You plan to move to the Philippines? Wollen Sie auf den Philippinen leben?

There are REALLY TONS of websites telling us how, why, maybe why not and when you'll be able to move to the Philippines. I only love to tell and explain some things "between the lines". Enjoy reading, be informed, have fun and be entertained too!

Ja, es gibt tonnenweise Webseiten, die Ihnen sagen wie, warum, vielleicht warum nicht und wann Sie am besten auf die Philippinen auswandern könnten. Ich möchte Ihnen in Zukunft "zwischen den Zeilen" einige zusätzlichen Dinge berichten und erzählen. Viel Spass beim Lesen und Gute Unterhaltung!


Visitors of germanexpatinthephilippines/Besucher dieser Webseite.Ich liebe meine Flaggensammlung!

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Thursday, August 31, 2023

Rente: Diese Änderungen und Fristen gibt es im September



Rentner am Laptop: Welche Rolle spielen zukünftig Aktien bei der Rente?
Im September gibt es einige Änderungen und Fristen, die Rentner auf dem Zettel haben sollten. © Andreas Gebert/dpa

Im Juli sind die Renten gestiegen und die digitale Rentenübersicht wurde eingeführt. Aber auch im September gibt es einige Änderungen und Fristen, die Rentner auf dem Zettel haben sollten.

München – Steuern, Fristen, Abgaben – auch im Ruhestand ist man davor nicht gefeit. Das deutsche Rentensystem ist komplex – zudem kommen immer wieder Neuerungen hinzu. Unser Überblick zeigt, welche Änderungen Rentnerinnen und Rentner im September auf dem Zettel haben sollten. 

Antragsfrist für Renten-Härtefallfonds beachten

Die Deadline für den Härtefallfonds zur Abmilderung geringer Renten ehemaliger DDR-Bürger, Spätaussiedler und jüdischer Kontingentflüchtlinge ist am 30. September 2023. Insgesamt werde nach groben Schätzungen von rund 200.000 Antragsberechtigten für die Stiftung Härtefallfonds ausgegangen, sagte eine Sprecherin des Bundesarbeitsministeriums am Donnerstag in Berlin dem Evangelischen Pressedienst. 

Berechtigte erhalten demnach eine pauschale Einmalzahlung von 2.500 Euro. Für Menschen, die ihren Wohnsitz zum Zeitpunkt der Stiftungsgründung am 7. März 2023 in einem Bundesland hatten, das der Stiftung beigetreten ist, ist eine Leistung von 5.000 Euro möglich. Dazu zählen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Bremen, Hamburg und Thüringen. Berlin hatte Ende März seine Absicht zum Beitritt zu der Stiftung angekündigt.

Im September an die Steuererklärung denken

Viele Rentnerinnen und Rentner sind steuerpflichtig – und müssen eine Steuererklärung abgeben. In diesem Jahr gibt es aber wegen der Corona-Pandemie ein bisschen mehr Zeit, um die Steuererklärung 2022 abzugeben. Eigentlich wäre nämlich ist der 31. Juli der neue Stichtag zur Abgabe der Steuererklärung – also sieben Monate nach dem Veranlagungszeitraum. 

Die Steuererklärung für 2022 muss aber erst bis zum 30. September 2023 beim Finanzamt sein. Weil dieses Datum aber auf einen Samstag fällt, verschiebt sich der Abgabetermin auf den 2. Oktober. Übrigens: Wer seine Steuererklärung für 2022 von einem Lohnsteuerhilfeverein oder einem Steuerberater machen lässt, hat deutlich länger Zeit für die Abgabe – nämlich bis zum 31. Juli 2024.

Unser kostenloser Renten-Newsletter versorgt Sie regelmäßig mit allen relevanten News zum Thema. Hier geht es zur Anmeldung.

Rentenzahlung und Fristen im September

Wer am ersten September sein 63. Lebensjahr vollendet hat, kann eine Altersrente für langjährig Versicherte mit Abschlägen beantragen. Wer ohne Abschläge in Rente gehen will, muss noch etwas warten. Immerhin: Rentner, die am 1. Juli 1959 geboren sind, und einen Grad der Behinderung von 50 und 35 Jahre Wartezeit nachweisen können, können ab dem ersten September die Altersrente für Schwerbehinderte ohne Abschlag erhalten. Davor war dies zum ersten September 2020 nur mit einem Abschlag von 10,8 Prozent möglich.

Die Auszahlung der gesetzlichen Rente erfolgt dann am 29. September 2023, da dies der letzte Bankarbeitsarbeitstag des Monats ist. Dies gilt für alle Rentnerinnen und Rentner, die nach dem 1. April 2004 in den Ruhestand getreten sind – wer davor schon seinen Renteneintritt vollzogen hat, erhält die Rente immer im Voraus für den folgenden Monat. 

Flugbegleiterin warnt: „Flugzeugspeisen so gut es geht vermeiden“


Celina Bedding hat im Interview mit dem Portal Mirror Flug-Reisenden einen wichtigen Rat zum Thema Speisen, aber auch Getränken im Flugzeug mitgegeben.

Speisen im Flugzeug vermeiden - aber warum?

Die Flugbegleiterin forderte die Passagiere auf, „Flugzeugspeisen so gut es geht zu vermeiden“. Als Grund nannte sie folgendes: Essen im Flugzeug enthalte oft große Mengen an Salz und Zucker. Damit soll den geschmacksbetäubenden Auswirkungen des Fliegens entgegengewirkt werden. Durch den Druck in der Kabine würden nämlich unsere Geschmacksnerven beeinflusst. Bedding erklärte es so: „Der Grund dafür ist die Tatsache, dass wir durch den Kabinendruck rund 30 Prozent unserer Geschmacksknospen (vorübergehend) verlieren. Deshalb fügen die Unternehmen, die das Essen für die Fluggesellschaften zubereiten, viel mehr Salz hinzu, um ein besseres (Geschmacks-)Erlebnis zu haben.“ 

Frau mit Tablett mit Essen im Flugzeug
Viele Reisende können es kaum erwarten, im Flugzeug eine kleine Mahlzeit serviert zu bekommen. © YAY Images/Imago

Obwohl Sandwiches die beliebtesten Mahlzeiten im Flugzeug seien, empfahl Bedding, darauf zu verzichten: „Sie könnten zum Beispiel einen Salat oder Obstsalat wählen. Achten Sie auch darauf, vor, während und nach einem Flug viel Wasser zu trinken, um sich mit Flüssigkeit zu versorgen.“ Was zum nächsten Ratschlag der Flugbegleiterin führte …

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Disaster in Austria! Rivers burst their banks and flooded hundreds

TRUST, CONFIDENCE, FAITH, RELIANCE



Its presence cements relationships by allowing people to live and work together, feel safe and belong to a group. Trust in a leader allows organizations and communities to flourish, while the absence of trust can cause fragmentation, conflict and even war.


Explains that trust is almost an unconditional bond when it comes down to family. Growing up with younger siblings, parents remind y'all to always look after one another, protect each other from bullies, or getting into trouble with the wrong crowd.


Trust means that you rely on someone else to do the right thing. You believe in the person's integrity and strength, to the extent that you're able to put yourself on the line, at some risk to yourself. Trust is essential to an effective team, because it provides a sense of safety.


If you trust someone then you believe that they’re honest and reliable. If you loan your car to someone, you had better trust them to bring it back to you, and in good shape.


Trust takes many forms. You could trust in something abstract, like the idea that things happen for a reason. If you are naïve, people might take advantage of your trust. A trust can also be a fund or an alliance meant to take care of something. A trust fund gives money to some lucky trustee so that he doesn’t need to worry about employment. A wildlife trust saves land from development so animals can live there.


What is the value of trust? It can be defined as the firm belief, faith and reliability of one's partner to be there for them. It allows for acceptance and loyalty. It provides safety, builds confidence and dependability. Even as partners form their mutual understanding of trust in the relationship, its absence can be felt acutely.


By the way, that's one thing, which can be observed also in the Philippines for a couple of years. I have observed such changes since my first visit to the Philippines in 1976. Nowadays, I feel happy if my nieces and nephews start listening again my ideas again and ask for my advice.


Those of us who have made good money, hold fewer illusions that a big house and a Mercedes (or any other brand!) in the garage are likely to bring happiness. But guys, what seems most precious to us nowadays is not career or success, but time and the freedom to do the things we love to do that hold meaning.


Failed marriages, difficult mid-life attempts, something that might pass away a family - yes, I think, we know the rarity of solid and long living relationships with a partner, with children or with a hard to find friend.


We may even dare to speak the language that 30 or 40 or even 50 years ago would have seemed uncool. Call it God or something spiritually, but it would probably be the quest for the sense of life, and the hope and faith that one exists.

Backstage pass: A homage to people working behind the scene

BY MANILA BULLETIN ENTERTAINMENT



AT A GLANCE

  • As the cast receives great adulation, the backstage crew often goes unnoticed. The costume designer who worked hard on the fittings and alterations, the technical staff who made sure that the lighting and sound system worked smoothly behind the scenes, the production people who made the artistic vision come alive with their hammers, paint brushes, and what have you.


BACKSTAGE PASS PHOTO 5.jpg
Amado Bonifacio III prepares the scale model with his mentor Mang Junior.

Most often, audiences perceive the hard work that the actors, musicians, and rest of the cast – the so-called front liners of any production – put into a successful performance. But little do they know that the backliners – the backstage and production crew – spent the same if not more amount of time and energy on the production.

As the cast receives great adulation, the backstage crew often goes unnoticed. The costume designer who worked hard on the fittings and alterations, the technical staff who made sure that the lighting and sound system worked smoothly behind the scenes, the production people who made the artistic vision come alive with their hammers, paint brushes, and what have you.

While it may be a thankless job, there are some who take great pride in their backstage works like Annie Ignacio and Amado Bonifacio III, both working as production design personnel for the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

A theater arts graduate of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Ignacio first encountered CCP when she was invited as a performer for Pasinaya: The CCP Open House Festival, the country’s largest multi-arts festival happening every February.

BACKSTAGE PASS PHOTO 1.jpg
Francisco M. Galvero Jr., with his apprentice Annie Ignacio, preparing the set for a ballet production

After hearing great things about CCP from her friends who have been working at the Center, she decided to try her luck and inquired about a job opening. Weeks later, she started her new job as a theater crew at the Production Design Center. Later on, she was promoted as a draftsman.

Bonifacio, meanwhile, recalled doing his on-the-job training at CCP in 2016, a requirement to finish his engineering degree at the University of Manila. Two years later, in 2018, he became a reliever for one of the theater crew. He was later tasked to supervise the layout of the CCP’s Christmas decorations. 

Ignacio and Bonifacio both trained under Francisco M. Galvero Jr., or Manong Junior to people he has worked with. For more than five decades until his retirement last year, Manong Junior remained the only scenic painter of the CCP.

After watching him create huge sets for different CCP productions, the mentees started shadowing this master. They would always see Manong Junior doing the scale models for the sets, and then bringing these miniatures into life-sized sets and sceneries.  

BACKSTAGE PASS PHOTO 3.jpg
Annie Ignacio enjoys scenic painting and practices what she learns from her master. 

Curiosity led Ignacio to this artistic path. She would ask questions, inquire about the artistic process of producing the sets, ask how to make things realistic and experiment with colors and textures to make the design come alive, among others.

“While working with Manong Junior, I noticed his hands. I told him that his hands look like my father’s hands,” shared Ignacio in a recent interview.

Bonifacio added that Manong Junior served as a father figure to him and his fellow workers. “As a mentor, he gave us artistic freedom to explore. He allows us to express our creativity, but he would appraise our works and rectify what we’ve done wrong in a very patient way,” said Bonifacio.

Being a backstage crew has its share of ups and downs. Sometimes, several productions are scheduled simultaneously, with everything happening all at once. When these happen, the workload could become overwhelming for the crew.

BACKSTAGE PASS PHOTO 2.jpg
Mang Junior does what he does best, scenic painting.  

“There was a time when work piled up. We didn’t know what we should do first. My mind went blank, and I just cried. But after that, I return to work as if nothing happened,” said Ignacio.

Bonifacio noted a similar experience. “Even if we don't want to, the nature of the work forces us to be workaholics. Things could get stressful and tiring, but we love what we are doing. That’s why we are still here.”

For both, work does not feel like work. They find fulfillment in seeing what they worked hard for and pour their hearts into on the stage.

For Ignacio, her biggest achievement to date was creating the now-iconic eye balloon for Cinemalaya 2019. The artwork was displayed at the CCP Main Building Grand Staircase and became an instant hit as an Instagrammable spot among film enthusiasts. She also did the realistic-looking bibingka and puto bumbong props for Tuloy Ang Pasko. These feats involved trials and errors, and hearing the compliments and receiving recognition made it all worth it for her. She says, “Manong Junior always tells us, not to be afraid to keep trying and make mistakes.”

BACKSTAGE PASS PHOTO 6.jpg
Francisco M. Galvero Jr., with his apprentice Annie Ignacio, preparing the set for a ballet production

Bonifacio, who takes pride in his work with the Art House Cinema Facade decor and Sinag: Festival of Lights, reveals that he doesn’t see himself as an artist. It was only when his mentor Manong Junior recognized him as an artist that he started pondering his work. 

Working behind the scenes, they know that backstage work is rarely recognized. But they hope things will change for the better. At the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the people behind the scenes are just as important as the people performing on the stage.

The CCP pays homage to these unsung heroes through a series of mini-documentaries by filmmaker Joseph Mangat, titled Backstage Pass. Launched during Cinemalaya 19, the second installment features scenic painter, Manong Junior, who had been working on sets for various CCP productions since the early 1980s. The first release featured the technical theater crew in the lights and flying sections.

Audience members are oblivious to the men and women working backstage behind the scenes. The Backstage Pass series puts the spotlight on them; with more features planned covering the CCP film technicians, sound crew, and costume custodians, as well as venue booking and front-of-house operations. The series also gives viewers a glimpse of the lesser-known careers in cinema and theater work.