why leaving the Netherlands

Until february 2007 I was a full time employee at Fujitsu-Siemens Computers in the Netherlands. I was responsible for the customer care services, more specific at the customer complaints department. During 2006, Fujitsu-Siemens Computers decided to outsource these and other activities. There wasn’t an other position available for me, so I got unemployed.

Several years earlier my wife and I have made plans already that we were going to move to the Philippines after my retirement from work. At the age of 57, it is difficult (or almost impossible) to find a new job because of this age. Most companies are looking for younger people if they have a vacant position. Experience doesn’t count anymore when you are over 45, they find the costs of hiring and training an older person too expensive for the results they want to get. They seem not to be able or not willing to invest in someone older with a lot of (life) experience. But they forget that an older person doesn’t look for an other job anymore so he will stay in the company where he is until he retires. Younger people like to change companies from time to time, to get a better position or to earn more or to have better possibilities for the future. It’s a pity, that they think like that. But this issue might be worth writing a new post and doesn’t belong on this page. I’ll think about it.

Although the Dutch government is giving unemployment money, this amount is barely enough to live, not to mention a mortgage to pay and maintaining an old car. So we should have to sell the house in a short while or getting bankrupt and having to transfer to a smaller house in a housing project. Usually there is a waiting list for such houses from 1 up to 3 or more years. So that wasn’t the option we were looking for.

Therefore we decided to find out what the possibilities were if we decided to go to the Philippines already in stead of waiting a few more years until my pension age. After ample considerations and financial calculations we started planning how and when to take the giant step to relocate to the Philippines. We decided to put our house for sale and wait for the moment the house was going to be sold. That was the time to make the final plans. At that time the house market wasn’t doing so well. Only few houses were sold and so many were for sale. After some months we lowered the asking price and again a few months later we have changed the real estate broker.

In the mean time we’ve finalized our plans and started preparing already. We also made plans what we are going to do in the Philippines, like starting a business, or something else, or just do nothing and live the life as it comes. I was determined to start a website and a blog to report about the things who came on my path. For that reason I started already to write articles, from which this one is the first. The only thing we are planning is to buy our own house the moment we are in the Philippines. I’ve downloaded a program to design a house from scratch and I’ve been busy to try to design one already. It’s going to depend on the lot we are going to buy if it will be this one or I have to start drawing again.

May 2008 we finally get a possible buyer who was serious and made a first bid. A few weeks later we came to an agreement and our house was sold. The deed of sale was set on October 1st, 2008. We planned to leave Holland on October 4, 2008 and become expats.

Tags: - expat, - Philippines