- Joined
- Jan 24, 2017
- Messages
- 240
As the title may have given it away, I'm actually entertaining the idea of retirement in both Indonesia and the US about half & half during the year. I'm not exactly sure about the logistics, but maybe each 3 months make the transit back and forth. The reasons for considering this are probably too numerous and detailed, but have been weighing the various pros and cons. I've got to think that I'm not the first person to consider this, so maybe there's other pros and cons I haven't thought of. Here we go...
Pros:
1. Be able to maintain medical insurance and health care in the US using Medicare.
2. Avoid the possibility of Indonesian taxes (if the stay in Indonesia is less than 183 days per year).
3. Get to do some interesting retirement travel in both North America and Southeast Asia.
4. Wife maintains permanent resident status in the US (which has become more important to her recently).
Cons:
1. Very expensive maintaining two homes and buying lots of plane tickets. However, will get lots of FF points.
2. Speaking of planes - way too much time flying around (something I don't particularly enjoy).
3. Leaving your home(s) for extended periods of time, increases the risk of theft, damage, or other issues.
4. May not be eligible for KITAS or KITAP. Instead just get a SosBud visa on each visit.
The final point is not being able to do this forever, and not sure if this is a pro or a con. At some point this arrangement would simply have to end. I'm guessing it will get quite tiring as I continue to age. In the back and forth process, my wife and I will finally have to reach some sort of conclusion, pick one place or the other, and accept that place/situation with its inherent shortcomings. There may be a benefit built into this process, in that we can literally take years to explore the possibilities.
Pros:
1. Be able to maintain medical insurance and health care in the US using Medicare.
2. Avoid the possibility of Indonesian taxes (if the stay in Indonesia is less than 183 days per year).
3. Get to do some interesting retirement travel in both North America and Southeast Asia.
4. Wife maintains permanent resident status in the US (which has become more important to her recently).
Cons:
1. Very expensive maintaining two homes and buying lots of plane tickets. However, will get lots of FF points.
2. Speaking of planes - way too much time flying around (something I don't particularly enjoy).
3. Leaving your home(s) for extended periods of time, increases the risk of theft, damage, or other issues.
4. May not be eligible for KITAS or KITAP. Instead just get a SosBud visa on each visit.
The final point is not being able to do this forever, and not sure if this is a pro or a con. At some point this arrangement would simply have to end. I'm guessing it will get quite tiring as I continue to age. In the back and forth process, my wife and I will finally have to reach some sort of conclusion, pick one place or the other, and accept that place/situation with its inherent shortcomings. There may be a benefit built into this process, in that we can literally take years to explore the possibilities.