Tool
Can you afford to retire in the Philippines?
Five inputs in your home currency. Output: years of runway, monthly headroom, the right SRRV tier for your age and pension, and red flags if savings run out before age 85.
Methodology, formula + sources
How this is calculated
Your income and savings are converted to pesos at the current BSP reference rate. Monthly expenses come from the Cebu cost model at your lifestyle tier (rent and transport scaled by city, plus a healthcare line and per-child schooling). Headroom is income minus expense in both the best and worst case; runway is how many years savings last once headroom turns negative.
Formula
incomePhp = monthlyIncome × FX[code→PHP] (USD: × 60.691)
savingsPhp = savings × FX[code→PHP]
expense[lo,hi] = lifestylePreset × cityMultiplier + healthcare + schooling·kids
headroomLow = incomePhp − expenseHigh
headroomHigh = incomePhp − expenseLow
runway:
headroomLow ≥ 0 and headroomHigh ≥ 0 → indefinite
savingsPhp ≤ 0 → immediate
else yearsLow = ⌊ savingsPhp / max(0,−headroomLow) / 12 ⌋
yearsHigh = ⌊ savingsPhp / max(0,−headroomHigh) / 12 ⌋Constants + data sources (each dated)
| Value used | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|
| USD → PHP: ₱60.691 | BSP Reference Exchange Rate Bulletin, 08 May 2026 (Reuters NY close 07 May 2026) | 2026-05-08 |
| EUR / GBP / AUD / CAD → PHP: ₱71.1663 · ₱82.2667 · ₱43.7279 · ₱44.4395 | BSP Reference Exchange Rate Bulletin, 08 May 2026 (Reuters NY close 07 May 2026) | 2026-05-08 |
| Cebu expense model: lifestyle-tier ranges from the cost calculator | See the Cost Calculator methodology | 2026-05 |
Worked example (reproduce this by hand)
USD $2,000/mo pension, $90,000 savings, comfortable Cebu (≈ ₱70,000/mo worst-case expense from the cost model).
- incomePhp = 2,000 × 60.691 = ₱121,382/mo
- savingsPhp = 90,000 × 60.691 = ₱5,462,190
- headroomLow = 121,382 − 70,000 = +₱51,382/mo
- headroom ≥ 0 in both cases → runway = indefinite
→ Income covers worst-case expense; savings buffer stays intact → indefinite runway.
Assumptions
- FX is a single BSP reference-rate snapshot, not a hedged or averaged rate — real transfer rates vary by provider.
- Expense tiers are the cost-calculator ranges; healthcare and schooling are tier presets, not quotes.
Known limits — what this does not model
- Does not model inflation drift, pension COLA, investment return on savings, or PHP/USD movement over the runway horizon.
- Visa deposit is surfaced from the visa ranker but not subtracted from runway savings.