How much do you need to retire in Thailand? Start with what one month costs you
1. The usual answers start from your spending
Most ways to work out a retirement number begin with what you spend. The Stock Exchange of Thailand’s Happy Money guide takes 70% of what you spend each month now as a guess for your spending in retirement, then multiplies it by the years you expect to be retired (SET Happy Money, in Thai).
Another common rule multiplies a year’s spending by 25. A Thairath report on this rule of 25 from the Thai Financial Planners Association used 20,000 baht a month as its example (Thairath, September 2024, in Thai).
In the Bank of Thailand’s 2024 survey, run with the National Statistical Office, 14.0% of its 12,558 respondents had a retirement plan and were following it, and 45.7% had a plan they couldn’t keep to (Bank of Thailand household survey 2024, in Thai).
2. Why every rule needs your own number
A rule is only half the sum. The other half is what a month costs you, and that’s different for everyone.
Many examples start from a made-up salary or an average. A better start is your own last few months: you’ve already paid them, and many of those payments left a slip.
3. Record a few months
Start with last month, because it’s finished. In Slip Tracker, open Add, then Scan slips. If the app asks, tap Allow photo access. Pick Custom, choose last month’s dates and read the slips it finds. Anything it isn’t sure of is marked Needs review, so check those first. If a slip is missing, add it with Choose photos.
Cash and payments without a slip need a manual entry: open Add, then Enter manually. Add your pay the same way and choose Income, so your record has money in as well as money out. Then do the same for the month before: two or three months give a steadier number than one. See how to add slips and cash.
4. See what a month costs
Open Summary, tap the month and choose last month. The total under it is what you spent that month.
Below that, Categories shows where the month went, such as rent, food or transport, with a total for each.
5. See what a usual month costs
In Summary, tap a category to open its page. Usual month shows what that category usually comes to in a month.
It’s based on up to your last six finished months, so it appears once your first recorded month has finished. Add up Usual month for each category, and you have a usual month’s spending.
6. Check what you pay every month
In Summary, open Repeating payments. It lists the payments that come back, such as rent, a phone bill or insurance, with how often each one comes and what it usually costs.
Many of these keep going after you stop working. The list fills in as you record more months.
7. Think about what changes when you stop work
Your month won’t stay the same. Some costs may go down, such as getting to work or lunch near the office. Others may go up, such as health care or helping family.
Go through your categories and repeating payments, and decide what your month might look like then. Slip Tracker shows today’s numbers. The guess about later is yours.
8. Put your number into your plan
Now you can use a rule with your own number, or take it to your bank, your fund or a financial planner. Next to it, check what may come in after you stop working:
- Social Security, Section 33: with at least 180 months of contributions, a monthly pension from age 55. It’s 20% of your average wage over your last 60 months, plus 1.5% for each full 12 months over 180. With fewer months, you get a lump sum instead (Social Security Office, in Thai). The highest wage it counts rose from 15,000 to 17,500 baht a month in 2026 (Royal Gazette, December 2025, in Thai).
- A provident fund, if your employer has one, or the National Savings Fund (กอช.) for people outside these schemes (National Savings Fund, in Thai).
- The government’s old-age allowance: 600 to 1,000 baht a month, by age (Department of Older Persons, in Thai).
- Family. In the National Statistical Office’s 2024 survey of older people, children were the main source of income for 35.7% of those with an income (National Statistical Office, in Thai).
- Retiring in Thailand from abroad? The retirement visa asks for 800,000 baht in a Thai bank, an income of 65,000 baht a month, or a mix of the two that adds up to 800,000 baht a year (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Your own month shows how that compares with your life here.
The gap between what may come in and what a month costs you is the part to plan for. How you plan it is up to you.
9. What Slip Tracker doesn’t do
Slip Tracker is an expense tracker. It doesn’t hold, move or invest money, and it has no pension, savings account or retirement calculator. It doesn’t tell you how much to save or when to retire, and it gives no financial advice.
It only counts what you add: the slips it reads and the cash and income you enter. It never logs in to your bank.
10. Common questions
How much money do I need to retire in Thailand?
It depends on what your months cost and how many years you plan for. Common rules start from your monthly spending, such as 70% of what you spend now multiplied by the years you expect to be retired, or a year’s spending times 25. Slip Tracker shows what a month costs you, so you can do the sum.
How is the Social Security pension worked out?
Under Section 33, with at least 180 months of contributions you get a monthly pension from age 55: 20% of your average wage over your last 60 months, plus 1.5% for each full 12 months over 180. With fewer months, you get a lump sum. The government approved a new way of counting in principle in July 2026, so check your own record with the Social Security Office.
Can Slip Tracker plan my retirement?
No. It shows what your months cost, the number a retirement plan starts with. It doesn’t invest or give advice.
I’m retiring in Thailand from abroad. Can I use it?
Yes, if you pay from a Thai bank account. It reads supported slips from Thai banking apps, and you add cash yourself. The app is in English, Thai, Japanese, Korean, German and French.
Do I have to connect my bank account?
No. Slip Tracker has no bank login and no sign-up. It reads the slips saved on your phone and keeps your transactions on the phone, encrypted.
11. Get Slip Tracker
Free on Android.
Android 8.0 or later iPhone coming soon
More guides
- How much emergency money do you need? First find what one month costs you
- Sending money to your parents? See what you actually sent
- How to save money in Thailand: start with where it goes
- Spend on what matters: go through what you pay every month and keep what’s worth it
- How to track your income and expenses
- Help and support