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Welcome.  If your wife is a citizen of the Philippines,  then when you enter the country with her you can get a BB stamp on your passport and spend a year in country without any other dealings with immigration.   You can then leave and return with your wife and get a new 12 months in country. Never too young to retire.  What part of the Philippines are you considering?  $2,500 a month should easily support a family of 4, especially if you are willing to live like a Filipino.  You might want to do the GI Bill stuff in the USA before retiring here.  Inflation could be your biggest threat in the future.  Even if you get COL pension increases based on US numbers, the inflation rate in the Philippines plus the possible change in the exchange rates could cause your income to be worth less every year.  You may want to consider your wife working for 10 years total if she has worked at all to become SSA material.  Good luck

I'm considering several different areas. Scope ranges from Subic to Batangas, Laguna, Tagaytay and places in between. Recommendations are welcome!

I plan to use the GI Bill honestly as a supplementary income. They will pay $1600 housing per month for 36 months if I study abroad. I was thinking culinary because it's fun and I love to cook.

Wife doesnt work here in the States and doesnt plan to work. We make a decent living here in Washington and she takes care of the kiddos.

Just curious, instead of the BB stamp, is it better to get the retirement visa or is that BB Stamp the way around having to keep $50K USD in the bank?

I'm thinking of possibly doing Contracting for a few years, pay off the house and just live comfortably on the pension. Thanks for your input.

Retire young indeed and enjoy, know your budget and live within it. Based on what you have said to date I offer the following observations and will say only my observations. Firstly well done for doing the hard yards within the military.
1/ You mentioned 50K for retirement, that relates to SRRV I gather.
2/ You stated that you are married to a Pinay, is she a Filipino national? If so then you simply go the 13a route. Inexpensive.



3/ Average cost of living for a westerner or Filipino? Two different beasts no different to the budget of a pauper compared to someone in your situation in a first world country.
May I suggest, seeing as you have a few years before your retirement that you google, (my best friend) visit expat sites as you are doing and pour your spare time into the pro's and con's of living in this beautiful country and the foibles that come with it.
4/ Your budget of 2.5K is very generous and you could have a great life in many other countries as well for those dollars. As said research my and other posts to get a feel of costs, you can go to Numbeo to see relevant costs but as a westerner with a desired lifestyle based on what I want/expect and what is on offer certainly costs more.
5/ Do the hard yards, boots on the ground as we all seem to say, do your homework well and resist investing in anything other than your rented abode or purchased house in your wife's  name until you have spent some years living there, remember foreign nationals can never own land.
Read my and other posts and you will see that your minimum budget is very achievable and then some.

Enjoy the chase.

Cheers, Steve.

The question would be, where is your wife's family?  I am sure schools for your children would also be a great consideration.  If they are 6 and 8 years old at the time of the move it will be a big change for them.  Are they learning any other languages besides English?

Hello.  Thank you for your service.  Former USAF here but instead of staying in and getting killed in the Gulf War, I chose the more miserable route of 16 years at the USPS.  I am 49 and have been researching retiring at 54 since my father worked his whole life just to drop dead of cancer about 2 years after he retired, over a year of which was spent sick.  I believe you are making the right decision.

I was originally looking at moving to the Philippines and spending 8 years there then deciding what I wanted to do at 62.  My budget (single person) is about $1200/mo but at 62, it will jump to at least $4500.  I read an article that someone sent me about unscrupulous developers running raw sewage directly into the ocean and most of the beaches being very polluted by the bacteria that comes from human waste.  This kind of turned me off.  Now, to be fair, I am told the President is addressing this issue. 

I've done a LOT of online research and I have found, there are a LOT of places that you can retire (single person) for under $1500 per month target being $1200.  To be fair, I am still in the armchair phase and have only been to Playa del Carmen Mexico and Costa Rica.  There are several places in Europe and I would highly recommend you look at Portugal as one person can retire there on $1500/mo and it is one of the SAFEST countries in the world as well as giving you access to all of Europe.

I will give you my list of countries and my observations about them as researched.  (Note that the cost of living analysis comes from looking at Numbeo, which people have told me looks fairly correct even though sometimes I have read higher costs on some articles.)  I have yet to start looking into visas and if it is possible to stay long term.  My current idea is to go to all of these countries in my 8 years.  Good luck to you.


Da Nang, Vietnam-
    Possibly lower cost of living than PH
    Similar weather to Florida
    Very safe
    Water looks clear, sand not as white
    Food? Probably OK

Bali, Indonesia-
    Beautiful country
    Beautiful water
    Cost of living similar to PH
    Visa issues?
    Not best healthcare
    2 terrorist bombings in past

Ljubljana, Slovenia-
    Ohio weather
    Pretty good English
    Pretty country and architecture
    Safe
    Water too cold for swimming except maybe summer
    Cost of living higher
        **3 month stay in summer??

Abruzzo, Italy-
    Beautiful city
    Beautiful nature
    Beautiful beaches
    Cool water 70s
    Slow paced life
    Friendly people
    Food/utilites expensive
    Safe

Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica-
    Cost of living 15% higher than Philippines
    Safe
    Friendly people
    Nice weather
    Got around before on English
    Water is so-so

Mafra or Braga, Portugal-
    Not too crowded
    Safe
    25% cheaper than Florida
    Beautiful
    Access to Europe
   
Loja, Ecuador-
    Safer than Cuenca
    Beautiful weather, bit cold at night
    No beaches
    Good cost of living
    Some English, need to learn some Spanish
    Nice architecture
    Very Artsy

Ibarra, Ecuador-
    Very safe
    Very low cost of living, cheaper than Philippines
    Near ideal weather, not a ton of sun though
    Known for woodworkers
    Travel alerts all around this area...research

Pedasi, Los Santos, Panama-
    Small beach town
    Not a lot to do
    Possibly inexpensive, more research needed
   
Phnom Penh, Cambodia-
    Beautiful city
    Too hot
    Maybe good for vacation
    Cost of living similar to Philippines

Krabi Town, Thailand-
    Possibly cheaper than Philippines
    Safe
    Beautiful beaches
    Night town markets
    Box Jellys

Phuket, Thailand-
    Beautiful beaches
    Cost of living similar to Philippines
    Box Jellys   

Playa del Carmen, Mexico-   
    Been there several times
    Feel safe there
    Lots to do with some travel
    Can get by on English
    Possibly affordable


***Look into next***
Slovenia
Croatia  (hear amazing)
Georgia
Albania, Vlore (possible first choice)


I hope this helps you somewhat.  If you are looking just at Philippines, they are pre-selling condos on Pangalo Island, Bohol for around $85000.  Also, no matter where you go, get use to the idea of tight living quarters.  I am finding that most of the rest of the world considers 900 sq feet a large sized apartment for 2 bedrooms. 

Oh, you can rent a PO Box at UPS store for about $15 per month (Florida price) and you can have them box up and mail you your mail as often as you choose for about $15 per shipment depending on how much mail you have.  This way you can get your meds from the VA still.  You can only use the clinic in Manila if you are a service connected disability.  The closest base if Guam but I dont know if vets can get care there.  They dont have an email address and I havent written to them yet.

Rob

Thanks for the awesome reply. My wife is a Filipino National, I'll look into the 13A route.

I have spend several months in Philippines overall and it of the 27 different countries I have visited so far, Philippines seems to always come back as my favorite.

The culture, the people, the cost of living were Major factors. Still have several years before I drop my retirement packet so I'll continue to look at hard solid evidence of expats to refine my decision. Cheers.

My wife has family in Manila but more are located about an hour and half north in Rizal. Beautiful area, but doesnt cut what I'm looking for. Her father gave her a chunk of land in Antipolo that I have checked out but I just am not a big fan of the area.

As a fallback, we would probably live with her mom for awhile and build a house on that lot, but then again, that could take years.

Looking into international schools for the kiddos as we speak. They are picking up tagalog more and more which is cool to see. Thanks for the response. Cheers.

Rob,

      Awesome response and thanks for sharing your research. I'll look into those countries as well.

A very close second place for me was Thailand. Been to Bangkok and hated it, went to Phuket and absolutely loved it. Like night and day difference.

I appreciate all the responses and am happy I ran into this website. Much appreciated fellas!