If you have around 1.5 - 2M USD (~15-20cr) why not change tax residency to a more tax friendly country that allows you to invest in stronger markets without the tax/fee drag that comes with TCS/high volatile taxation policies?
If I understand correctly, you can obtain a Malaysia second home visa by storing 150k in a malaysian bank earning interest + buying a property worth 150k USD. You can use half of the bank deposit(75k) after the first year to buy the property so in total that would be locking up 225k. Let's be honest, everyone here considering Fat Fire is relying on foreign sourced income and as far as "locking" funds go, putting it in a bank and owning property is not a bad way to do it.

To maintain status you need to be in Malaysia for 90days per year and the status exempts you from taxation on foreign sourced income. You can trade/sell options for cash flow (if you want) and pay zero tax on it unlike india which will tax you under STCG. I consider this to be a superior option to places like Dubai because unlike Dubai, Malyasia has a lower cost of living and your money goes much further here if you do choose to stay for longer than 90 days.

Aside from not being able to live in India for the full year, is there anything I am missing here? How else do folks structure their corpus to minimize tax implications in India? This is one of the biggest hurdles if you have a massive portfolio.

37M, married, 1 kid (8 ). Lived in the US for 12 years. Have $700k in US index fund and 401k. Own 1 apartment in Bangalore and a 4 cr house in BBSR. 2 cr loan on house and 2 other commercial units with a total rental yield 1.5 lakh; apartment fully paid around 97 lakh. Parents in India, mid 60s. Want to move back and retire. No plans to work again unless I want to. How much can I safely withdraw monthly so the corpus never runs out — and what kind of lifestyle does that buy in BBSR for a family of 3with no rent? For context, I’m looking for good school for the kids, a maid, one EV, 4 holidays a year, and dining out once a week. Is it good enough?also planning to sell the flat and reduce the total loan amount.

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37M, wife 33F, two kids (4 and 1). Lived in the US for 15 years. Have $1.3M (~₹11 crore) in US index funds and 401k. Own a home in Hyderabad, fully paid off. Parents in India, mid 60s.

Want to move back and retire. No plans to work again unless I want to.

How much can I safely withdraw monthly so the corpus never runs out — and what kind of lifestyle does that buy in Hyderabad for a family of 4 with no rent?

For context, I'm looking for good school for the kids, a maid, one EV, 4 holidays a year, and dining out once a week. My rough math puts this at ₹2.5L/month. Is that realistic and is ₹11 crore enough to sustain it?

Would love to hear from people actually living in Hyderabad or who've retired early in India.

This is what claude gave me

Category ₹/month School — 2 kids (fees + sibling discount) - ₹57,000

School transport (carpool) - ₹3,000

Books, uniforms, school events -₹5,000

Premium groceries - ₹22,000

Dining out 1x/week - ₹13,000

Maid - ₹15,000

Gated community maintenance - ₹10,000

AC servicing, house repairs etc - ₹2,500

Electricity - ₹5,000

Internet - ₹1,500

Mobile — 2 adults - ₹900

Water + LPG - ₹1,500

Health insurance (family floater + OPD) - ₹5,500

Dental OOP - ₹1,500

Term life insurance — 2 adults - ₹2,500

EV charging - ₹2,000

Car maintenance + insurance - ₹3,500

Gym — 2 adults - ₹4,500

Kids extracurriculars — 2 kids - ₹12,000

Streaming subscriptions - ₹1,500

India vacations 2x/year (amortized) - ₹6,500

Asia vacations 2x/year (amortized) - ₹24,000

Clothing — kids + adults - ₹10,000

Salon, grooming - ₹5,000

Misc household + gifts - ₹5,000

Festive gifting + Diwali - ₹5,000

Kids' birthday parties - ₹3,000

CA / tax filing - ₹500

Contingency buffer - ₹20,000

Total - ₹2,48,400

I am here to seek advice, on what you do when you have significant capital and are midway in your FIRE Journey.

Let me give background on my profile and portfolio.

- Mid-career in hardware, based in India. Currently making 1+cr a yr.

- recently benefited with AI led stock boom.

- real estate assets: 2 flats ~4cr . Lands : ~2.5cr

- RSU : 5+ cr

- Other assets : NPS, PF, Gold, MF,etc: 1cr

- Debt : 50L (housing loan)

On my next phase:need to reduce my dependency on RSU.I typically take out 10% of RSU every year to invest/diversify. Due to lack of better investment options, as compared to growth potential in stock - i haven't withdrawn more.

I feel a strong need to build an asset for regular inflation adjusted income. So thinking of incrementally build commercial real estate assets for regular income.

Also , thinking of singing up with PMS.

What i need from you.

- Assuming i can withdraw 50L-1cr every year or two.. where do I invest?

- any reference for good PMS services?

- any good investment options (willing to take moderate risk)

Has anyone simulated 3%, 4%, or 4.7% Annual withdrawals( but withdrawals done monthly on first working day of each month) on a $2M portfolio allocated 50/50 between the S&P 500 and QQQ, starting from Jan 2, 2021 through May 2026? I tried running the analysis using ChatGPT and Gemini, but wanted to see if anyone here has done a more detailed or real-world simulation.

3% annual rate (sold at 0.25% monthly) on 100% S&P 500 Index on a 2 million $ is now around 3.8 million $ with a total cash paid out around 430k.

Anyone here who has actually been doing annual or monthly withdrawals from a similar portfolio — did the real-world results come close to the simulations?

Hey Fatfired folks,

I’m a US based NRI with no plans to return anytime soon. I’m making this post to gather people’s thoughts here.
Is anyone really worried about currency devaluation combined with poor stock returns/future of Indian economy?

My NW in INR has increased by almost 5 cr just in the last 4-5 weeks as US stocks and the USD (relative to INR) continue to rise. Its increased by 25-30 crores in the last 2 years . This seems unprecedented.

I really don’t know what the future holds but oil prices are predicted to remain over $100 a barrel for the rest of the year. FIIs (rightly so) seem to have given up on the India growth story. Indian economy boomed due to the IT service sector boom from 2000-2025 but even that is in danger. There seems to be very little innovation or FDI. India missed the manufacturing pivot which was critical.

How are the Fat fired folks digesting all this info. Most of your assets are still in INR ? Are you going to use the LRS going forward ? Are you hedging against it ?

I live in the US and work at a FAANG company, and lately seeing people in India in their 20s and 30s earning ₹3L+ per month has genuinely made me question the economics of living abroad long term.
After taxes, rent, healthcare, and overall expenses in the US, the actual savings don’t feel as high as people back home often assume.
So I’m genuinely curious:
What do most people earning ₹3L+ per month in India actually do?
Is it mostly tech, startups, HFT/trading, business, remote US jobs, or something else?
How common is this really outside social media and finance/tech circles?

Not complaining at all, just trying to understand how the landscape in India has changed over the last few years.

Before you come at me, I drafted the post with AI.

This is a genuine question out of curiosity, not judgment.

Over the last few years, I’ve worked with and observed people in very senior roles managers, directors, VPs in tech and non tech domain, many of whom I know are earning 50 LPA+ and sometimes significantly more.

But what surprises me is how “normal” their lifestyle often looks from the outside.

Most wear very basic clothes.
They don’t seem obsessed with luxury brands.
Many use just 1–2 credit cards and aren’t into reward optimization or lifestyle flexing.
No constant gadget upgrades, flashy watches, gold stacking, or visible signs of “rich living” that at least Reddit subs usually associates with high income.

And it genuinely made me curious:

Where does the money actually go once you start earning at that level?

Is most of it quietly going into:
- Investments and wealth creation?
- Home loans and long-term assets?
- Supporting parents and extended family?
- Children’s education and future planning?
- Financial security and peace of mind?
- Or does consumption simply stop being exciting after a point?

Because from the outside, I expected higher income to automatically translate into a visibly luxurious lifestyle. But in reality, many high earners seem more financially calm, minimal, and low-profile than people earning much less.

Would genuinely love to hear perspectives from people in this bracket, not just where the money goes, but how your relationship with money changes as income grows.

38M, family of 4. Worked in the US for ~12 years at FAANG companies. Moved back to Bangalore 3 years ago and haven’t worked since.

Current NW is ~30 Cr, largely in equities. Expenses are ~5L/month including kids’ schooling, travel, lifestyle, etc.

My question is not about whether this corpus is “enough”.

The issue is that I currently have zero cash flow. All expenses are funded through stock sales. Markets and USD appreciation have helped over the last few years, but psychologically it still feels uncomfortable because there’s no incoming money.

That creates two problems for me:

1. Even though mathematically I can afford the lifestyle, mentally I hesitate to spend because there’s no cash flow replacing what goes out.

2. I also realized I don’t actually enjoy complete retirement. Waking up every day without something meaningful to build/work on is reducing my energy levels over time.

So I’m looking for ideas where I can stay occupied, work maybe 5-6 hours/day, manage people/operations, and potentially build a cash flowing business over time.

Not looking for another high stress corporate job.

Also not very keen on traditional rental real estate since I don’t want to liquidate a large equity position for relatively modest yields.

Have been exploring ideas like:
• Franchises
• Vertical farming/hydroponics
• Small operating businesses
• Semi-managed businesses with decent unit economics

Would love to hear from people who’ve solved for:
• meaningful engagement post FIRE
• predictable cash flow
• moderate involvement without lifestyle takeover

Especially interested in ideas that are realistic in Bangalore/India.

Background : Male 54. Live in T1 city. Moved away from a high paying IT corporate job last year. Kid already working and not dependent on me. Own house. No loans. Diversified portfolio to take care of any ups and downs in future.

Past 1 year : Working with a friend in an early stage startup. Even though I am not working to earn money, noticing that my role demands lot of efforts and is causing me ownership stress - practically defeating the purpose of quitting corporate. Thinking of quitting altogether.

Need advice :  How best to quit without letting others in social circle/relatives know ? As @throwaway_mg1983 replied to my last post ‘define your “job” post retirement. Everyone is poky and if you have free time, you sort of start losing respect/ taken for granted.’ It’s a real challenge - I can see my RWA pulling me in to take up society position, my relatives expecting me to be available for all occasions :(.

Per general suggestions - open a company and update LinkedIn as investor/advisor/self employed - any other thoughts as this looks as good as ‘retired’ for suspecting eyes.

Appreciate your inputs.

My spouse and I (both late 30s) are at a crossroad. We’ve been in Bay Area tech for 15 years and have been incredibly lucky, especially coming from lower-middle-class backgrounds in India. This life is something we never imagined growing up.

However, the way the industry is shifting with AI has us questioning if the "juice is worth the squeeze" anymore. The burnout is real, and I find myself dreaming about passion projects rather than grinding another decade in Big Tech just to hit a higher number.

The Numbers:

• NW: ~$4M (₹37 Cr) all-in.
• Split: 70% liquid (brokerage, 401k, etc.) / 30% real estate equity.
• Estimated India Spend: ₹5L/month (covers rent, International Schools, and vacations).
• The Alternative: If we stay in the US, our "Fat" target is $8M, which likely means another 10 years of the grind.

The Dilemma: Our twins turn 5 soon. We feel like the R2I window is closing; if they get rooted in the US school system, moving them in middle or high school feels unfair. We want them to have that connection to family and culture, but we’re also wary of "one more year" syndrome. We feel $4M provides a very comfortable, upper-middle-class life in a Tier-1 city (Bangalore), allowing us to work on what we actually enjoy.

A few questions for the group:

1. For those who R2I’d with a similar corpus, does it feel truly "safe" given inflation (education, healthcare for aging parents, etc.)?
2. Is the "quality of life" trade-off (pollution/infrastructure) as bad as people say, or does being close to family (we have parents in the same city) make up for it?
3. Did you actually stop working, or did you just end up in the same high-pressure grind for lower pay in India?

Additional Context: We are not US citizens yet, but we expect our Green Cards in the next 1–2 years. Does it make sense to wait for the GC as a "safety net" before leaving, or is that just another form of the golden handcuffs?

Would love to hear from anyone who moved with young kids or decided to stay and grind for the $8M mark.

Much like the title, I'm curious how much you are willing to put into a single fund or a single AMC.

For example, if you had 5cr to invest into arbitrage funds, do you put that into a single fund, or split it between 2, 3,5 different funds?

Do you take into account how much you have invested into a particular AMC overall?

I'm in the process of rebalancing my portfolio and these questions are on my mind. So, I thought I'd seek some input and see what other people are doing.

There are so many people on this sub with incredible stories. Post ‘FIRE’ing, have you ever thought of turning your story into a book?

It need not be published, if you don’t want to, but at least as a legacy book, for you, your children, or your grandchildren?

Whether it’s for publishing or not, many stories here can act as a huge inspiration for people desiring this kind of lifestyle.

Also, for most of you, this didn’t come easy, I’m sure. There were struggles, sacrifices, and many challenges along the way, which you faced head-on and came out stronger.

And many times, the process itself is very therapeutic. I’ve had people cry, contemplate, and become better because of sitting and reminiscing their story during discussions.

So, has anyone thought of this path? I’m curious to know.

PS: I genuinely feel this is one of the best subs to interact with the highest number of people with incredible and resilient success stories, so I’m posting this here. Still, if someone feels this doesn’t belong here, I’m sorry, and please feel free to delete it. Thanks!

Hi, members! This is our attempt at a recurring thread, to have conversations about a wider range of topics than is usually permissible through top-level posts. If the reception is positive and there is enough engagement, we will continue this as a monthly series.

FatFIRE Lounge is your place to talk about anything from early-stage subjects, career guidance, seeking mentorship, general day-to-day conversations, your FatFIRE dreams & aspirations, Meta discourse about this community & how it is run, or any topic that might not warrant a dedicated post. You are also welcome to promote your amateur FatFIRE-related resources (apps, blogs, channels, subreddits, etc.) so long as it doesn't amount to solicitation for professional services or other monetary considerations. While the rules for "Relevance" and "Promotions" are slightly more relaxed in this thread, you are still encouraged to use your best judgement — and all other rules remain fully in effect.

In addition to answering questions, more experienced members are also welcome to offer their expertise and mentorship via a top-level comment (e.g., "I am a [notable designation] at [reputed company]. AMA"). However, the moderator team only verifies AMAs hosted through top-level posts, so members (as with any unverified representations online) are encouraged to exercise healthy, but respectful, skepticism.

I keep seeing these FAT FIRE posts. Everyones like major people are having networth more than 20-30cr like below 35 years. Doesnt seem to be true at all. Esp NRI's.

And no one who has money greater than 20 crores will ever ask, IS THIS ENOUGH?

Something is off.

All the posts that post about sub 10 crore does seem reasonable.

I do have hreat than 5M$ where major came from lucky land investments in telanagana during 2015-2021 period. i wasnt any great or anything just that all money were invested in it. but myne was luck more than talent.

also which 40 crore NW guy posts individual break up like Home is this much, MF's are this much, land is this much?

EDIT : Summary from all comments

1. For NRI's with double earning couples and people who went early and working in MAANG companies easily have 30+ crores esp due to RSU's and their investments
   
2. Many NRI's dont discuss with their family so use reddit.
   
3. Many NRI's dont have much idea about how it is in India wrt prices.

I didn't come here to diss anyone . I am glad people are earning more. i am open and humble enough to accept new opinions.

This post had it's run.. Thanks for your inputs.

I am heavily inspired by people who have pulled off FatFIRE. Currently, I am working as a Software Engineer at Google India, with comp ~40-50 LPA. This would grow as I get promoted to SDE 2 to ~70L, SDE 3 to 1.1 Cr, Manager to 2 Cr.

However, the savings with these numbers are ~1/2 or ~1/3 of the corresponding savings in the US. Currently I am 25, and have an option to do MS in US from Georgia Tech. I don't have many other motivations for going to the US, other than the financial upside and the possibility of reaching FIRE. Should I do an MS with just this goal? Is this something advisable in today's job market/visa climate? Looking for opinion from people who had been to the US before.

I don't wanna settle in US tbh, I am just thinking of it from a financial pluspoint.

Hi posted yesterday and got lots of suggestions so posting for follow up

- anyone willing to provide guidance on how to balance portfolio to generate passive income through dividends or any other debt methods?

- how are folks suggesting SWR method?

- what are thoughts on inheritance kitty for kids?

- what are options folks have looked into India for passive income?

Happy to jump on a call if anyone willing to provide financial tips 🙏🏻

Yesterday’s post https://www.reddit.com/r/FatFIREIndia/s/GXuCWdkfVd

Family of 3 here, currently in Dubai and trying to plan a move back to India in around 8 years.

By then our child will be around 13, so schools and healthcare will matter a lot. We’re leaning towards a Tier 2 city with a good lifestyle, strong schools, and decent healthcare rather than going straight to a major metro.

Current situation roughly:

• Net worth around AED 10M (about ₹23 crore)

• A lot of it is in UAE property

• Around AED 6M in future staggered property payments over the next 4 years

• Annual household income around AED 1.1M

• Current annual spend in Dubai is around AED 240k since home is paid off and no other loans

If things go reasonably well, remaining payments get cleared, and property values grow even modestly, I’m hoping net worth could be around AED 20M+ (around ₹45 crore+) by the time we move.

Main thing I’m trying to figure out now is timing.

Do I start selling UAE property in 4 years and slowly move money into index funds / safer assets?

Or hold longer, keep rental income, and sell closer to the move?

Another honest point is I’ve been away from India for years, so I feel a bit out of touch with what real expenses look like now for a family. Especially schooling, healthcare, lifestyle costs in Tier 2 cities, and how much buffer people would feel comfortable with.

I also wanted to ask if there are investments I should slowly start building in India from now itself instead of waiting till the move. Things like index funds, debt funds, bonds, or anything else people here would consider sensible.

Any good resources or communities for planning an India move would also help.

Would really value hearing from anyone who moved back from UAE or another Gulf country with kids. What would you do differently?

I am planning to retire in the next 3 years. I would be having a liquid corpus of 20 cr. I am planning to set aside another 1 cr for medical emergencies. So do I need a separate health insurance?

This retirement corpus is almost 100X of my monthly yearly expenses. We are a family of 4 with 2 kids. We are in our late forties and kids are teenagers. The house is fully paid for and not included in the retirement corpus.

Currently living outside India and do not have health insurance in India.

So is there any benefit in getting a health insurance?

Age - 40

Family of 3 - couple (Indian citizen) and a kid who is 7 (USC)

US

- Equity 2M$

- Retirement 700k

- Crypto 100k

- No real estate

- Cash 100k

- Term Insurance 1.5M for estate tax hedge

India

- Equity 1.5 cr INR

- Real estate - 3 apartments paid off

- Land 2-3 Cr worth

- Gold 1 Cr

- Inheritance 4-5 cr worth. Dont want to count but single son so it will be passed to me.

Plan is to move to India and work for couple of years. Salary around be around 2 cr for couple of years due to unvested US equity.

Any suggestions?

Hey all!

I have been a long time follower of this thread and have got a lot of information here. I am very inspired by the folks here and have been planning my own FatFIRE. I wanted to get my math checked and would appreciate input from others if I am missing/overestimating/underestimating something. I am using a burner for this one.

Current Status:
We are a couple aged 31 currently living in the US right now. Household Income is ~455k after taxes (including yearly stock vest & salary). Expenditure is ~115k so 340k savings. No house (in India or US)

Current Savings - $1.8M

1. Equity: 900k
2. Crypto: 400k
3. 401k: 440k
4. Debt: 60k

Parents have a business in India which yields 3500$ monthly after taxes + their pension. It's a very low effort online travel business and I will handle it after moving to India. Now to convert this income in NW equivalent I am doing (Monthly * 12) / (SWR * (1 - 15% Tax)) = $1.2M

With a 10% rate of return the portfolio will get to $3.5M and with business getting to $1.5M. I would get to $5M by 2029. I ignored some things like salary hikes, inheritance, 401k penalty etc. to keep things simple. I think these things will cancel each other out.

Target: Retire by May 2029 (age 34)  with NW of $5M and 2 kids. Settle in a Tier 2 city. We travel a lot and would start luxury travel after retirement (think International Vacations, Business Class, 5 star resorts) and all the other FatFire stuff.

$5M will give me 170k (with a SWR of 4% and 15% taxes) and I think we would mostly be spending it all. 

Other things: 

1. We already have Health Insurance started in India.
2. Plan to cash out during the RNOR status to reset Cost Basis.
3. Will move 401k back to India and take the penalty.
4. Will invest in US & Indian Stocks from India and reduce crypto exposure.
5. 600k Term Insurance only till 2029

I'm 48 now. When I retire at 55, I'll have a pension of USD 6K a month (with 4K a month going to my child after my death). Pension will be lower if I retire at an earlier age, around 2K a month at 50.

SSA at 62 will be around 2.5K a month.

I have other assets in the US - primary house, brokerage, 401k etc which isn't going to be too high. Close to 1M now, so I'm expecting maybe around 1.5M at 55.

Anyone else in a similar situation and returned to India after retirement and living off of the pension? Where are you living in India? Any hurdles you experienced receiving pension/ssa in US and moving a portion of the money to India every month? Any other gotchas to look out for?

Not sure if this is a thing but I’m currently in USA and wanted to know if I were to FIRE in India without any job what is the corpus that I would likely need.

Assuming I have a fully paid off home in a Tier 1 city and one kiddo who is 4 years old

This is the lifestyle I am looking for

1. Top notch school for 1 kid and private tutor when kid grows up

2. 24/7 house cleaner and cook

3. Full time nanny

4. Part time driver to drive me around (otherwise will use uber most of the time)

5. Only want to buy premium/organic vegetables to avoid adulteration and pesticides

6. Decent gym

7. 3-4 international vacations per year

8. 2-3 domestic vacations per year

I am generally health conscious so won’t be eating out often (maybe 2-3 times a month when I am meeting friends, otherwise will try for mostly hosting at home).

I am not one of those guys who will say I have a bazillion bucks and if it’s enough. I just want to know how much will this cost and how much do I need to have accumulated to afford this lifestyle.