Hi Everyone, These days, I see a lot of posts about folks wanting to move back to India. I just wanted to share my story and hopefully this can help someone who is thinking about a similar decision. We (spouse + toddler kid) moved back in late 2021 from the Bay area to India. I had two reasons. 1. Freedom to travel long term. I and my spouse love traveling and being on a visa, obviously you can only take a few short vacations a year. 2. Wanting to spend time with my parents . I especially wanted to my son to bond with his grand parents. Ofcourse, all this was possible only because I could meet my financial goal of having about 1.5M USD. I figured that with this invested mostly in index funds (VFIAX), it should be enough to live comfortably (assuming 4% SWR) in most parts of the world. After a year and half, I can happily report that I could meet both goals. We spent 6 months traveling (3 months in southern europe, 1 in middle east and 2 in SE asia) and the rest in a small India state (with my family) in a nice part of India. I am currently planning another long trip :) People often have questions about how much money is enough in India. For us, we spent about 40K USD in a year (that includes international travel). I think that should be more than enough for a comfy life in a Bangalore like city. I did not have to pay for housing in India. I gave up trying to get a nice family car in India after a few months and we ended up using a spare car that my parents had. Things that I miss about the bay area & USA - biking paths, hiking trails everywhere, great parks for kids, national parks, easy camping, great weather Things that irritate me about India - garbage everywhere, no walking or biking friendly neighborhoods, no public spaces for kids, lots of mosquitoes Overall, I am happy that I took the decision to quit working and move back. In hindsight I quit at the perfect time. At the time when I quit pins stock (like all of tech) was super high and my inflated TC was ~900K. It felt like I was leaving behind a lot of money on the table. Luckily I don't have that regret :). For me at least personally, after hitting my financial target, I wanted to prioritize things other than my career. I definitely do not miss pointless meetings when my son was banging on the door during the WFH days. My next steps, career wise are undecided. I love my field (applied ML) and want to continue working on interesting stuff, but full time work in Indian cities would be horrible. So I am undecided on where and how to work once we want to "settle down" again. Thanks and good luck on your journey !
Congratulations! Moved back to India too in 2021 and don't regret it. But I don't have a million USD
@op - you are able to do all this and spend 40k USD coz you already earned 900k or more. That puts you in an elite list to retire comfortably in India while maintaining a very high quality of life, which not everyone here on a work visa is capable of
Yep I agree. The Bay Area does give a lot of opportunities to get lucky though . I moved to the Bay Area in 2016 through an internal transfer with a tc of 140k . I had 20 lakh saved up from my 8 years working in India at that point .
What is your age ? How long did you stay in the US ? Btw congratulations on achieving FIRE
I’m in late thirties. I was in the us for 6 years
Happy for you OP , Similar story as ours . We too moved back in late 2021 at about 2M USD Net Worth . Only difference being we’re still working :) . I too miss the easy access to nature sometimes from the US but the ease of travelling and nearness to family easily beats that .
Congrats.. how many years did you work in US and total what is YOE
Amazon you seem obsessed with age lol
Anyone moving back or moved back in mid-late 20s alone?
I have got 3.4 M saved and planning to move year end. Quick question-> do you withdraw 40k from 1.5M invested principal or pull it from dividends?
Congrats ! I just sell some vfiax when I need it . I have set up vanguard to re invest dividends , so there is no separate principal and dividend
Are you not worried that this will deplete your principal portfolio? Do you intend to start working anytime soon? Also any thoughts on Indian investing portfolios like FDs/ PPFs et al?
Congratulations. Am in a similar situation (including field!) minus a wife and kid.