Monday, June 4, 2012

About Godfree Roberts


ME
Living Well 
Is the Best Revenge... 

If you're a fellow victim of the financial crisis, life has handed us a lemon just when we're most vulnerable: at the end of our working lives.
Five years after it happened to me--five years of financial misery and humiliation--I've started making lemonade and I felt that I should help others do, too.
The turnaround began when I discovered that it is possible to live in comfort and beauty on $1,200 a month--something that seemed impossible when I found myself tossed out of the middle-class five years ago.
(Bio: I was born and grew up in Australia, lived 3 years in Japan, then studied at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where I received my Doctorate in Education in 1973. I taught, then started several US companies and lived an enjoyable life, including flying to Paris regularly for the French Open. I was married for 36 years, mostly in California. I'm now 72 years old and enjoying life more than ever, to my great surprise.)
So I started a little business–which has now grown into a bigger business–helping people get settled here. It's called Thailand Retirement Helpers and you can find out all about it by following the link.
To save everyone's time and to answer a lot of the questions we all have about living in Thailand, I also wrote a couple of books: How to Retire in Thailand and Double Your Income, and Making Money in Thailand: A Retiree's Guide. Check 'em out.
A GLIMPSE
A GLIMPSE

Here in Thailand I've entered what I would call the enhanced middle class. My $1,200 is twice what an engineer makes. If you'd consider living--or just spending a few years--in a foreign country, here's why why you should consider Thailand:

  1. The Thais have created a unique culture of happiness, tolerance, and beauty. And that stuff about older people being respected here? It's true.
  2. Cost of living: If you live on a fixed income you can double it just by moving to Thailand. That a single person on a $1200 budget can have money left over at the end of each month always seems like a miracle to me.
  3. Climate: Some like it hot, and Thai summers oblige. Some like it warm, Thai winters are warm, dry, and exhilarating. 
  4. Beaches: You can vacation on exotic beaches for pennies.
  5. Safety and freedom: Like most Confucian societies, Thailand is remarkably safe, orderly, and gentle--especially to older people. Young people are noticeably well-behaved and quiet. And the country is relatively unregulated, with a generally carefree atmosphere.
    SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP!
    SHOP 'TIL YOU DROP!
  6. Flowers. Orchids grow profusely along busy streets: orchids are just the beginning ofThailand's floral glory. The big event each year here in Chiang Mai is the months-long National Flora Exhibition: 100 acres of flowers, fruits, and vegetable marvels.
  7. Smiles: Every meeting--even buying a carton of milk--begins with a smile, a bow, and a blessing. Being blessed and bowed to a dozen times a day does wonders for your spirits.
  8. Nursing, Medical and Dental care: Many people live in Thailand, or visit it, for the quality and affordability of its medical and dental care.
  9. 9. Shopping: From banana leaves laden with snacks to European hypermarkets, Thailand offers unparalleled, inexpensive shopping. (And beer? 65¢ for a large bottle of premium beer served at your table: Singha, Leo, Chang, Tiger, Phuket, Klassik....)
  10. A friend in the business: I help people interested in living here. If I don't behave like a real friend I'll be out of business; the Internet will see to that.
    THE VIEW FROM MY WINDOW
    THE VIEW FROM YOUR WINDOW

See you here soon. Incidentally, the picture on the left is taken from the balcony of Sa Nguan Malee Mansion, where our workshop attendees stay.....


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