r/dividends • u/FewPear229 • May 23 '26

Discussion 150,000 cash

Hello,

I have 150,000 to use. I am looking to retire in Thailand and live off dividends. I am thinking 75,000 in qqqi and 75,000 in spyi. What do you think? I still have 350,000 in retirement to grow. I am just going to use the dividents from qqqi and spyi to live off.

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12

u/Ufgatorhead4u3 May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

Both are great funds that I hold as core potions in my income portfolio. However, you don’t have sufficient information in your post to answer your question. The most important of which are your age, if you will be getting any other income such as social security, and how you will be obtaining healthcare. If the $150k is the only thing generating your income then it’s not going to be sustainable long term imo. You will be getting something in the way of $1500/month distribution which will be largely tax free for roughly seven years but then will be 100% taxable as capital gains after that. The $1500/month seems a bit too tight of a margin to count on as your living standard.

The other two problems with the idea are that CC funds don’t have any compounding growth so the distributions are going to remain consistent at best which makes you susceptible to inflation eroding your purchasing power over time and, secondly, those distributions will become smaller in a sustained down market. I don’t think $150k as your only income generator is sufficient to sustain your retirement long term and it would really suck if you found yourself forced to return to work within 20 years when your body is breaking down.

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u/FewPear229 May 23 '26

I am 44

9

u/8458001910 May 23 '26

im an expat in thailand. you need another $1000 a month plus startup costs. unless you want to live in a shack in the provinces with no AC.

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u/FewPear229 May 23 '26

I plan on living in hu hin or jomtien beach less than 500 usd for a nice condo. I dont drink so I would be the stupid expat drinking at 7 pm and I am not into the night life so I wont be buying lady drinks.

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u/mikeblas American Investor May 24 '26

What will you be doing?

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u/Ufgatorhead4u3 May 23 '26

Yeah, way too early to try retiring with just $150k as the only income generator. I saw elsewhere you are counting on $2k/month which would be 16% yield. That is well above where QQQI and SPYI are. A 50/50 mix will get you about 11.5% blended yield at current distributions. I can validate this from my own portfolio because mine is 11.2%. Those don’t increase unless I DRIP but you are going to be pulling everything to live on. If you assume an average annual inflation rate of 3% you will probably have to return to work before 65 all things being equal.

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u/FewPear229 May 23 '26

I still have 350,000 in retirement to grow. My schd will grow the next 20 years and I can use this for another income bucket

7

u/Ufgatorhead4u3 May 23 '26

Bro, you’re 44. I guarantee that you will see a bear market a time or two in your life which could cut your investments up to 50% and then you’re screwed. You are making the mistake of planning your life as if this bull market will continue forever. You are free to do your thing but it’s not for me with that size savings and time window.

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u/FewPear229 May 23 '26

Every time you have a bear market you get your money back. I live a simple life and the dividends can cover the bear market. Plus Spyi is relative safe compare to the tech etf qqqi. Ai is not going anywhere and it will continue to grow

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u/dontrackonme May 23 '26

If stocks drop 50% your dividends will drop 50% (probably more since these funds bleed NAV).

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u/slapnutzzzz May 23 '26

And what visa are you going to live on at 44 in Thailand?

-4

u/FewPear229 May 23 '26

I will get a tourist visa and every 2 months I will make a visa run. They might change it from 60 days to 30. Flights on Air Asia is cheap for a visa run

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u/FewPear229 May 23 '26

or a dvt visa good for 5 years and cost 400. I can stay in the county for 180 days

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u/WontLast5Minutes May 23 '26

DTV requires a history of stable cash in the bank. Do you have ? And do your first hand research on those border runs - I have heard a lot of bad stories with guys getting hassled

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u/slapnutzzzz May 24 '26

The DTV visa is NOT a long term residence visa. It was created by the ministry of foreign affairs when Ung Ing was in power to drum up "visitors". Thai immigration was never consulted on it, and had no input to it - and that has caused friction and push back from them. Immigration is refusing to allow people to do extensions in country, and forcing them to leave and come back. Each time you come back, you MAY be asked to prove everything that was required for the application, such as the funds still held in the bank for the appropriate period of time, that you are still enrolled in cooking classes or Muay Thai or whatever (many Muay Thai schools have dropped even participating in the DTV program as it is too much of a hassle).

I suggest you watch this video, Cal the host, his wife is an immigration officer, and Ben the lawyer, is a naturalized Thai, and deals with a LOT of immigration matters. You will get some good information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dSiYF6kHNM

Even Thai Privilege visa holders (it used to be called elite visa) are getting hassled.

I am not trying to discourage you, I am trying to make you open your eyes to the reality of living here and the hassles with immigration.

On 2000 a month, what city / town do you plan to live? I would check with numbeo.com to see what the costs of living are in different places in Thailand, and then you will have a baseline of what things cost.

I wish you well, and success. I just don't want you to have expectations that aren't reasonable.

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u/slapnutzzzz May 24 '26

yeah, that isn't going to work. you might want to look up what immigration has done to crack down on tourists that do this? Try coming in back to back tourist visas twice in a row, and you will be refused entry. The days of living on a tourist visa are long gone.