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Navigating career setbacks and financial uncertainties while living abroad requires a proactive approach to building multiple income streams and embracing a flexible, long-term perspective.
The host discusses recent job rejections and upcoming interviews, expressing a willingness to fully commit to YouTube growth if traditional employment doesn't materialize. The channel's rapid growth and potential collaborations, like with CNA, are highlighted as positive developments. The conversation touches upon personal plans for his upcoming birthday, including dining out and potential social gatherings, while acknowledging a demanding schedule balancing interviews and content creation.
The discussion shifts to the challenges and rewards of living abroad, particularly in the Philippines. The host reflects on his personal journey, questioning if he's a 'failure' due to career setbacks but ultimately concluding that his current path is one of discovery and growth. He contrasts the spontaneity and quality of life in the Philippines with the perceived decline in quality of life and increased division in the United States, emphasizing the desire for financial independence to live abroad long-term.
The conversation delves into broader economic and financial topics, including the US job market, inflation, quantitative easing, and the potential for a debt crisis. The host shares his perspective on retirement planning, emphasizing the importance of multiple income streams, and discusses his banking experiences as an expatriate, recommending certain institutions while cautioning against others. He also touches upon the value of consulting services and his future travel plans in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia and Indonesia, before reiterating his commitment to the Philippines.
The latter part of the stream addresses financial independence goals, with the host outlining a target of $1,500 per month and discussing various income streams like YouTube, investments, and potential business ventures. He contrasts the traditional pension system with current retirement savings methods like 401ks and IRAs, and touches upon the complexities of Social Security. The host also shares positive experiences with banking in the Philippines and discusses the convenience of local accounts for managing daily expenses and reducing fees, underscoring the practical aspects of international living.
Achieving financial independence abroad involves building diverse income streams, such as YouTube ad revenue, consulting, and investments. Careful budgeting for visas, insurance, and daily expenses is crucial. The goal is to create a sustainable financial situation that supports your desired lifestyle overseas.
Expats can build multiple income streams through content creation like YouTube, offering consulting services, and strategic investments. Developing passive income sources is key to long-term financial security. Leveraging online banking and financial tools also helps manage international finances effectively.
The cost of living abroad varies greatly by location, but careful financial planning is essential. Budgeting for visas, insurance, and daily expenses is important. While some locations offer a lower cost of living, achieving financial independence requires proactive income generation and smart financial management.
Career setbacks abroad can be opportunities to pivot and explore alternative paths, such as focusing on content creation. Embracing these challenges with a flexible, long-term perspective is vital. Building diverse income streams can provide a safety net and enable continued living abroad.
Expat financial planning involves creating strategies for income generation, budgeting, and investments while living internationally. It includes managing visa costs, health insurance, and daily expenses, while aiming for financial independence through multiple income streams.
Building passive income overseas can be achieved through various avenues, including investments and online ventures like YouTube. Diversifying income sources is crucial for financial independence and long-term security while living abroad. Strategic use of online banking and financial tools can support these efforts.
Job rejections can be reframed as opportunities to pivot and explore alternative paths. The video suggests focusing on content creation like YouTube if traditional employment doesn't materialize. Embracing these moments can lead to unexpected growth and success.
Achieving financial independence while living abroad is possible with careful planning and diverse income streams. The video highlights YouTube ad revenue, investments, and potential consulting services as ways to support this lifestyle. Budgeting for visas, insurance, and daily expenses is crucial for long-term success.
Managing finances while living in the Philippines involves leveraging online banking and local accounts for daily expenses. This can help reduce fees and simplify transactions. The video suggests that strategic financial tools are key to effective management for international living.
The video touches on positive experiences with banking in the Philippines, recommending certain institutions for expatriates. Using local accounts can be convenient for managing daily expenses and minimizing fees. This approach supports practical international living.
0:06 Hey, what's up guys? I'll give it a few moments to let the first person in here before I start. How's everybody doing tonight? I did get a rejection from that job. Oh well.
1:11 So yeah, tomorrow I've got another interview with another company. We'll see how that goes, but if these don't pan out, I am thinking about just putting like a year into going all in on YouTube. The growth of the channel has been incredible. I actually got contacted by CNA, which is a Singapore-based media company that wants to do something with me if I can make it to Manila.
2:00 Hey, feel free to chime in. I know it's probably pretty early morning there in the US. I am pretty tired today, guys. I didn't get a great night's sleep, but I wanted to do a live stream because tomorrow is my birthday. I don't have any plans.
2:40 What's everybody doing this week? How's everybody's week going? Anything interesting going on this weekend?
2:53 Cool, we got a couple of people. Feel free to chime in. It's, I guess it hasn't been too hot today. I didn't really get out of the house much, or at all. I took a day to just kind of chill because I've been really going hard the last few weeks and wanted to just take a chill day because tomorrow is going to be a really long day. And yeah, I just know I need the rest today to go hard tomorrow.
3:43 It's been very, very busy. I've been running around a lot and, yeah, just meeting a lot of different people, doing a lot of different stuff. The channel growth has been incredible. I can't thank you all enough for supporting the channel and subscribing to the channel, both long-term subscribers and then also folks that are new to the channel.
4:14 I, yeah, it's just very humbling. Actually trying to set something up for later this week, so we'll see how that goes.
4:44 Tired. I think tomorrow I'm going to go out for a nice meal for my birthday. May need to go to Lantau, actually, which I was very fortunate to go out with some friends and go there on Sunday. But apparently, they do like a breakfast buffet and they do half off your birthday week, so I'll probably take him up on that maybe Saturday.
5:09 Yeah, maybe I'll do that Saturday because I've got, and let me pull up a map here, that would be helpful.
5:21 Here, feel free to chime in. We don't have any comments. So, hope that everybody is able to hear me clearly. So, I actually, so this is a restaurant I recommend everybody checking out if they come here to do meetti. Check out Lantau, obviously. You can see it's very popular. They do like a breakfast buffet.
5:41 So, I, let's see here. So, it's 299 pesos, but of course, it'll be my birthday, so I guess I'll pay 150. But yeah, they've got a lot of different items, and I think it should be interesting to go check that out.
6:04 Tomorrow morning, I may be going to meet with some friends. They do a coffee meeting every Thursday morning. We'll see how early I get up. My sleep schedule has been all over the place because I've been staying up super late to do job interviews, but then I've also been waking up early to do filming. So, I've kind of been back and forth, back and forth.
6:25 Yeah, we'll see how things go.
6:43 So, I did start chatting with somebody. I actually ran into the Filipina P in town here, and she introduced me to a friend of hers. So, we've been chatting, that's been going interesting. And yeah, I've just been enjoying getting to know her.
7:09 And, yeah, we, was it Sunday? No, it was Saturday. We went on a, I guess a date to a restaurant in town, and that was really nice. That was kind of my one of my birthday dinners because she's really busy with class, and so it was a great opportunity to spend time with her and get to know her better. We went to Sans Rival, which is a great restaurant.
7:33 Zoom in here now. It's further up the boulevard. Yeah, so this spot, well, that's the, here we go. So, this is the actual restaurant. Recommend checking this spot out. Duetti is just a nice eating town, you know, if you're somebody likes to just chill out and not really do as much, you know, it's a nice place.
8:05 Yeah, feel free to chime in, guys, with any questions or thoughts. I recognize this might not be the most opportune time. I should probably try for some mornings because I imagine that would be the prime 6:00 to 9:00 PM hour for those of you in the US. But, yeah, I mean, this is a decent time for me, but definitely need to, yeah, to do something at a good time for all of you.
9:15 Yeah, so I'm actually waiting. So, Friday, I do need to go to immigration. I'm going to be picking up my ACR card and I'll get my passport back with the two-month visa extension. So, when I pick it up, I'll be extended through December 8th. So, I won't have to fool with getting an update for a couple of months on that.
9:41 Then probably mid-November, I'll have to go in for another extension. Just go ahead and zoom in here to show you all where that is.
9:59 Yeah, so right here near Quezon Park on Locke Street. Then you just go there if you need to update your visa, you know, whether it's your first month extension, your two-month extension, you're able to go there and do that. They do have some visa processing services in the same hallway. I just go to the official route because I'm fine with that, no issue there.
10:18 But certainly, other people may have a different priority. But yeah, this is where I go in town. The BGC is very small, so anything that you need to do, you'll be able to do in there. Like you'll be able to do there in town.
10:36 And it's, yeah, it's just such a convenient town to live in. I mean, everything is close together. You're not going to have to go that far out of the way to get things done. If you want to relax, you got to get a little bit out of town, I think, but if you need to handle business, then everything is just in a very small area. It's very convenient in that way.
11:03 But yeah, feel free to chime in on chat. Nothing's coming yet. Yeah, so anybody has any questions or any thoughts, any comments, certainly they can be helpful for us to have a nice discussion.
11:39 And it may be a slow night, and maybe it's best for me to pick a more optimal time. But yeah, I thought I'd talk about it. Am I a failure? Am I failing here? I don't think so. I think I've been very clear about my intentions from the start. We'll see how things go. This is more of a discovery trip, laying the groundwork.
12:06 If I, you know, obviously, if I don't get an offer, I'm just going to keep going on YouTube because there's a lot of different video topics that I want to make. I've got several that need to be edited.
12:22 Captain Trucker, great question. So good to see you. Are you here in the Philippines? I know that you had talked about coming over. I hadn't seen an update yet on your channel. Of course, I'd love to see you here, but I also understand if you get pulled back into another opportunity there.
12:38 Are you disappointed about the job, or is the title just related? Yeah, Trucker, so I think you have this great stoic mindset, and I need to learn from that. So, I am kind of disappointed because my hope was that I'd go back and start stacking money. I think that with another three or four years of working in the United States, I'll be able to move here long-term.
13:01 And so, I think the concern in the back of my mind is, on one hand, I enjoy being here, I love being here, of course, I'm living in the moment. On the other hand, it feels like I'm tacking more time onto the end of my staying in the United States.
13:15 So, jobs come and go. Yeah, that's a great point, Trucker. So, I need to be more stoic about it. I am talking to a well-known company, all of you are familiar with. Tomorrow, we'll see how that goes. That's tomorrow night at 2 AM.
13:37 So, yeah, it is also for laughs, you know, because I know a number of people have said, 'Oh, you're a failure,' this and that. And I'm like, 'Okay, I'm a failure, whatever.' You know, like, it's, I know people are looking to elicit a response. And it's, you know, I think that when we grow up in the US, we're taught that our job is our identity, and that if we don't have a formal job, then we're a nobody.
14:02 Right. But I think, you know, like you said, jobs come and go. It's certainly not going to be the last opportunity I ever encounter in my life. It was a good opportunity. I did do like five rounds of interviews with them, but they decided to go in a different direction. And then they went and they reposted the job like the Monday after the Friday they told me I wasn't getting it.
14:25 So, some companies are just, they just don't know what they want. And that's the best way for me to understand it. And hey, you know, maybe I dodged a bad situation, right? I mean, if they can't make up their minds, they don't know what they're looking for. Who knows, maybe I would have gotten in there and then three months later, six months later, I would have been shown the door, which would be a bit of a struggle getting out of a lease in America, coming back over here, obviously not being able to get a great ROI on a three-month time span.
14:56 Most of us want to work at least six months to a year, or maybe a couple years, to really get a solid return. But I may talk to a friend of mine I worked with at a previous job. He was great, he's still at that company. They have, they are, I think, well-managed, they have good training. It would be a good opportunity for me to make some headway in my career and really just, like I said, contribute to investments.
15:27 My goal is to get to my financially independent M as fast as possible, back in the States, to come over here long-term, because I want to get to the point where I could come here and just never worry about going back home. There's just not a lot for me back home, and I don't really enjoy living in the United States anyway. It's a great place to earn money, but as far as quality of life, it's really taken a hit in recent years.
15:52 So, in some ways, you do feel like you're not successful if you go back home. In other ways, it's going to push you towards success. I just feel like bored back home, I feel lonely back home. And here, I don't feel bored ever, right? It's like such a spontaneous place.
16:09 There's absolutely, Trucker, I agree. I, you know, when I see the effort that you put into your job, and, you know, it reminds me, like it's a long, it's a marathon, right? It's not a sprint. Like, you've had multiple long visits here to the Philippines, and you're stable. Like, you know, the assumption, I'm sure you get this, Trucker.
16:35 Assumption I'm sure you get this, trucker. Oh, if you don't, you know, focus on your job and never leave, right? If you need to just stay there for the next 30 years or whatever, you never need to go to the Philippines until you hit traditional retirement age. Well, you're, I think you've done a really good job of balancing working, like work-life balance, right? Like, I want to work because I need money, but I also want to live my life because, you know, that's part of enjoying life.
17:01 So what you mentioned, like you still got, um, a lot of, yeah, you said no people and expats have weird perspectives about leaving the country to work. Expats can move around and work wherever, come and go. See, that's how I feel. I don't feel like it's such a big deal. It's like, um, life is not guaranteed, right? I mean, even at our age, there are people that run into health issues, there's challenges. Anything could happen.
17:26 And I'm not going to be one day and be like, man, I really regret taking some time off when I was 30 or 37 or 42 to go and enjoy life, to go travel in a beautiful country like the Philippines, to interact with interesting people over here, to, uh, you know, to just not think about the hustle and grind.
17:46 Because it seems like, you know, back home, there are a lot of nice things about back home. I like the conveniences, I like the predictability of things, but that also gets really repetitive and boring sometimes. So you come here and you leave the house and you have no idea what's going to happen.
18:06 I mean, that's really what I love about the Philippines is this sense of spontaneity where I go down to town, I go into Dumaguete, and it's still not boring to me. People ask me, 'Oh, aren't you bored of Dumaguete?' No, I have no idea what's going to happen when I go down to Dumaguete. I don't know who I'm going to see, I don't know what I'm going to run into. Uh, I don't know how wild the traffic is going to be.
18:29 Yeah, trucker, I mean, I think with the older generations, some of them can be skeptical of us, right? Some of them can be skeptical that we're willing to have these kind of nomadic lifestyles. And it's like, no, I mean, it's exciting, it's fun. You get to do all kinds of things that maybe you dreamed about doing when you were younger that people told you, 'Oh no, trucker, don't do that,' or 'Oh, you shouldn't take that risk,' or this and that.
18:52 And it's possible in the modern world, right? We have digital incomes, we have online incomes, we have ways of making money online, right? I mean, you know, this modern world just provides so many unique opportunities that people of the past would only dream of having. So, uh, it's not like you're going to be chained to a desk, you're going to work at the same company for 30 years. For our generation, that's not guaranteed.
19:21 The economy is not as stable as it was in the post-war era. And so, you may work for many, most of us will work for many different employers, um, and then ideally start our own business, right? I think that's really the dream for a lot of people is to start our own business. You could do that with YouTube, that's a great example where you are essentially on YouTube collecting royalties, right?
19:44 So you, um, drive, you bring in attention, and then people watch, and they enjoy, they engage. Um, so yeah, I think moving around, working, going to other places is a solid option. Finding out what you like, finding out what you don't like, figuring out the places that are appealing to you.
20:05 Figuring out the places that are fun and enjoyable, the places that you want to live and you want to spend time, and then some places you don't, right? I mean, I found some places I'm like, okay, I'm glad I got that out of the way because that's not a place I want to live. Uh, and then there's places you'll want to go back to over and over again, like, trucker, I feel that's you feel that way about the Philippines.
20:24 Where you came here, it's not the only country you've been to. I know you've also been to Indonesia, and yet you felt like, wow, this is the place. And then, of course, now you've got your son here in the Philippines. So you really took a chance, and it's paid off many times over for you.
20:41 And I think for you, trucker, like you see, and I've had this conversation with Paul, shout out to Paul, Old Dog Neutrix. Uh, he talks a bit about this. We talked a bit about this where he said, after I came to Asia, I knew where I wanted my life to go. I knew where I wanted my life to be. Uh, and so I think that you solved that problem, right? That may have been a problem for you.
21:00 I'm not sure, trucker, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but you may have felt like when you were a younger guy, you're still young, but when you're an even younger trucker, you thought, man, like, what direction am I going in? You know, where do I want my life to be? I felt that way a lot.
21:18 So I can't speak for you, but I can't speak for myself. Or I'm like, what am I going to do with my life? Um, and now I know, right? Now I know the direction I'm going. Now I know the destination that I want to be at, and it's just a matter of getting to that destination and figuring out a way to get there as efficiently as possible.
21:37 So, uh, for me, what that looks like is multi-art. Uh, one, I could go back and work. I could save every penny, which is what I've done in the past. I'm going to do it again, or I will, I should say, I'm willing to do it again. Add to investments, add to the dividend portfolio.
21:53 Uh, two, grow my channel, build that up into a more substantial, uh, income stream. Uh, and then, you know, get to that point where I get X amount per month. Whatever that exact amount is, I lean toward $1,500 per month. I think it's doable on less, but I think $1,500 is a pretty comfortable number to have some left over, have some for unexpected expenses.
22:18 Visa. Uh, this is just kind of a rundown of what some of you might be wondering. What, what does my budget need to cover? Well, you need to cover your visa expenses. Any country that you go to, unless it's your home country, you're probably going to have some visa fees. Your health insurance, um, you probably want to have some health insurance program or, um, policy, I should say, especially as you get older.
22:43 Not as much, uh, you know, of a concern for maybe some young guys, but I think as you get older, you don't know what could happen. Uh, food, obviously, you need to eat. Shelter, you need a place to live. And then transportation. And those are the big ones that you really need to think of. How am I going to pay for those?
23:02 A big one, number six, that doesn't come up is replacing your clothes and replacing your electronics. Your electronics will eventually wear out. Your clothes will eventually wear out. And having a budget for that. So those six things, you know, those are the big ones that I would say you want to budget for.
23:18 I think $1,500 a month is a good starting point. I think I could do it on less. I've been spending like $600 per month, $700 per month here in the Philippines. Um, and I feel comfortable on that amount. I mean, I rent the top half of a house here. I, um, what else do I do?
23:39 Um, I eat out of me restaurants for every meal. I get around town. Now, I'm not a big running around the islands kind of person, um, mostly because I want to figure out the place I want to settle. And I think you need a baseline idea of, okay, this is where I want to live, and then you can branch out from there.
24:00 I am looking at going still to Mindanao. We'll see how that goes. I may be making a trip to Manila. I'm trying to push, uh, for budget to cover my flight if I'm going to do, uh, the documentary with them. I'm not going to get too much more into details because it's not confirmed. It may fall through.
24:17 Uh, they may say, hey, we don't have budget for the flight. Maybe I changed my mind about it. Um, it would be massive. It could, I should say, it could be big exposure for the channel, right? Uh, getting on a channel like CNA, they're one of the largest media, I think they might be the largest media organization in Singapore.
24:38 Um, and of course, you know, it would expose me to people way outside of the traditional vlogging community. So that could be really interesting. Uh, if I do take them up on that, um, they're going to be filming in Manila in a few weeks. And so, yeah, I mean, if they say, hey, we're going to get your flight, I'm happy to pay for my accommodations. I'm happy to pay for my food.
25:01 Uh, but it's, you know, it's like a, it's a, you know, it's going to take me some time. I'm going to have to go down to the airport, go to Manila, uh, get transportation to their location. You know, Manila, like it's not just about the money, right? It's also just Manila being like the most densely populated city in the world.
25:19 Uh, it's a solid investment of time to go to Manila and to navigate Manila traffic. It's not necessarily a city I could see myself living in long term. So I do kind of want to ask for that, right? I mean, if I'm going to come and help you do a documentary, um, presumably like not, they haven't mentioned pay, but you know, I do it for exposure.
25:43 Uh, then, yeah, you know, I want to ask for a bit, um, and I'd be happy to do it. I think it'd be interesting. Uh, I don't want to get too much into it because I don't want to reveal all my secrets or all my tricks. But, uh, yeah, I mean, if it performed well, I think it would draw a ton of attention to the channel.
25:58 And it would, you know, it could be a spark to get me to 10K, um, which is, yeah, which is definitely a goal of mine. That's, I would say 5K is the next goal and then 10K after that. Uh, because I think once I hit 10K, 15K, 20K, it starts to look like a sizable enough opportunity, you know, as far as just like covering my bills every month.
26:29 Nicholas says, 'S dude, so sorry to hear you didn't get the job. Same exact thing happened to me recently. Applied for a job I thought was a shoe-in for and at the final stage was told position being halted due to budget cuts.' Yeah, it's really disappointing to hear that, Nicholas. Um, just have to dust yourself off and keep going. Yeah, you know, a lot of these companies are changing plans and some are implementing automation.
26:54 Some are implementing automation, some are implementing AI, some are outsourcing. The economy is really in flux right now with these interest rate hikes making it super expensive to borrow. A lot of these companies are just making all these different decisions that really put a lot of us in stressful positions.
27:26 But yeah, I think I'll figure it out. Great cars, yeah, that's great to know. But yeah, Nicholas, it's definitely a challenging job market.
27:52 I think things will improve after the elections. So I don't want to get super political here, but I do think after the elections, the job market will pick back up. Whoever gets in charge of the United States, it depends on who wins, but you know, it's looking...
28:14 I just look at the betting odds. Let me put it that way. I just look at the betting odds and that should help you to better understand what's probably going to happen. I don't care what happens, to be honest with you. I'm going to win either way.
28:27 But if it's the one who may want to run for a second term, they're going to want to do things in the first term to ensure that. And, you know, I watch a lot of different channels, but they're going to be concerned about the jobs, because if you have a bunch of unemployed or underemployed people, that's not going to bode well for their reelection odds.
28:55 So they'll probably make decisions that improve their odds. But yeah, it should be interesting. I mean, I think that's going to... I think the market will improve next year. Some people say it's going to get worse. I don't know if it could get any worse because the interest rates are going backwards now.
29:22 I do think that the country is going to have a debt crisis in the coming next four years. By debt crisis, I mean I think the next US president is going to have to address the debt concerns because, I don't know, some people suspect the market's going to crash up.
29:40 So all this money that's been printed and flying around will find its way into assets. So land prices will skyrocket again, stocks will skyrocket again. And you know, basically, the inequality will just get worse in the United States, which wouldn't shock me, to be honest.
29:57 I think that the alternative is the Great Depression, where a lot of rich people really suffered. And I think that the wealthy in the United States do not want to suffer. So they would rather make the inequality worse and make the poor people suffer.
30:13 So that works out for investors, right? I mean, if you're an investor and your real estate keeps shooting up, good for you. You know, if you own stocks, which I own some stocks, and they go up, hey, you know, if my investment...
30:25 go up, hey, you know, if my investment crashes up so high that the delta between US dollar denominated assets and my expenses in Philippine pesos is substantial enough, I mean, it could make me financially independent.
30:44 It's going to be awful for the people in the United States who can't get out of there. But, you know, I mean, that's a possibility. I don't think about what I want to happen. I try to assess what I think will actually happen.
30:58 And I don't see the inequality issue being resolved in my lifetime. I don't see the debt issue really truly being resolved in my lifetime unless, I mean, I think they'll just kick the can down the road.
31:13 And thank you so much, Chris. I really appreciate that. That's so kind. You're the first person to wish me happy birthday, so very, very kind of you, man.
31:26 Yeah, I wish I could have a get-together or a party for people to come together. It seems like all my friends are spread around the world, spread around the country.
31:40 So, yeah, maybe I'll do a video tomorrow. I got to do... I have some more ideas I need to work out. I've got some stuff in the tank to edit. I just put out a video about condescension because I noticed there's some condescension in the expat community.
31:54 And I talk a bit about the ones I feel that I'm guilty of, and then I, you could call it expat apologetics, apologize for the ones that I think are irrelevant. But yeah, there is condescension among the expat community. You definitely see that.
32:11 Where, you know, even some well-known bloggers, I'm not going to name any names, but oh man, you know, it's so bad back there. Like I try to look at it with neutrality. I'm not thrilled about the problems in the US. It doesn't make me happy to know that the US is going through what it's going through.
32:30 I think it's terrible. I think it's a tragedy. But I also think people got to save themselves, right? If you suspect that the US, the future is not as bright as it has been historically, then making your plan to move somewhere else is a solid plan.
32:48 And you know, even if there's a financial crisis in the United States, I think that being overseas will give you some time to figure things out. Where in the US, if there's a serious financial crisis, I mean, it's going to be total chaos. You see the descent and the issues that have resulted from, say, the pandemic lockdowns.
33:10 I mean, it's a very divided place. So yeah, I mean, I don't know that, you know, even in a crisis where maybe it's hard to get your money out of the ATM, you might want to have some, you know, foreign denominated currency.
33:24 Then, uh, it's yeah, I mean, I'm not exactly opposed to being over here until at least after the election because I think that there's going to be a lot of people unhappy with the results.
33:37 And, um, yeah, I think it's just not going to be great. But, you know, like I said, this ain't a political channel. It's more about just trying to assess like what expat life looks like in the future.
33:49 Nicholas says, do you think quantitative easing will be introduced again? Yeah, Nicholas, it's already being reintroduced. So it got to the point where they are going to struggle to make the debt payments because the problem with raising the interest rates is that it makes it harder for the United States to make its debt payments.
34:08 And so, basically, like they have to pay that high interest rate. When they raise the interest rates, all of their debts' interest goes up. So when it gets to be too extreme to the point where they're borrowing, I think it's a trillion dollars every hundred days, well, now they're struggling to make those payments and the credit rating is downgraded.
34:30 And you see dollarization happening. Well, now they're like, okay, we got to drop the interest rates back down. What happens when they drop the interest rates back down is they... it becomes cheaper to borrow money, so they start printing more money. So they're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.
34:47 Where if they drop the interest rates, then it causes inflation to pick back up. But if they raise the interest rates, they can't pay the debt. And so there's this sort of seesaw where it's like, okay, do you want to inflate away the debt, which basically causes the market to crash up, inflation gets worse, inequality gets worse, it's more politically unstable, people are struggling to make ends meet, struggling to pay rent?
35:15 Or do you want to raise the interest rates and then now all of a sudden the solvency of the government, the US government becomes a problem? Right now, world governments are worried that the US may default on its debt, may refuse to pay back its international debt.
35:27 So it's kind of a complex topic, probably not the most interesting for my viewers, as I could see. But, yeah, I mean, I think that a lot of expats, this is kind of something that could cause a reckoning moment, a very difficult moment.
35:46 If the US goes into serious economic turmoil, what does that mean for people relying on dollars? I mean, if you're relying on a strong currency rate, a strong currency exchange, and that currency, that exchange rate gets hammered, what do you do?
36:03 Do you downgrade your standard of living? I mean, do you move to a smaller apartment? You know, do you eat cheaper food? I mean, there's a lot that could go wrong. Now, I do think if the banks run into issues, they'll get bailed out again. We've seen that happen in 2008. I think it'll happen again if it becomes an issue.
36:29 But I think that's why they started dropping the interest rates, is the banks started to have issues. You saw some bank collapses, like some of the tech banks, for example. And, yeah, I mean, Warren Buffett has been dumping Bank of America stock. He knows more than we do.
36:44 And so when I see him selling out of tons of Bank of America stock, I do kind of wonder, like, is there something we don't know? The general public doesn't know that he knows because he's going to get access to privileged information and insight that the average person is just not going to have access to.
37:06 So maybe there's something that we'll find out in the coming months that would help explain why he sold out of Bank of America. Maybe just the growth in the stock made it outweigh in his portfolio or his accounts where he was like, okay, I need to rebalance.
37:20 I'd love to get some insight there. Maybe I could read into the Berkshire Hathaway meeting minutes or, you know, their financial reports, that kind of thing.
37:30 Cars says, I cut grass after being laid off in my 40s. I charged $25 a yard, cut two yards an hour. It impressed my next employer. $50 an hour plus benefits was my starting salary. That's pretty good.
37:44 Yeah, you definitely got back on the horse. 20 years later, I retired with a pension. There's no substitute for persistence and hard work.
37:54 Yeah, I unfortunately, I don't think there's pensions anymore. I think pensions have been really just eliminated for most people, except for the military. If you go into the military, you do get... you can get a solid pension. I know of a number of guys who have military pensions and they're very comfortable.
38:17 They're very comfortable. Bud Brown, for example, he's not military, but he has a teacher at California Teachers Pension that he's using. He's actually back in California now, but he was over here for probably close to 10 years on his California Teachers Pension. So, you know, there are definitely a lot of solid opportunities there if you are working for the government. Of course, then you have some challenges that come with working for the US government, but, um, yeah.
39:09 What's the weather like? Uh, yeah, profit sharing in 401k was substituted for pension. Yeah, I mean, that's definitely a good point. I do have a 401k and I've contributed to it for a couple of years, and it's grown a lot. It's up 20% over the last year, so, I mean, yeah, my 401k is definitely growing a lot. I don't intend on touching that unless I have nothing else to, uh, pillage. If, you know, if the channel gets to a point where it's covering all my expenses, then I will be making contributions to Social Security.
39:55 So, a lot of people have been asking me that, how are you going to pay into social? Business owners can pay into social, right? So, like, how does a small business owner collect social? Well, they just pay into it, right? So you can absolutely put money into Social Security. You just make the payments and they add it to your contributions. And that's fine. I mean, they, you know, it's, yeah, I mean, I think that now I do think that the payouts will be reduced. I don't know that it'll be eliminated, but I do think they'll restructure Social Security in the future because, yeah, because it's just going to, they've been struggling with solvency for decades, and I think that that's going to eventually come to a head.
40:47 You know, people often ask, how do you go broke? Well, I say you go broke slowly at first, and then all at once. So there's going to be, we're going to wake up one day and they're going to say, ah, Social Security is out of steam, and we have to accept smaller payouts. I think they'll increase the contribution requirements as well. Think you'll have to pay in a lot more to eventually get access to that benefit.
41:09 Hey man, hey, great to see you. Buick says, saw your stream while getting ready for bed. Cold night here. Yeah, it's cool here in Dumagete as well. I definitely feel the breeze. I love the cool nights. I'm happy for the cooler weather. I think here in another month, it'll be prime weather here in the Philippines. We'll have that perfect weather that we've all been, uh, waiting for all year, right?
41:46 I mean, it is, it's been a hot year. Maau says, hey, happy birthday. Thanks so much, Maau. I really appreciate your, uh, kind words. Car says, we got a 75% match to our 401k. I think I got a 50% match at my last employer, which was solid, right? I mean, it's free money. Definitely, I recommend taking it if, uh, you're getting a match there.
42:06 I know some people have said it's a scam. I don't think so. I think it's just a matter of time. Not something to totally count on, right? I mean, my ideal when I hit traditional retirement age is to have Social Security, have my 401k, have my IRA, and, um, yeah, and have like a business, right? So that's four streams of income, or four, well, technically three streams of income and then a pot of money in the 401k. It's a little bit complex, but yeah, I want to be able to draw from many different sources.
42:53 Buick says, when I was in Manila. Jamie says, Jamie Diamond arrived in Manila. He got a Rockstar welcome in BGC. Wow, that's surprising. I need to look that up.
43:08 Wow, yeah, so he's investing in Manila, BGC, or in the Philippines? Yeah, because he knows that, uh, the Philippines is a rapidly growing economy, and you've got a lot going for this country. It's young population. It's, uh, yeah.
43:30 I think, uh, yeah, that's great calling that out, Buick. And I'll be sure to read more about his visit to the Philippines. Uh, my primary bank is JP Morgan, so that's, well, that's, I should say that's one of my primary banks. I've been with them for years now, and they, uh, they've been decent to me.
43:48 Um, yeah, they've been decent to me. Very convenient locations. I used to live three blocks away from one in, uh, when I lived in, uh, near San Francisco, and I was able to go down there all the time. I'd go there on my lunch break because that would be when their lobby was empty. If I went after work, they were always packed. But they've been good to me. They haven't threatened to shut me down, uh, like Betterment has.
44:12 Betterment has threatened to shut me down. So for those who have thought about using Betterment, they are telling me, hey, if you don't go back to the US in February or March, we're going to shut you down. So be aware of that if you want to start an account with Betterment. They're not expat-friendly. Whereas my experience with JP Morgan has been, they have not sent me a letter. I've been gone for over a year and not gotten any threats from them, not getting any, uh, you know, nasty words for them.
44:40 Betterment didn't even explain to me. They just said, hey, we're going to shut, like, they just started a chat saying, yeah, we're going to shut your account down. Didn't explain anything. I go and reread the title and I'm like, what the heck? And so I just started chewing their customer service out. I was just like, this is ridiculous. You should explain this to me. Um, you have basically just sent me an email telling me how you're going to shut my account down without giving me any forewarning, without giving me any explanation.
45:07 Um, and now I'm having to work because I've got some money tied up with them. Now I've got to figure out where that money is going to go because obviously I can't trust you with it. So, um, yeah, it's, it's really, don't use Betterment if you're going to live overseas for a long time. Maybe if you're in the US, you don't intend on becoming an expat, you're watching my channel for whatever reason, then maybe Betterment is not for you.
45:40 Or maybe Betterment is for you. But yeah, if you want to do this, I'd find somebody else. I've been happy with Schwab, been happy with JP Morgan. I don't think I have any other major bank accounts that I use actively. But yeah, uh, I haven't been to BGC. Overrated videos. I mean, BGC is a business district, so, um, it's a big part of the BP industry.
46:14 I disagree about BGC being overrated. I haven't been to BGC. I think that it's fantastic. Um, I think the idea that the Philippines wants to create a business district where they can have BPO centers. I actually, almost, I could technically, if I go back to, uh, I'm not going to share details about it, but, um, definitely there are opportunities in BGC, and I'm a fan.
46:42 Um, wow, Vano, thank you so much for joining the membership. I really appreciate your support. Uh, that's, yeah, that's very generous of you. Thank you so much for helping to make the channel happen. Uh, and yeah, greatly appreciate your support.
47:00 It's, it's, yeah, it's humbling to get that support. And yeah, I'll keep working hard to put out content for you guys and share my insights and, um, share some of the things that I've noticed, some of my observations. It's, uh, it's definitely welcome. And I'm going to start, I want to do more members-only live streams. So, uh, my general public live streams will be less frequent, as you can already tell. And then I'll do more stuff for the members because I feel like I can just be, um, I can talk about different things, maybe too spicy for the general public.
47:36 Um, also, it really cuts out the trolls, right? Because I do have a few trolls, um, and I think they could just be kind of annoying. They don't hurt my feelings, it's just like a distraction, right? And I want to be as focused as possible to bring you guys as much value as possible. So thank you so much, Vano, for your, uh, joining the membership. So yeah, members-only live streams, probably the best value I can provide for my members. I'm also going to do, I'm so one thing I'm not going to do for the members anymore is, uh, Members First.
48:11 So I've noticed and I've talked to friends about this, if I do videos, Members First, it nerfs the video for whatever reason. It just destroys the distribution of the video because what happens is I put it Members First and my members who are very generous and watch it, and then it goes four or five hours, maybe 24 hours, where nobody else watches it. So then when YouTube goes to distribute it, they're like, look, nobody watched it. Only five people watched it in the first 24 hours. Nobody cares about this. So there, I, that's one thing I have to stop doing. I hope you all understand.
48:45 Uh, but it's, it's not a major penalty in my opinion. Uh, now, sorry to, and so I got a, a distraction. But, um, yeah, so you will get members-only streams. You will get members-only videos. I have some ideas for some stuff that I want to do that will be members-only, um, and so yeah, those will be available. I, yeah, so thank you so much for your support. But yeah, I think BGC is great. It's not for everybody. It's not within everybody's budget, right? I mean, BGC is some of the most expensive places, one of the most expensive places in the country as far as rental prices, as far as food prices. You're paying a premium to get a western lifestyle.
49:30 Now, do I think it's necessary to live there? No, I don't think so at all. I think that it's really appealing to a few people. One, expats with money. If you come from a wealthy background and you want a high standard of living and you've got the budget to rent a condo in a tower and to be going out to the nice restaurants, spending time in the shopping malls, um, then yeah, it's a big appeal too. If you've got an expat job, right? If you're working for a multinational corporation, uh, in Metro Manila, BGC is probably going to be a decent location to commute from.
50:07 Three, if you need health care, right? If you need top quality health care, if health care is a major concern for you, uh, then being in BGC is going to offer you the best health care in the country, or at least proximity to the best health care in the country. Um, four, if you need to, if you're an international traveler, if you need to fly to other countries in Southeast Asia, uh, BGC or Taguig, that area, not too far from the airport compared to say, Northern Manila, compared to Northern Luzon. You've got proximity to the.
50:38 Luzon, you're you got proximity to the airport so I don't see any places being overrated or underrated. I think it just comes down to the individual. I mean, I can't tell you how many people told me Dumaguete is overrated. I think Dumaguete is accurately rated. I love this city. So many people told me, 'Oh, don't go there, don't go there.' So many expats. I love the conveniences here, the people are nice, the people are interesting. I meet people here from all over the Philippines. There's this presumption everybody in Dumaguete is from a foreign country. No, there's people that come here from all over for work.
51:10 One of my friends, one of my new friends who's been seeing me around town, he actually introduced himself to me, and we've been chatting a bit. I'd like to interview him because he's working in the BPO industry. He's from Davao, so he's not even from, um, this. He's from Davao City, but he came here for opportunity. Um, there's a lot of people here from all over the country. So it's a misnomer that some places are overrated or underrated. I think it just comes down to the person. If you want a small town vibe, Dumaguete has that. If you want the BGC vibe here, yeah, you'd find it overrated if you were looking for a large city environment.
51:54 Um, Buick says, 'Look it up, literally Filipina professional educated women are screaming.' Yeah, they recognize him because he's, um, you know, he's such a successful businessman, right? I mean, he's leading the largest bank in the world under an incredible amount of pressure. I think he actually had a major heart incident a couple years ago and had to have surgery for that, and they were really worried about him. I can't imagine the pressure he's under to deliver value to shareholders.
52:22 But he's done great. I mean, look at JP Morgan's stock, it is performing like wildfire. I mean, it's incredible how well it's performed. Um, Cars says, 'Do you think Philippines laws making these things are better than America's laws?' I think it's a good environment for raising a family.
52:53 Um, yeah, I, you know, I don't comment on that. You know, that's just out of my wheelhouse. I do not ever comment or talk about that. It's none of my business, right? I'm not, yeah, I have no authority there and, um, no comments on that. I don't talk about the politics of any foreign country. I only am willing to talk about that in regards to the United States, where I am from. As far as I'm concerned, it's none of my business and I have don't have the play to speak on that.
53:29 Cars, but yeah, I mean JP Morgan really efficient. I've been happy with the service there as far as an expat goes. And I, I know I don't think that you can open up an account here. You can't use the same account because I was curious about that some years back, four years ago when I was in Thailand. I was curious about opening up a Citibank account in the US to try to use one in Thailand, but they are separate.
53:58 I am actually going to be opening an account, a bank account, probably next week. So I found that there's a bank here in Dagupan that I can open an account with, and that way I can transfer money via Wise, and that'll save me on fees. Some people assume that with Schwab, you don't pay ATM fees, but you do pay on the exchange rate. So you pay on the exchange rate, and it's kind of hidden. It's more hidden, whereas if I use Wise to transfer money to my Philippine bank account, they are more transparent with the fees. They lay the fees out, you can see what you're paying, and then you know you don't have to wait.
54:34 Right, I mean, like you do have to wait with Wise, but I could just go down to my bank account as opposed to, well, I think I could open a GCash account. It opens up a lot of possibilities. So I'm personally a fan. I know some people are not. I'm a fan of having bank accounts overseas if you're going to be living overseas. Some people think it's a bad idea. I do think you need to be careful how much money you put in there, but it's, um, I think it's just a convenience factor.
55:03 And I think there's some things like one area that I think would help me now. This is a minuscule amount of money, right? But it would help me with buying load, because I pay a 3% fee when I buy load for my phone, whereas if I was doing it direct from a bank account, then I don't think I would have to pay that fee. I think I'd be able to transfer the money direct from my Philippines bank account to Globe. I use Globe service for my cell phone, and just go ahead and skip that.
55:30 And it's also ease of access. Like I have to go to the mall to load to get to buy load, and if I could do it just with my phone, with my bank account, there might be some days I don't want to go to town to deal with that. And so I could just do it here at home, which would be really nice. Um, I don't, you know, it's not a major deal, but everything I could do to save myself little bits and pieces of time here and there is great because in the Philippines, it's not often that it's all, it's not necessarily that doing the thing is going to take a lot of time. It's that getting to that place is going to take some time.
56:05 And then, okay, I've got to get lunch because I'm in town. Okay, now that's going to take time. Okay, now I've got to do the thing, which takes time. Don't know how long that thing's going to take to do. And then I've got to get home, and I don't know how long that's going to take. So sometimes when you kind of combine trips or combined tasks, then that can be really helpful.
56:48 Oh, one other thing when it comes to business, I do think that I'll be doing my first consult here pretty soon. I'd like to ask the person I'm doing that with to provide a testimonial, and that way I could just kind of, I could share the value that I'm able to provide. And I know that, you know, when I put that poll out, a bunch of people were curious, but they don't know what that would provide. We'd be able to detail, hey, this is what we're going to do, this is the goal of doing that, this is what we hope to achieve.
57:22 And then, you know, I know some for some of you, there's no value in it, right? You're over here living here, you're traveling, you don't need that insight. But I do know that for some of you, it's going to help you narrow down the country you want to live in. It's going to help you to, uh, figure out the lifestyle you want, what that's going to cost budget-wise. So yeah, I thought I'd just plug that that's something that's in the works.
57:46 Um, I'm basically, uh, you know, trying to figure out different ways to provide value because it's the topics of my videos. There's so many topics I can get through, and they may not be relevant to you immediately, right? I mean, you may be wanting to move abroad in the next six months and you don't care about condescension, you don't care about jealousy or envy. You're just like, how do I get over there? And so that would solve those problems.
58:12 That would help some people move forward and give them that personalized attention, but of course, not a requirement. I just wanted to plug that. But yeah, what's everybody getting into this week?
58:54 Um, Chris says, 'Have you visited Cambodia?' Uh, yeah, Chris, so I like Cambodia a lot. Um, it's, uh, it was fantastic. So I, sorry, I was just checking because I dropped a video about an hour ago.
59:20 So yeah, so I visited Cambodia four years ago. I spent time in Phnom Penh. I love it. I think it's a cool town. It reminds me of New Orleans. It's a, yeah, it's a beautiful vibe. It's, um, the people are, uh, okay, it's most generic comment ever. The people in Cambodia are super friendly. I like the international vibe. Cambodia, like, especially in Phnom Penh, you have people from all over the world, and it really gives it an international feeling. I tried Malaysian food for the first time in Cambodia, which was fantastic. My buddy took me to a Malaysian buffet.
1:00:05 Um, what else? Um, I do want to go to Siem Reap, so you have Angkor Wat there. Um, and then what else? Um, the, let's see. Yeah, there's a lot of cool stuff there. I mean, to me, it's, it's got like, it's a charming place. The population is not quite so large as some of the surrounding countries.
1:00:46 Uh, yeah, sorry Chris, I'm just getting distracted. There's a million things going on. Cambodia is a really fun one. There's a lot of fun stuff to do, and I'd recommend checking it out for sure. It's, you know, the challenge with Cambodia is, I personally found it to be pricier than the neighboring countries because everything there is double imported, right? So everything in Cambodia is first usually imported to Thailand or Vietnam, and then imported again into Cambodia.
1:01:26 But the temples are beautiful there. There's some really nice temples, and there's a Royal Palace there in, uh, Phnom Penh. Um, and then what else?
1:01:44 Um, the river, the river is great if you like cruising or taking, like, you know, kind of the, trying out a river cruise. I think it's a great option for you. Um, yeah, it's, it's eclectic. I mean, I like the architecture. The architecture, the kind of the French style architecture is really, really cool. It's got an, it's got a unique vibe. I think it's super charming. I like that it's, it doesn't have the big city feeling like Bangkok or Manila. You still get the capital city feeling, but it feels more small town.
1:02:22 I'd love to go back. It's high on my list, and it's, um, it's, yeah, Cambodia is one. I think it doesn't get as much visitors as the neighbors, especially Phnom Penh. I think most people go direct to Siem Reap, but I do think that when you go to Phnom Penh, you do get that sense of, wow, you didn't go to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City, you came here. So people are really enthusiastic. They're curious to meet foreigners. I found the English to be, um, like pretty good. I mean, it, you know, I wouldn't call it perfect, but especially in the city center, then the English is, is really, um, really strong.
1:02:58 Um, and the Cambodian people are awesome. And it's, um, I found them to be, the people there to be super welcoming. I mean, one of my friends that I still stay in touch with, she owns a hotel next to the airport, and I went over there before my flight, like five or six hours before my flight because I didn't want to miss my flight. And she made me this amazing chicken soup, and I had two bowls of it. And she also served me some great coffee. The coffee in Cambodia is underrated. It's a, it's a chill place. You know, to me, it's not necessarily a place where you're going to go to like a.
1:03:33 Where you're going to go to like a Bangkok and have all these crazy big city attractions and the shopping malls and the shows and the m and you know all this different stuff. It's more low-key. I find it very a calming place to me. It might be the most calming city in Southeast Asia that I've been to, and I've been to most of the big cities in Southeast Asia, not all, but most of them.
1:03:58 It's got a smaller population than a lot of the other capitals, but just a really chill vibe. I enjoyed the tourists I interacted with. I know some people may feel differently, but the people I met were like, 'Yeah, I came here specifically to enjoy the city, to enjoy the unique vibe.' I'd love to go back to Cambodia. It really impressed me a lot, and it's just eclectic.
1:04:26 I remember too when I landed in Phnom Penh five years ago at the airport, the ride into town from the airport was just wild. I saw chickens and like tuk-tuks and tricycles and people riding bicycles down the road. It was like, 'Where am I?' It was just total sensory overload. So yeah, I'm a fan of Cambodia. I'd love to go back.
1:04:51 Next time I go, I would like to go to Siem Reap. Before I go to Siem Reap, I think I would like to do India. So we'll see. I think Indonesia is really appealing. It's high on my list. Maybe next trip to Southeast Asia, I do Indonesia, and then I do Siem Reap, and then come back to the Philippines. We'll see how that goes.
1:05:15 I do think the Philippines is going to dominate my future in Southeast Asia. There's just so much that's easy here. Most people here speak English. There's a lot of activities, of course. I've made a lot of friends here, which is probably toward the top of the list.
1:05:38 Buick says, 'Yeah, I agree, Buick. I don't ever comment on laws or rules of any country besides the United States. It's none of my business. It's not my place. I just totally avoided it. Not a subject that I cover on this channel.' Until when will we be staying in the Philippines and where's the next stop after the Philippines? Great question.
1:06:03 So it kind of depends. If YouTube really gets going and rolling, I mean, I could be here for another two and a half years before needing to leave and come back. The more straightforward option is to go back to America and work, save up money, do another trip. So America may be next, unfortunately.
1:06:30 I don't really want to go back to America. I don't really like living in America, but it's the practical solution, the practical decision. It's not the worst place to go back to. I'm just not looking forward to the crime, the chaos, the division. A lot of people are really unhappy in America right now. I can tell when I talk to people back home, there's this kind of manic, agitated energy that people have.
1:07:03 It's a place to make money. That's really what draws people to America, I think, these days. They know they can go make money there. It's what has me going back, honestly. It's not a lot of other reasons, if I'm going to be honest.
1:07:20 So yeah, I lean toward going back to America next. But yeah, I'll be keeping my eye out for the next trip abroad.
1:08:01 Happy birthday, Alex. Thank you so much, Joe. I really appreciate that. That's very kind of you to say, and thank you so much for being a channel supporter. But guys, I'm getting pretty tired. I'm probably going to wind down in the next few minutes. Any last thoughts or questions?
1:08:35 It's just getting kind of late here, and I've got a big day tomorrow. Jesse says, 'Good luck to you.' Thank you so much, Jesse. I really appreciate that. I know everything's going to work out in the end. It always does. It's just a matter of getting there.
1:09:10 Jesse says, 'I too someday would like a remote job.' Yeah, Jesse, I absolutely agree. It's a great opportunity.
1:09:44 Oh, thank you so much. Well, that's great to see you. Appreciate the kind birthday wishes. How will you celebrate your birthday tomorrow?
1:09:57 So, tomorrow I may be meeting some friends for coffee in the morning. And then one of my good friends here, somebody I did an interview with, I'll probably get on that after I wind the stream down. He's mentioned birthday lunch, so I might take him up on that and go have lunch with him. And then in the evening, I'll go and just hang out on the boulevard and do maggetti with some friends.
1:10:35 Jesse says, 'Oh, and happy birthday tomorrow.' Thank you so much, Jesse. That's so kind. Lex says, 'I knew you were Libra like me. Happy early birthday.' Thank you so much, everybody. I really appreciate it.
1:10:42 I normally would do one tomorrow, but tomorrow I've got to prepare for this interview at this big company, so I'll be doing that tomorrow evening. But yeah.
1:11:03 And yeah, well, thanks so much, everyone. If you're watching a repeat of this stream, feel free to comment down below. Let me know what you think. If there's any topics you'd like for me to cover, give us a thumbs up if the content has been helpful for you, and please subscribe to the channel down below if you want to see more content like this. And we'll see you soon. Thanks so much, everybody.
Follow the journey through expat life, travel experiences, and the realities of living abroad while exploring different places, cultures, and everyday life overseas.
