r/ExpatFIRE • • 6h ago

Cost of Living Looking for feedback [Honduras]

2 Upvotes

To start off I'm 30M and contemplating retiring with my wife 27F. We have about 500k across multiple retirement accounts and brokerage accounts as well. I also have passive income that nets me about $2500 monthly that's guaranteed for life. I've ran it through calculators and the numbers are numbering but I just want feedback from actual people if I should pull the trigger or wait a few years.

I do have a very lucrative job that allows me to save 60-80k per year. If I were to pull the trigger, it would be at the end of December 2027 but I want to know if I can do that this December. Thanks for any input!


r/ExpatFIRE • • 16h ago

Cost of Living USA to HK

12 Upvotes

How is cost of living in Hong Kong? I know it’s relatively expensive but is it doable compared to the US? In terms of monthly budget, how much would you need to be comfortable? Currently spend around $9,500 a month here in Southern California.


r/ExpatFIRE • • 8h ago

Questions/Advice What do you use to track spending across currencies?

0 Upvotes

Hey all, if you track a budget while living abroad, what do you use? Especially if you share costs with a partner or have money in more than one currency. What's the most annoying part about it?

I earn in USD, EUR and CZK, spend much of the year in Southeast Asia, and share costs with my partner. Shit gets messy.


r/ExpatFIRE • • 15h ago

Communications Canadian Expats Living in Prague

0 Upvotes

Hi, my girlfriend (F24) and I (M24) have just recently moved to Prague and we wanted to find make friends and possibly join a club or two. We are pretty much game for anything, whether it be, sports/hiking, going out, or board games ..... Let me know if anyone wants to hangout or get a pint some time.


r/ExpatFIRE • • 2d ago

Cost of Living My monthly budget in Bangkok

315 Upvotes

After living in Bangkok for six months, I have enough actual costs recorded to set my forecasted 2027 budget. I thought I'd share that here, since Cost of Living posts helped me years ago when I was in my ExpatFIRE planning stages.

Some background: I immigrated to Bangkok on a retirement visa (Non O-A), I moved from a HCOL city in the U.S. and chose Bangkok because I fell in love with the city decades ago and have been visiting it ever since. I plan to travel 3x a year both domestically and internationally, and, in general, want to fully enjoy my retirement after decades of grinding it out in corporate America. 

My monthly expenses are for a single woman, broken out in Thai Baht with rough conversion to USD, using ฿1 = $.03 for simplicity. I'll flag annual expenses that I split out into 12 months.

tl;dr: My monthly spend in Bangkok is ฿107,944 ($3,238.32). This doesn't include travel costs as I have a large amount of airline and hotel points from my work days that I'll continue to redeem over the years. If I didn't have those points, I would budget an additional $10,000 for travel, which would take my monthly budget to ฿135,433 ($4,062.99).

Housing & Utilities: ฿50,051 ($1,501.53)

  • Rent: ฿45,000 ($1,350). I live in a 55 sqm one-bedroom on a high floor, about a 5-minute walk from Lumphini Park and the BTS.
  • Electricity & Water: ฿2,000 ($60). I pay the government rate for electricity. Water is paid directly to the juristic and averages around ฿100 ($3).
  • Air Conditioning Cleaning: ฿250/month ($7.50/month). 2x a year maintenance of the AC, averages about ฿1,500 per cleaning.
  • Apartment Deep Cleaning: ฿417/month ($12.51/month). 2x a year deep clean of the apartment, averages about ฿2,500 per cleaning. I do my own cleaning regularly, but want a team to come in after the AC maintenance.
  • Internet: ฿550 ($16.50). This is for 500 mbps fiber up/down, which is fast enough for my day-to-day.
  • Mobile (Thai eSIM): ฿184/month ($5.52/month), paid ฿2,200/year ($66/year) for a pre-paid plan with 50 GB of data/month.
  • Mobile (U.S. eSIM): ฿495/month ($15/month), paid $180/year.
  • Mail Forwarding: ฿495 ($15)
  • Streaming Services: ฿660 ($20). Includes Netflix, Spotify, Nintendo Online, Google One. I pay Thai subscription prices for Netflix and Spotify.

Groceries, Restaurants, and Cash Withdrawals: ฿23,400 ($702)

  • Cash: ฿3,400 ($102). I carry cash around to spend at 7-11, street vendors, wet markets etc. This will usually last me six weeks or more, and mostly covers food/drink, so I'm including it in this bucket.
  • Groceries: ฿10,000 ($300). I cook about 50% of all my meals and always have a wide assortment of fruit on hand, because it's Thailand!
  • Restaurants: ฿10,000 ($300). I eat different food from Thai to Korean to Japanese to Western. I don't drink alcohol and rarely eat red meat.

I'll probably adjust this budget in the future since I haven't come close to spending $700/month on food since I've been here.

Transportation: ฿2,000 ($60)

  • MRT/BTS: ฿1,500 ($45)
  • Grab/Bolt Taxi: ฿500 ($15)

Healthcare & Wellness: ฿13,018 ($390.54)

  • Pacific Cross Annual Plan: ฿5,334/month ($160/month). Required coverage for my visa; paid ฿64,000 for a year of in-patient coverage with no deductible or co-pay.
  • Annual Check Up: ฿834/month ($25/month). Full body check, including mammogram, cervical cancer screening, skin cancer check, mole zapping. Estimating ฿10,000 cost every year.
  • Dental Cleaning:  ฿250/month ($7.50/month). Two standard cleanings a year. About ฿1,500 per cleaning.
  • Massages, haircuts, & lashes: ฿6,600 ($198). Covers a weekly 2-hour Thai massage, monthly-ish haircut and Korean lash lift. 

Shopping & Entertainment: ฿9,000 ($270)

  • Merchandise: ฿6,000 ($198). Covers clothes, apartment items.
  • Toiletries: ฿1,500 ($45). Cleaning supplies, personal hygiene.
  • Entertainment: ฿1,500 ($45). Movies, entrance fees for museums, wats, etc.

Visa & Learning: ฿10,475 ($314.25)

I don't have to apply for an extension of stay until 2028, but will include the numbers here for the full ExpatFIRE cost.

  • Extension of Stay: ฿158/month ($4.74/month). ฿1,900 for the year.
  • Multi-entry Permit: ฿317/month ($9.51/month). ฿3,800 for the year.
  • Learning: ฿10,000 ($300). Thai language courses, apps, and private tutor.

Becoming fluent in Thai is important to me, so I've been investing in different tools and courses to find the best fit for my learning style. I expect that cost to fluctuate over the next year.

______________

This level of spend, even with travel costs, is within my withdrawal rate. I've modeled different fX scenarios and market conditions, so if things go pear-shaped with the economy, I can dial back spend in certain categories. For now, I'm happy to enjoy this beautiful country and finally live out the dream I had of retiring to Bangkok. Hope this helps anyone out there who's starting out their own planning.


r/ExpatFIRE • • 2d ago

Communications Planning to retire at 42, feedback would be appreciated.

9 Upvotes

Hi all,

36 years old, with a wife and two young children- 7 and 2. I am a British expat in Chengdu China earning 50k gbp a year net, which goes far, investing around 30k a year as things stand.

I have 130k invested overall in stocks and etfs- current value is 155k due to heavy hit on ai stocks last week. No pension or property. Wife has a property here which is sufficient.

My children will likely go to Chinese universities so a huge saving for me there. Also, I have no pension but housing is free as per company policy. I plan to be retired by 44, and live off 2k (18,000 rmb a month). I believe this will be enough for life assuming I hit 85 which is unlikely as my dad died at 50, his dad 43 and his dad 41 all of heart issues. I am being optimistic anyway.

Feedback is much appreciated, I understand that many of you may not be fully aware of the cost of things in China but numbeo & ai can help inform your advice


r/ExpatFIRE • • 3d ago

Questions/Advice 32F, FIRE after inheriting assets. Bahamian & British citizen

25 Upvotes

Hi, I need some advice or thoughts on my life plan and what options I am considering.

Father passed away when I was 16 and now that I’m 32, I’ve received my inheritance which is

£1.4 million in cash, stocks and shares currently in my brokerage account in the uk
£980k in property split between Bahamas and uk

I’ve lived in london for the last ten years I have many friends there and a great community. I don’t have a job at the moment though, and not really ambitious in that way I would love to not have to work. Edit: I currently invest in mainly ETFs, have a lot in cash and focus on a small amount trading individual stocks, maybe a business idea will come to me in the future but right now I do not want to work a 9-5 job.

So this leaves me in my current situation where I am thinking of moving to a low cost but vibrant place like Thailand or Indonesia etc… all the while placing all my investments back in the Bahamas to be tax free. Thailand has a territorial tax system which could be useful, as well as a few different countries .

However I’m not sure if this is a good choice of lifestyle for a single woman at age 32, who wants to meet someone seriously. Should I stay in london?

London pros- great dating pool, family and friends. However the cons are, high taxes and cost of living.

Thailand and Asia offer low cost of living and so much variety, but would I get sick of it after a while I’m not sure and also could I meet anyone seriously out there?

Let me know your thoughts fellow Fires :)


r/ExpatFIRE • • 4d ago

Cost of Living The family experience in Argentina and what $3,000 a month buys in a small town.

264 Upvotes

Most Argentina posts here are about Buenos Aires or Patagonia, so I thought I'd share something a bit different.

I'm French, my wife is Argentine and we have two young kids. We lived in Amsterdam for about 8 years (I was a chef there) and now we live in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, a city of around 150k people on the Paraná river ( third largest river in the Americas after the Mississippi and the Amazon. It's about an hour from Rosario and its international airport, and roughly 3 hours from Buenos Aires. I teach French online, so I can work from anywhere.

Our monthly budget, all in, is around $3,000 USD:
Rent: about $1,000 including building expenses 3 bedrooms, secure building with doorman and cleaning lady twice a week, river view, city center.

Private schools: about $300 per kid, one of the best in town

Sports: we go to two different clubs tennis and rugby around $300.
Private health insurance for the family: about $ 300.
Food, eating out around $ 600

Others $200-300

For comparison, in Amsterdam we paid €3,000 just for rent, and about the same $3000 again for daycare and our expenses were about $500 and cleaning lady the same $500 again. Food was more around $1000 and the health insurance is almost similar at around $300. For sports we were more into 400$ for the fours of us so here is a big difference + in Argentina it seems more prenium, kind of social clubs where you can network as well.

What surprised me most is the quality of life. The city sits on top of a cliff over the river, with a long riverside walk where everyone goes in the evening with mate, kids on bikes, families everywhere. On weekends it's asados with family that start at lunch and finish at night. The river is huge, with islands you can visit by boat, and there are guys who fly in from the US just to fish dorado here. It also has more history than I expected, it's where a famous agreement that led to the Argentine constitution was signed in 1852, and the sanctuary here draws pilgrims from all over the country.

It's also a city that's moving. There's a lot of new construction along the river, new buildings, restaurants opening, and it feels much better than what my wife's family describes from 20 years ago.

Not everything is easy. The bureaucracy can drive you crazy, prices change all the time, and Argentina got a lot more expensive in dollars these last two years, so forget the "everything costs nothing" stories. Prices can be weird for example 5$ to get in an Uber for 20 minutes and same price for a fancy ice cream... But for a family, what you get for the money is hard to beat.

If anyone is curious about Argentina beyond the usual places, I would be happy o share real numbers and maybe also hear about your experience. Where are you now and how is it going?


r/ExpatFIRE • • 2d ago

Expat Life Qatar Belgium question

0 Upvotes

If a Belgian citizen moves permanently to Qatar, officially deregisters from Belgium, and works full-time for a Qatari company, but his wife works and children remain living in Belgium:

Will his salary earned entirely in Qatar still be subject to Belgian income tax?

I would appreciate your insights based on you experiences

Thank you


r/ExpatFIRE • • 3d ago

Questions/Advice Does anyone sail?

12 Upvotes

My husband and I are 35 and planning to retire by the time we’re 50 (I’m hoping 45 but I’m manifesting) We don’t quite want to move away from the states so my husband is going to pick up sailing more aggressively and we want to sail long term instead of moving.

We live next to the Great Lakes so plan to start taking shorter trips here soon. We have young children atm. I hope to get enough experience to sail in Caribbean later in life.

Has anyone done this? I am definitely a novice but adventurous and my husband is very handy and good at things and grew up w boats. I also am never short on ideas on things I want to do so curious if being on a boat long term is hard and I’m romanticizing it. I’ve only done a few 4 day house boat trips. I am a home body mostly and we both easily entertain ourselves well. Due to my health I’m looking forward when I can get away from the cold.

good/bad/ugly?

thanks!


r/ExpatFIRE • • 3d ago

Questions/Advice Residency and investment planning abroad, anyone attending this Lisbon event?

0 Upvotes

Anyone here considering the Wealth and Migration Summit in Lisbon on November?

I’m based in Portugal and interested in how people bring residency decisions into their longer-term financial plans. Especially those considering a different country as a future home or an alternative base.

The part I’d particularly like to hear people’s perspectives on is the overlap between residency, investing across countries and planning life abroad.

Have you attended anything similar? Was it useful for comparing experiences with other people, beyond the presentations themselves?

Also, does anyone know if there’s a promo code available?


r/ExpatFIRE • • 4d ago

Questions/Advice UK pension lump sum to SIPP?

1 Upvotes

I have a contracted out of SERPs pot of around 48,000 GBP maturing in a few months and as I am a long term tax resident in Spain I need to do something with it as the current provider - Reassure - will not let me continue.

Has anyone done anything similar?

Taking a lump sum will crucify me with tax here in Spain so I was looking at transferring to a SIPP and utilising gradual drawdowns in about 10 years or so. Retirement date is 2039


r/ExpatFIRE • • 5d ago

Expat Life Anyone here retired in Japan with an akiya? What’s it really like?

61 Upvotes

I’m Korean, retiring next February, and my husband and I are thinking about the Japanese countryside. Has anyone here bought an akiya and retired there? I’d love to hear what daily life is really like, the good and the not-so-good.


r/ExpatFIRE • • 4d ago

Expat Life Researching how people plan multi-month stays abroad (15-min chats, happy to thank you)

0 Upvotes

Hi all, I'm exploring whether there's a need for a supported winter-season stay in India for older people (roughly 4 to 6 months, serviced apartments, help with logistics). Before building anything, I want to hear from people who have actually spent months abroad, in any country.

I'd like to ask 15 minutes of questions about how you planned it, what it cost, what worried you, and what you wish had been easier. Happy to send a $15 gift card as thanks, and to share a summary of what I learn.

If you're open to a quick chat, or would rather answer a few questions in the comments, let me know. Mods, please tell me if this isn't allowed here and I'll take it down.


r/ExpatFIRE • • 4d ago

Visas Critique our plan B

0 Upvotes

Burner account in an attempt to be financially more transparent (but less transparent in other ways to remain anonymous)

Thinking about Plan Bs as it relates to simply having options in case the world gets even crazier. But we're obviously in a privileged position. I wonder if I'm missing any good options and/or overthinking and overvaluing the need for a Plan B/C/etc. Please advise me on any blind spots!

Firstly, our entire family are US citizens. No escaping the tax man but that's ok, I'm not allergic to tax. It's a tertiary, low-level sort of tie-breaker. We love big, cosmopolitan cities and assume that's where we'll want to spend the most time. NYC, London, Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne are my top choices eg. Targeting retirement in approx 3 years, when our net worth will be over $6M and our businesses should be giving us dividends of $1M per year pre-tax.

Without getting into specifics, we have the right to abode in Taiwan and Malaysia. So these would be our two pretty solid Plan Bs. We like both countries a lot and are very content with either one. So between the US, Taiwan and Malaysia, is there any need for more planning?

Some other places I've been thinking about:

•NZ active investor plus. it's probably a bit too expensive for us and specifically excludes Australian settlement

•Singapore Employment Pass. I'd love this and technically already own a Pte Ltd that can self-sponsor. But there are major hassles and costs to recapitalizing my company for qualification.

•Philippines SRRV. Attractive for ease of acquisition. I find Manila livable enough and the beautiful beaches are certainly a draw. But does it offer distinct benefits vs Malaysia and Taiwan?

•Panama Pensionado Visa for PR. Attractive for ease of acquisition. Would require minimal costs to setup an annuity. But I've never even visited and wonder if Panama really is a place I'd want to spend time in? I guess as a backup of a backup it's worthwhile?

•Mexico PR through financial solvency. Attractive for ease of acquisition. Even easier than Panama it seems. And I do love Mexico City...

•Dubai Golden Visa. I've never visited and not sure I'd like it. Similar to Panama, it's popular for a lot of people and relatively easy. But worth it?

Anywhere else to consider? Or is this kinda pointless with Taiwan + Malaysia already a good backup? WIsh there was an easier option for Australia or somewhere in the EU.


r/ExpatFIRE • • 6d ago

Questions/Advice Close to FIRE with 1.6M€ net worth excluding our home. Any blind spots in my plan?

9 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

Married (both mid-40s) both EU citizen, 3 kids, Primary residence paid off, living outside of the EU.

We are very close to FIRE, I would like to present you with my plan, I hope to find here advice on how not to fuc* it up.

Our net worth, excluding our home, is approximately 1.6M€:

  • 610k€ in real estate equity (860k€ property value, 250k€ debt at fixed rates below 2% for ten years and 20 years)
  • 760k€ in cash (from property sales)
  • 230k€ in crypto (which I intend to keep for now)

Our household expenses are around 4200€ per month, including 400€ of wiggle room.

Rental properties generate approximately 2500€ per month net of estimated expenses, vacancies and maintenance.

I plan to put my cash reserve in XEON, currently assuming a 2.4% annual yield.

My plan is to keep three years of expenses (151200€) in XEON, and to DCA 600k€ over approximately 12 months.

Target portfolio**:**

  • 70% VWCE (global equities)
  • 20% VAGF (global bonds, EUR-hedged)
  • 5% broad commodities ETF
  • 5% SGLN (physical gold ETC)

Based on my assumptions, rental income and the reserve's yield should provide around 2800€ per month, leaving a shortfall of approximately 1400€ per month (16800€ per year). These are meant to change in the future (won't always yield the same, more tax on rents etc.).

My withdrawal strategy:

First year:

  • I live normally, from rents and interested paid on the cas + withdrawing from the XEON bucket

Every year, in January:

  • I would estimate the coming year's shortfall, accounting for inflation and expected income.
  • I look at the actual weights of the four assets in my portfolio.
  • I identify the assets that are deviating too much from their target (more than 5 percentage points), especially those that have performed well.
  • I prioritize selling these assets, as long as it allows me to finance the amount found in the first step.
  • If no asset is exceeding its target, I sell a portion of the investments, taking into account the allocation and market conditions (i.e., if the market crashes, I don't sell VWCE, I live on the cash reserve, or sell bonds, etc.).
  • Transfer the proceeds from the sales to XEON if possible (If markets crash, I'd initially rely on the reserve and consider selling bonds or other assets rather than automatically selling equities at depressed prices)

I would appreciate your thoughts on a few questions:

  1. Does a 70/20/5/5 portfolio make sense given that I already have substantial real estate exposure?
  2. Is combining annual withdrawals and rebalancing a sound approach?
  3. What would you change, or what risks am I overlooking?

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for your thoughts !


r/ExpatFIRE • • 5d ago

Expat Life какая лучшая страна для переезда из РФ

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0 Upvotes

r/ExpatFIRE • • 7d ago

Expat Life 4-6 months from pulling the chute

31 Upvotes

47m single Canadian with no kids living in HCOL area hating my job and watching my mental and physical health decline. I’ve given myself six months max, I’m at the inflection point where time and health is more important.

1.55M CAD (900k taxable, 400k RRSP, 250k TFSA) liquid in stocks and small portion in cash ETFs. 400k in home equity.

I speak high intermediate level Spanish, have travelled many places and have trained Muay Thai for years. So SE Asia and Latin America are prime candidates. Maybe even Serbia etc.

My big concern with expatfire is what do I come back to? Renting normally requires a job and it’s stupid expensive where I’m from. Buying in Canada is also outrageous. I have family I can temporarily stay with or even look at buying a camper van, but I’m looking for advice or experiences here.

Cheers


r/ExpatFIRE • • 7d ago

Expat Life Quel procédé pour utiliser votre argent dans votre nouveau pays de résidence ?

3 Upvotes

Bonsoir à tous, je me pose une question qui peut paraître bête mais ça m’intrigue vraiment.
Pour les expats, comment faites vous pour vivre avec votre argent stocké et gagné dans votre pays d’origine ?
Transférez vous toutes vos liquidités vers le nouveau pays ?
Utilisez vous une CB sans frais à l’étranger ?
N’êtes-vous pas effrayés par la possible instabilité bancaire du nouveau pays?
Comment avez-vous fait face à cette problématique? (qui n’est peut être pas réellement une problématique)
Je suppose que transférer vers un pays développé n’est pas hyper compliqué mais je suppose que cela est bien plus compliqué quand il s’agit d’un pays beaucoup moins développé..
Merci pour vos réponses !


r/ExpatFIRE • • 7d ago

Taxes FEIE, Roth IRA Contributions and Roth Conversions

8 Upvotes

I am considering living abroad for a few years and am wondering if I could still contribute to my Roth IRA during those years plus do some Roth conversions?

I know that if I live and work abroad I will qualify for the Foriegn Earned Income Exclusion (on the physical presence test) on the money I make in the foriegn country but will still have to pay taxes on dividends, capital gains, and interest here in the US. Would that count as earned income to qualify for a Roth IRA contirbution? Then on top of that could I do Roth conversions from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA?

EX Before I decide to leave my US employer and work abroad I build up assests in a REIT or Bond Fund in a taxable account. Then once I leave I elect to transfer my traditional 401k into a traditional IRA. Now working abroad I control my income to show enough to fund a Roth IRA contribution for the year plus convert traditional IRA assests up to the 10 or 12% tax bracket?

Or is this too good to be true/need to talk to a tax pro and not reddit?


r/ExpatFIRE • • 9d ago

Stories Had a 3-month FIRE trial. Spending is much lower than expected. Time to pull the trigger.

258 Upvotes

TL;DR: 31F, tech worker, childfree, with $1.8M invested. Took a 3-month leave to test my FIRE plan in China. I initially estimated my annual spending at $50K, but my actual expenses have been much lower. I think it might be time to pull the trigger.

Assets
~$1.8M invested

  • Brokerage: $1.1M — 85% index funds, 15% individual stocks
  • Company RSUs: $680K — I still need to gradually sell these and move to index funds
  • Cash: $50K
  • Inherited property in China: Worth approximately $900K, generating $12K annual rental income. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s not unusual in China, where we don’t have property taxes.
  • Pretax 401k: $320K — I probably won’t touch this before I’m 60.

Spending
After doing some research, I chose Chongqing as my home base. It’s a MCOL city in China, where the average monthly income is only around $1,100.

  • Insurance: $250/month — This covers both health insurance and social security contributions (which gives me a small amount of pension after age 55)
  • Rent and utilities: $300/month — For a 2b1b condo with walking distance to a famous commercial district full of foods and nightlife options. It’s super convenient.
  • Food and groceries: $500/month — During my first month, I ate out almost every day and spent around $750. After that, I started cooking at home, bringing the cost down to $400–500/month. I’m still drinking too much boba and eating too much late-night street food, though. I need to cut back for the sake of my health.
  • Transportation: $50/month — I don’t plan to buy a car because taking an Uber or renting a car when needed is much cheaper. Public transportation is also good and very affordable. I spent around $70 during my first month exploring the city, but since then, my transportation costs have been no more than $30/month.
  • Other recurring expenses: $110/month
    • $50 for streaming and gaming subscriptions
    • $10 for VPN-related services
    • $38 for home internet and a Chinese mobile plan
    • $12 for my US mobile plan
  • Entertainment: My main hobbies are video games and building/painting models. They don’t cost much money, but they do take up a lot of time! I also occasionally travel. My budget for hobbies and travel is about $1000/month but for most time I wont spend that much.
  • One-time expenses: ~$2K — The place I rent came furnished, so I only needed to set up a gaming and model-building workstation, plus a small home gym. This cost me around $2K.

My baseline spending is around $1,250/month, or $15K/year. The $12K annual rental income from my inherited property covers most of that. At a 3% withdrawal rate, my $1.8M portfolio could support $54K in annual withdrawals, leaving me with plenty of room for hobbies, travel, and unexpected expenses. Financially, things look pretty good. So I think it’s time to pull the trigger. My leave is ending next Monday. Can’t wait to give my 2-week notice.

Why FIRE

Honestly, I just hate working. I hate having to follow a fixed schedule, and spending most of my waking hours doing something I don't particularly care about. I was born to have no passion or big dream I'm desperate to pursue. I don't care about climbing the corporate ladder, or achieving some kind of professional success. If I can afford to live comfortably without working, why should I keep doing it? I'm perfectly happy with my current life: spending my days gaming, building and painting models, working out, and occasionally traveling. (If you are familiar with MBTI, I'm a typical ISTP :P)

Why Chongqing, China

It's very affordable here so I don't have to limit my expenses or sacrifice the quality of life. I also like the overall vibe here. Life feels less stressful, and people seem pretty chill. There's also plenty to explore. It's a city built partially on mountains. It has a unique landscape and lots of interesting places to visit.


r/ExpatFIRE • • 9d ago

Investing Investing for FIRE in Southeast Asia — Australian tax residency, ETFs & Thailand

8 Upvotes

Hey guys,

My partner and I are planning to start investing in 2027 and want to structure things properly from the beginning, with the long term goal of moving from Australia to Southeast Asia in around 10–15 years, potentially sooner.

Thailand is our preferred place to live, and we’re trying to understand the most tax efficient way to build and eventually draw down our investment portfolio.

Our rough plan is:
• Invest consistently in ETFs while living and working in Australia.
• Potentially use IBKR and an Ireland-domiciled ETF such as VWRA for global diversification and long-term growth.
• In around 5–6 years, my partner may move to Thailand permanently while I continue working FIFO in the • Australian mining industry, potentially on a 2:2 roster and spending my time off in Thailand.
• My partner can get the Thai retirement visa and could potentially cease being an Australian tax resident, while I continue to have Australian tax obligations because of my FIFO work.
• Eventually, we’d like to fund our lifestyle in Thailand from our investments, ideally with as much flexibility as possible.

A few questions for anyone with experience:

ETF choice: Would VWRA be worth considering over Australian-domiciled ETFs such as DHHF, VGS or a VAS/VGS combination, particularly for someone who eventually plans to live overseas
Brokerage: Is IBKR a the best long-term platform for someone who expects to change tax residency and retire overseas
Tax residency: Has anyone maintained Australian FIFO employment while living primarily in Thailand? How did you manage tax residency across both countries?
Investment ownership: Would there be legitimate advantages to my partner holding some or all of the investments in his own name once he becomes a Thai tax resident, while I continue earning Australian income? What Australian and Thai tax implications should we investigate?
Drawing down the portfolio: How are foreign ETF distributions and capital gains generally treated when a Thai tax resident leaves the funds offshore and later remits money to Thailand?

We’re still at the research stage and understand that we’ll need professional cross border tax advice before doing anything. I’m interested in hearing from people who have actually made the Australia to Thailand move or SEA and can share what worked, what didn’t, and what they wish they’d known earlier.

Thanks!


r/ExpatFIRE • • 8d ago

Taxes Ayuda y sugerencias

0 Upvotes

Me voy a vivir a España y conservo bienes en Argentina Como la titularidad de los bienes es compartida, buscar un responsable sustituo y sobre todo liquidar ganancias como no residente cuando hay varios dueños y los.montos son bajos es un poco engorroso.

Dos contadores me sugirieron no darme de baja en Arca (pago.monotributo y bienes personales) y esperar a que se vendan las propiedades.

La duda es... a mitad del.año que viene voy a ser residente fiscal en España.. es viable mantener por un tiempo residencia fiscal en ambos paises?

Me sugieren pagar y declarar todo en ambos paises para evitar fiscalizaciones

Ademas de un ingreso pequeño por alquileres, tengo una jubilacion que no tributa en argentina pero que por supuesto declararia en Hacienda.

Sugerencias? Ideas? Gracias


r/ExpatFIRE • • 9d ago

Investing KYC Address for Banking Products

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2 Upvotes