People who do 6 months / 6 months

[Butch]

This is something we're considering over the next couple of years.

Our reasons are numerous, firstly because it allows us to escape the UK Winter, it also allows us to keep our health in check with the NHS, also to see our daughter, keep tabs on our property here and maybe even top up our income by grabbing a 3 month contract and also reduce any Health insurance bills along with getting the best of both worlds.

I know a couple of guys who do this but they're single, they basically contract for 6 months then spend the other 6 months in Thailand or the PI or both. I know back in the day a lot of Offshore guys would do this but on a 3 month cycle, however it was a case of earning the money to spend it while away rather than a semi retirement plan like mine, which involves pensionable income and business / investment revenues.

My question is , is it practical?. Is it an upheaval to travel and effectively go home for half the year as opposed to just spending time in one place?.

On the negative side I'd have to keep a vehicle ready for use when I return, faff around with 6 monthly tax and insurance etc (or balance that off with a long term hire car) hope that any NHS appointments are within the 6 month period we're home, pay for 6 flights a year in PE or business, and maintain 2 houses all year round (although my daughter will probably move into our home anyway - but that's yet to be established).

I'd be interested to hear thoughts on this.

Cheers.

[Derek Dangleberries]

3 minutes ago, Butch said:

My question is , is it practical?. Is it an upheaval to travel and effectively go home for half the year as opposed to just spending time in one place?.

I was a self employed contractor from 1991. Life was a blast travelling the world earning shit loads of money ... until I got to around 50yrs old and contracts started to dry up..

I would suggest that you don't rely on any contract work after you are 50 yrs old.. Any income you get will be good of course but don't make any plans based on receiving that income mate...

If you think that you and your wife are irreplaceable in your area of expertise let me break it to you gently ..... You're Not. 

[Butch]

1 minute ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

I was a self employed contractor from 1991. Life was a blast travelling the world earning shit loads of money ... until I got to around 50yrs old and contracts started to dry up..

I would suggest that you don't rely on any contract work after you are 50 yrs old.. Any income you get will be good of course but don't make any plans based on receiving that income mate...

If you think that you and your wife are irreplaceable in your area of expertise let me break it to you gently ..... You're Not. 

I agree mate, although the wife is a Nurse so plenty of opportunity for contract work for her, whereas I'm more specialised and work may well be thin on the ground.

I think it was more of an option to help mitigate the flight / insurance costs. 6x flights pa at the time of writing is going to be upwards of £9k and I don't think those costs are going to decrease anytime soon lol. Although contractual work is not seen as essential, more of providing a buffer zone. you're 100% right of course, a very good idea not to rely on anything that isn't tangible.

[Derek Dangleberries]

9 minutes ago, Butch said:

a very good idea not to rely on anything that isn't tangible.

Including your health..!!

I know you will be covered by NHS for treatment but "Income Insurance" for contractors can be expensive . Perhaps you should check it out as part of your preparation ..

[Freee!!]

I would slightly modify that 6/6 scheme and make sure to be less than 180 days per (fiscal) year in Thailand. Depending on your situation, you might wish to add a third country to your list.

Edited August 25 by Freee!!
Typo/grammar

[Derek Dangleberries]

1 minute ago, Freee!! said:

you might wish to add a third country to your list.

I was thinking the same ...UK/Thailand/Philipines

[Pumpuynarak]

13 hours ago, Butch said:

My question is , is it practical?. Is it an upheaval to travel and effectively go home for half the year as opposed to just spending time in one place?.

I've thought about it to avoid the possibility of having my Thai income taxed but the more i think about it the more its just tooooo much hassle with considerable costs plus the UK imo is totally f***** up and i don't want to spend any real time in the place.

[biggles]

 We have done this for 10+ years now, 5 months Thai and 7 Philippines. Keep a permanent studio rental in Pattaya and own a house in Angeles. It's just like going 'home' to us. 

Used to be 3 X 2 months + one 30 day. Recently staying only 30 days X 4 as gf has business in Manila to watch out for 

It's only 3 hours 30m flight and cheap with budget carriers, Cebu pacific, who have regular promos. A much harder thing if you come from Europe or USA, of course. 

[Toy Boy]

15 hours ago, Butch said:

I know a couple of guys who do this but they're single, they basically contract for 6 months then spend the other 6 months in Thailand or the PI or both.

When I moved to SE Asia in 2004, my plan, though admittedly a bit woolly, was to spend 6 to 9 months a year in Thailand, Cambodia or the PI and pick up small contracting jobs for 3 to 6 months a year. It didn't work out, though, as with the oil price heading towards record levels and the oil company coffers being awash with money, they'd lost interest in using short-term contractors for strategic stuff like reservoir management, which was my speciality. I got several job offers, including one from Chevron in Bangkok and another from BP in Shenzhen, but they were all on a full-time staff basis. By that time I was enjoying myself too much in Pattaya to be willing to go back to full-time working so I just said stuff it to the short-term contractor idea and went back to enjoying myself full-time. Hubris on my part, maybe, as I could have used some extra cash in my pocket back then, but the whole idea of jacking in the full-time contractor job I'd been successfully and lucratively doing in Aberdeen for a decade was to give me time to enjoy myself more, so at least I stuck to my guns.

[Derek Dangleberries]

16 hours ago, Butch said:

agree mate, although the wife is a Nurse so plenty of opportunity for contract work for her, whereas I'm more specialised and work may well be thin on the ground.

 

36 minutes ago, Toy Boy said:

coffers being awash with money, they'd lost interest in using short-term contractors

Y'see @Butch nothing is guaranteed in contracting, although having it as a "lifestyle top-up" is a good idea..

What if Starmer pumps money at the NHS then he offers free Nursing Training to Illegal Immigrants for a wage and a Visa which would then flood the market? 🤮

I know the concept is shocking on so many levels but this is Kier Starmer we are talking about mate!

🤯

EDIT= Please don't anybody turn this post into a political discussion. It is purely meant to show that nothing is guaranteed in employment and that anything, no matter how bizarre, can f**k up your livelihood!!

Edited August 26 by Derek Dangleberries

[Butch]

10 hours ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

 

Y'see @Butch nothing is guaranteed in contracting, although having it as a "lifestyle top-up" is a good idea..

What if Starmer pumps money at the NHS then he offers free Nursing Training to Illegal Immigrants for a wage and a Visa which would then flood the market? 🤮

I know the concept is shocking on so many levels but this is Kier Starmer we are talking about mate!

🤯

EDIT= Please don't anybody turn this post into a political discussion. It is purely meant to show that nothing is guaranteed in employment and that anything, no matter how bizarre, can f**k up your livelihood!!

Derek, your analogy is actually quite interesting, as we saw it happen to farm labour years ago when Eastern Europeans were allowed to get work permits, it effectively reduced wages overnight in some areas.

Absolutely right, none of us know what's around the corner and it only takes minor legislation to change things, and those changes can shift a whole industry.

 

[Painter]

I do 5 months in Thailand, 7 in the uk. 

In October, I eat the contents of the freezer, empty the fridge, pull down the storm shutters, set the heating to 8°, and turn off the water. A mate comes in once a week to check the place, and take the car for a drive.

In late March I repeat the process in Thailand,  leave a suitcase in storage or with a mate, walk out of the rental condo and return the key.

Yes, it's a hassle effectively moving twice a year, but I enjoy the warm winters in Thailand and the even warmer summers in the uk. I arrange a Tesco delivery for soon after returning to restock the freezer and cupboards, and the mate who checks the place turns the heating up a week before I return.

Can't  comment on getting work whilst back in the uk, as my time is spent playing boats, helping in sailing events, or voluntary driving for a local charity. I have been offered some work in previous years, but have politely declined, and people seem to  have at last got the message. 

 

[Butch]

1 minute ago, Painter said:

I do 5 months in Thailand, 7 in the uk. 

In October, I eat the contents of the freezer, empty the fridge, pull down the storm shutters, set the heating to 8°, and turn off the water. A mate comes in once a week to check the place, and take the car for a drive.

In late March I repeat the process in Thailand,  leave a suitcase in storage or with a mate, walk out of the rental condo and return the key.

Yes, it's a hassle effectively moving twice a year, but I enjoy the warm winters in Thailand and the even warmer summers in the uk. I arrange a Tesco delivery for soon after returning to restock the freezer and cupboards, and the mate who checks the place turns the heating up a week before I return.

Can't  comment on getting work whilst back in the uk, as my time is spent playing boats, helping in sailing events, or voluntary driving for a local charity. I have been offered some work in previous years, but have politely declined, and people seem to  have at last got the message. 

 

That sounds like a perfect arrangement @Painter and it seems that you've got the routine sorted. I take it you keep the car taxed and insured etc while you're away?.

Another question, does your house insurance cover you while you're out of the UK as well?. I know mine won't for longer than a certain period unless the house is occupied.

It's still very much in the planning stage for me, and stuff is coming to my attention that I'd never even considered. Luckily for me the Visa situation is very easy in the Philippines, but the biggest expense at the moment are the bloody flight costs, putting a potential £10k a year dent into funds!

[maipenrai]

I'd love to do six and six but I'm better off doing five and seven like Painter;  because of tax and benefit advantages it is best for me to put off departure until January and then return in May or June. Because I live in a detached home I have to have someone living in my house when I am gone and I do keep one vehicle insured and registered ("taxed") while I am absent. This means I have to put up with the first two months of winter here, November and December but I find that these first two months tend to go fairly quickly anyway, it is January, February and March that really drag on.

If/when I decide to sell this property I will definitely be gone for 6 months or more.

[Painter]

2 hours ago, Butch said:

That sounds like a perfect arrangement @Painter and it seems that you've got the routine sorted. I take it you keep the car taxed and insured etc while you're away?.

Another question, does your house insurance cover you while you're out of the UK as well?. I know mine won't for longer than a certain period unless the house is occupied.

It's still very much in the planning stage for me, and stuff is coming to my attention that I'd never even considered. Luckily for me the Visa situation is very easy in the Philippines, but the biggest expense at the moment are the bloody flight costs, putting a potential £10k a year dent into funds!

Car remains taxed and insured, yes. I also keep the Internet going, as it's easier than cancelling and restarting when I return. The only thing that's easy to have a sabbatical on is AA (the car one!) membership... a phone call and it's suspended for 5 months.  Why 5 months, and not the 5½ I'm away? Because you can't claim for the first week you've restarted it... so if I come back to a flat battery, as far as they are concerned I've been back a fortnight, and it died over night. Having said that, I left a solar panel on the car last winter to avoid that problem.

House insurance? Mine is technically for 60 days empty, but the same mate goes in monthly, turns the water on and the thermostat up, runs the hot tap for 60 minutes, returns the next day and does the same again before turning the heating down and the water off. Would the insurers believe he has been staying there for a couple of days? Who knows...?

[Nickrock]

I'm sort of doing doing 6 months here  and 6 months back home .did a month here in November came home got  f%$ked off with the bs and back stabbing at work by late march walked in to bosses office f u I'm out of here 5pm Saturday early April was back at my usual hotel in soi lenkee  late June back home to sort out some personal stuff, arrived home on a Wednesday evening, Thursday morning I ring a mate leave him a message he rings me back informing me I'm working that night( for the movie industry on logistics) 10 weeks later on my last day of filming I'm cold wet after doing a 13 hour day in 6c on the south coast .Rang travel agent get me to bkk ASAP for 2 months have to be back before 2nd week of October, 36 hours later I'm on the plane heading out of Wellington bkk bound

[KWA]

6 hours ago, Painter said:

Car remains taxed and insured, yes. I also keep the Internet going, as it's easier than cancelling and restarting when I return.

I always SORN my car when I'm away, but keep the insurance in place.  This could be the last time whough as my mechanic says there's too much needing done for this year's MOT.

My internet is kept going as I need it to monitor heating and security camera at home, but this time I'm hoping to swap the wired system for a SIM router with a minimal package that I can add to, if required, when I'm home.

[maipenrai]

6 hours ago, KWA said:

I always SORN my car when I'm away, but keep the insurance in place.  This could be the last time whough as my mechanic says there's too much needing done for this year's MOT.

My internet is kept going as I need it to monitor heating and security camera at home, but this time I'm hoping to swap the wired system for a SIM router with a minimal package that I can add to, if required, when I'm home.

Not sure what "SORN" means but here  in  my part of Canada we are lucky to have private insurance, and have no requirements for annual inspections; my own provider will ask for a mechanical inspection if you are adding a vehicle that is more than ten years old, but once you have that taken care of (and it is easy if you know a mechanic) you can keep it going indefinitely by paying a small fee for "parking" insurance when you are not driving it; the parking insurance covers the vehicle for vandalism, fire and theft but not for the liability required for road use. I have four vehicles currently insured and registered (taxed, in UK parlance), the newest of which is 27 years old, but I will park three of them in October and only keep one on the road for the winter. When I return from my travels in the spring, I only need to sign a form from my insurance agent to put the summer vehicles back on the road, and the registration I can do any time online once the insurance has been renewed with no requirement for any inspections. It's a great system that gives us some of the cheapest and easiest vehicle  operation in Canada - if I lived in British Columbia with its province-run insurance, I would probably pay more to keep one vehicle on the road than I do now for my whole fleet here. 

Unfortunately, due to our long and harsh winters I have to have somebody actually living in my home when I am away - if I am only gone for a week or two then daily drop-in visits would be fine but any longer than that and you need the constant human presence - the insurance companies will void your insurance if they find the house has been unoccupied for more than a certain amount of time in winter. 

[Butch]

SORN is a UK law which means if you own a vehicle and it's not taxed or insured, it needs to have a Statutory Off Road Notification sent to the DVLA telling them where it is and informing that there's no MOT / Insurance on the vehicle.

there's some great info here chaps, many thanks. It's going to save me a ton of legwork when the time comes and also i'm finding stuff that I'd not even considered at this early stage.

[maipenrai]

5 hours ago, Butch said:

SORN is a UK law which means if you own a vehicle and it's not taxed or insured, it needs to have a Statutory Off Road Notification sent to the DVLA telling them where it is and informing that there's no MOT / Insurance on the vehicle.

there's some great info here chaps, many thanks. It's going to save me a ton of legwork when the time comes and also i'm finding stuff that I'd not even considered at this early stage.

Good lord, now I've heard everything - you mean to tell me any parts car or other old wreck sitting in your yard needs to be reported to the authorities? Maybe life in the colonies ain't so bad after all, winter notwithstanding...the mind boggles. 

[boydeste]

10 minutes ago, maipenrai said:

Good lord, now I've heard everything - you mean to tell me any parts car or other old wreck sitting in your yard needs to be reported to the authorities? Maybe life in the colonies ain't so bad after all, winter notwithstanding...the mind boggles. 

All cars have to pay a road tax. If the car is not being used. It can be SORN to declare it isn't currently being used to drive on the road.

[boydeste]

I spend between 5 and 6 months of the Winter in Asia, mostly in Thailand, but I do side trips to the Philippines and Cambodia. 

This comprises of two separate trips of up to 3 months. This is due to 2 things.

One is the duration I can spend in Thailand without getting a retirement visa. 60 day TV plus extention. 

The second is the requirement of my house insurance for leaving my property unoccupied. 

Currently I can leave for 60 days with no problem and up to 90 days with a few requirements around heating, water being turned off and a visit/inspection once a week to check all is well.

This also fits in nicely with my world wide travel insurance which only covers trips up to 31 days, but will cover me up to 90 days for an additional fee.

I will not risk compromise on either insurance while I still live in my current house!

The inconvenience and price of returning home, then flying back a week or so later gives me piece of mind, knowing hopefully, I am fully covered in the event of something happening. 

Insurance companies don't miss a trick when it comes to big pay outs.

[maipenrai]

12 minutes ago, boydeste said:

All cars have to pay a road tax. If the car is not being used. It can be SORN to declare it isn't currently being used to drive on the road.

Talk about gov't bureaucracy - over here our cars are only recorded if they are registered - if the registration expires or is cancelled, the vehicle is of no further concern to our Motor Vehicles Dept. They've even simplified things in the last couple of years, as we no longer get a little sticker to put on our license plates for the current year - what you would call your "tax disc", I guess -  once a year we get a renewal notice with all of our vehicles listed,  and we then renew and pay online and print out the completed two-part form and keep one half in our vehicle and the other at home; you'll need the home part to transfer the vehicle ownership if you sell it. With today's technology, the police don't need to see the current year sticker anymore, they can just run your plate number while they are on the  move and it will give them all the info. 

Because it's so simple and comparatively cheap here, just about every household has multiple vehicles - probably more per capita than most of Canada - then again we have room for them. Go through any native "First Nations" neighbourhood and you'll see several wrecked or abandoned vehicles in every yard, almost a cultural thing with them - can't imagine somebody telling them they have to fill out a gov't form for each one of them, lol...not to mention my own two parts cars tucked away in my yard.

[boydeste]

Every single vehicle that is made and registered on a number plate remains in the system for ever until it is scrapped.

To drive on the road we pay road tax. To obtain the road tax the vehicle must pass an MOT if over 3 years old, basically an inspection to check for road worthiness/safety etc and the vehicle must be insured.

Vehicles under 3 years old are exempt from a MOT inspection. 

 

[maipenrai]

5 minutes ago, boydeste said:

Every single vehicle that is made and registered on a number plate remains in the system for ever until it is scrapped.

To drive on the road we pay road tax. To obtain the road tax the vehicle must pass an MOT if over 3 years old, basically an inspection to check for road worthiness/safety etc and the vehicle must be insured.

Vehicles under 3 years old are exempt from a MOT inspection. 

 

Do you need to have this MOT inspection every year if your vehicle is over three years old?