see doc, hanging about for ages. Finally see doc who may give you a prescription. Go to chemist/pharmacy and wait for medication and pay a fortune for it.
Malaysia: either go direct to farmasi and buy over counter and usually cheap. Or walk in to one of the many polykliniks, usually see a doc straightaway. The klinik will dispense the medication to you

memphis27

I think the weather in M'sia is much more better than UK, though the heat could reach 36-38 Celsius

Harlow Lad

Hi ex reg,

Well I'm a car enthusiastic so I suppose it only apply to petrol head.

I think its depend on your circumstances really. We only own 40% of our property the rest is belong to the bank. So still have to wait for another 10-15 yrs of our life to pay it off.

Well I just been polite on the weather rather than swearing on the forum.

Rainy stuff Yes I have seen it before rain drop the size of an apple. I prefer tropic rain for a few hours rather that drizzle for days in the winter.

A/C bill? When was the last time you've pay energy bill in Britain? £1200 gas & electricity for a 1100sqf tiny 2 yrs old house last year. And it still going up.
Well I suppose whats your income against your expenses. But at the moment we cant have any saving for the retirement pot & we already in our early 30's. A bit panicking to honest especially whats the situation in the EU, thats why we plan B.

Funny car price. Well its a tiny little island you would of expect it though, just like HK. But what Malaysia gov does is unacceptable hugging useless Proton. Where its have 3 decades to improve it products, but still chucking out crap cars or copy someone else products.

Harlow Lad

I'M TOTALLY AGREED WITH YOU MRS.BAKEDBEAN.
Talk about income tax always raise my blood pressure. We do consider ourself as hard working class & yet both of us tax £2000 a month. We can afford private education for our children if it wasnt the income tax.

"Very difficult to save for retirement." Dont exist in our budget plan at the moment. We just dont have any disposable income in Britain. We live in a normal life a small house outside the M25 and a family car nothing fancy. Going out with the children once a month. The live in nanny cost us £1200 a month with gov child care cut from £485 to £250 a month due to new budget. Yet hardly anything left. The inflation here going up quicker than our wages.

Sorry everyone I'm one the negative one here ranting at the moment.

Harlow Lad

Oh how I miss the M'sia dentist. No that I have lots of bad teeth. We went in to an Ipoh dentist no need appointment but have to wait for about 5 mins (I should applaud them & shake their hand). 45 mins later have all our teeth clean and checked it cost RM120 for both of us, RM120! OMG! You couldnt even get less than £99 per person teeth clean in the UK.

ex reg

One other thing.
Safety and security.

Back in the mid nineties the house we owned in west London was burgled 7 times in less than a year.

The first time I was there alone and had gone to the squash club over lunchtime.
When I got back the front door was slightly open and I thought 'Funny'.
Walking around inside it took me a couple of minutes to realise we'd been burgled.
Shortly after we moved overseas and rented the place out.

6 more burglaries in short succession.

Because of this we decided to sell and although lost little in the burglaries we did miss the sudden increase in house prices and prolly 'lost' about 400 k.

That's how it goes I suppose.

Of course everyone says Singapore is very safe, well although not effected myself I've a few stories on that.

And we're off to JB today and that's really a cowboy town these days or so all Singaporeans believe.
Certainly different than when I used to live there.
Whatever the feelings though I'm always a bit wary when in JB although I love the place but don't go there as often as we'd like.

So do I think UK is safer than Malaysia/Singapore.

Well there's not as much in it as some might suggest IMO anyway.

the troubadour

Although Malaysia appears to be lifting their requirements for those seeking a MM2H visa. The monthly reqirement does not make the country a particular cheap option.

Would you be wanting to work there? No heating bills for sure but still most would want air con. Of course cheaper than Britain but still need an income from somewhere to survive long term.

bakedbean

Ya that's an eye opener for sure. So that would equate to 6000 ringgits per year, or 500 ringgits per month.

Well... we moved into a new condo unit a few months back. We're still averaging out the bills, but just some food for thought. Our unit is about 2400 sqf (more than double your inbuilt). We are aircon freaks... I don't mind admitting that. We have the aircon on for much of the time though not low low... we like about 26 degrees these days and preferably no Haze . Occasionally air the "house" and get some breezes through (and noise haha). No gas here. Cooking... I cook on induction hob about 3 or 4 times per week. Our electricity bill is averaging around 300 ringgits per month I think or 60 quid a month equiv. (Changing subject a bit, but orientation - east facing - accounts for a lot too, but that's another subject.)

HL, think you need to get yourself out here to southeast Asia.

The tax thing is a killer too,isn't it. One reason we left the UK... work flat out 24/7 then have to give half of the hard earned income to the Government. You'll be surprised (or maybe you won't be surprised) just how much you can save out here.

Cars.... yup, well.... just have to start off with a secondhand one maybe to begin with. We've all been there, done that.

bakedbean

Sure but it's also 24 degrees in the early mornings. In the winter more like max 28 degrees. And when it does hit 36 degrees, do you stay out in it? I sure don't.

Harlow Lad

Thats is cheap by my standard RM300 per month with full blast of ac all the time I assume you guys at home most of the time. £750 of that £1200 yearly bill is only cover the gas bill for just over 6 months. Well obviously we hardly use gas for heating in the summer except for the hot water.

bakedbean

No we're not home all the time but we usually keep a couple of aircons just "ticking over" when we go out. One thing we got right about this condo unit (and we didn't get everything right) was the orientation of south-east. It is way, way cooler than the place we rented, which was west facing. Makes a heck of a difference with aircon bills.