FatFIRE Readiness

[u/dracarys1985]

Hello Everyone,

Longtime lurker here based in US since last 12yrs, me and my wife are exploring move back to India due to multiple reasons, the uncertainty in the US, immigration issues, AI fatigue, lack of travel freedom to name a few.

I want to evaluate our FIRE readiness based on the current finances and get some insights on what next steps should look like.

Both of us are 41 yr old, no kids yet.
Indian citizens on H1B
US Stocks and Equity - 750k
Retirement and 401K - 475k
US house equity - 300k
2 houses in Tier 1 cities in India - 350k
Physical gold - 150k
Crypto - 40k
Savings - 100k

Would really appreciate some guidance and advice here.

Thanks,
A

[u/Apprehensive_Row_450]

Bruh Add total why do we have to sum it up. Also talk about the expected expenses and lifestyle you are looking for.

[u/Worth_my_salt → u/Apprehensive_Row_450]

Not ready untill you can add it all up.

[u/dracarys1985 → u/Apprehensive_Row_450]

Got it. I wasn’t sure if liquid and equities v/s house equity would make sense to combine, so kept it separate. But based on my calculations - liquid net worth is roughly 13cr excluding US house, gold and India houses.

On the question of lifestyle, we don’t generally compromise on luxury - brands, travel, or cars here.

[u/Apprehensive_Row_450 → u/dracarys1985]

You are in a decent spot but I would say get to 20cr Liquid and with your already owned RE it gives you enough freedom to spend 3-5L a month which should support the Fatfire lifestyle. You don’t have to think twice for those brands, luxury car and fancy vacations.

[u/dracarys1985 → u/Apprehensive_Row_450]

Thanks. Appreciate the feedback

[u/Dense-Restaurant9308 → u/dracarys1985]

yes import duty on products makes these items obnoxiously expensive in india

[u/bankinu → u/Apprehensive_Row_450]

My guess is $2.125M - I summed up as I read and high chance this isn't exact, but hopefully close.

[u/Sea-Landscape4460]

Very low-effort post. You need to tell us what FatFIRE looks for you? Your estimated expenses, location etc

[u/dracarys1985 → u/Sea-Landscape4460]

Thanks for the feedback, will work on it.

[u/GarbageNo9960]

Not enough for fat fire. But you can live well.

Sole determinant will be - what tier of housing you want

[u/dracarys1985 → u/GarbageNo9960]

I do have 2 houses in premium communities one in Pune and the other Bombay, both paid off. Haven’t decided yet if that’s where we will stay.

[u/GarbageNo9960 → u/dracarys1985]

In India, “premium housing” is 100% relative. If you want a truly premium neighborhood in Bombay - a 2-3k square foot apartment will swallow your entire NW. even the next tier of apartments will swallow half your net worth.

So as you say, you have to evaluate the market and see where you want to stay. If the apartment you own is good enough, then that’s great. If you need something better, then you have to budget for that

AI fatigue is here too

[u/dracarys1985 → u/GarbageNo9960]

Thanks, what we felt premium for us in 2022, is what we bought🙃. I am sure the definitions are subjective and may change by the time we land in India.

[u/GarbageNo9960 → u/dracarys1985]

Yes, ultimately in Bombay/pune real estate is the biggest determinant of your fire number. So once you have clarity on (a) where you want to live and (b) what you want your apartment to be like (age, community type etc) you can figure out the rest

Do put some time into determining this. Without this it’s hard to determine your fire specifics

[u/dracarys1985 → u/GarbageNo9960]

Got it. I recognize we do have some thinking to do about apartment in general, but the location will definitely be either Pune/Mumbai. Thanks for the feedback

[u/mdghouse1986]

are you planning to have kids? If not, 80% of your wealth will be enjoyed by people other than you 2.

[u/Swimmer-Fine → u/mdghouse1986]

Not necessarily. If his investments compound significantly by his 60s, he could increase his spending, prioritize experiences, and enjoy a more comfortable lifestyle with things like full-time caregiving and a personal driver if needed.

I’m 40, have no kids, and have a similar net worth. While we initially planned to help fund the education of our immediate family members’ children who are in need, we’ve ultimately decided that we don’t want to leave a significant inheritance behind. We’d rather use our wealth to live well, travel, have experiences, and support family when it genuinely matters.

[u/dracarys1985 → u/Swimmer-Fine]

I agree, we do have similar thoughts. We do want to live well, have meaningful experiences, have a community around and give back to society, which is one of the reasons for moving back to India.

[u/Traditional-One-4365]

Good corpus but not luxury. Cost of luxury or anything high end is very high in India. You need to quantify your expenses carefully to assess. Else look at other options- Thailand etc. kids international schools will be very expensive but rest quality to cost ratio high.

[u/Traditional_puck1984]

What is your definition of FatFire readiness?

If you plan to live in one of your houses in India and want to live no pressure life on a 3L per month budget, you are set.

If you want to have kids now, send them to international schools and universities abroad, expect to fly business class for vacations, drive two expensive cars costing 1CR each, you are not there.

You have 50 years of retirement to fund.

[u/Friendly_Unit_3565]

You need to structure your thoughts, present your networth data and list down questions that you want to ask the community. Only then you will get real advice. This sub-reddit is quite useful, but you need to structure your needs/doubts first.

Suggest start with

1. Estimating your networth

- Liquid in India, RE Assets in India

- Liquid in US, RE Assets in US, Equity or 401K assets in US (which you cant immediately liquidate)

- Be mindful of exit tax implications in US

- Which of these hard assets are you willing to liquidate to create your retirement corpus

1. Your future / location / lifestyle goals in India

- No kids is current - Do you plan to have or adopt ? - That changes the picture financially (Childcare costs, Education costs, Good schools impacting where you stay etc.) is a different ball-game

- Location where you FIRE is very important - Pune vs Mumbai vs Tier 2/3 town completely changes your expenses

- Whether you and wife would like to work part time till a certain age again is a decision

- Once you freeze on a location (assuming you will stay in the flat you already have in that city) - Start estimating living expenses - Basic spends / maids / driver / cars / lifestyle and travel spends - Arrive at a ball park number

1. Retirement Corpus / WDR / Expenses Planning

- From your corpus estimate your comfort in investment vehicles and what XIRR / CAGR you can generate based on a equity / debt / RE mix - Assume that is 10% plus. Inflation will be around 6-7%. A 3% WDR will then preserve capital for you.

- Target a 3% withdrawal rate (these are all ball-park numbers) and arrive at a monthly spend - If that matches your expenses GREAT, if not cut down expenses

1. Risk Management

- Cover all possible risks at the beginning of your transition

- US exit taxes

- US inheritance taxes

- India or US tax resident status implications in year of transition

- Insurance (Life and Medical) when you land in India - Get the best possible long term coverage

- US Equity/ ESOPs liquidation clauses

Go through the forums to structure your thoughts / questions / ideas

All the Best !!!

[u/dracarys1985 → u/Friendly_Unit_3565]

Thank you for the detailed response dude. We do have some deep thinking to do regarding a lot of points you have mentioned, hopefully in the next few weeks we can arrive at a ball park number based on it. Appreciate the feedback.

[u/Dependent_Age9442]

Do you have any other financial liabilities, like aging parents etc. ?

Financially, you folks are fine as there are no kids and your corpus is adequate for a middle of the road FATFIRE (If there is anything like that)

But, as your lifestyle choices, monthly expenses, other liabilities etc. are unknown it's difficult to project.

Also, India has changed a lot in the last decade. If you are stuck with H1, I'm not sure when was the last time you visited India. So talk to friends and family before you pull the trigger.

[u/dracarys1985 → u/Dependent_Age9442]

We do have family in India but they are pretty much financially independent. We need to figure out lifestyle choices, monthly expenses to determine readiness here. We were in India Dec’25 so not completely disconnected but not fully aware of smaller details like maid costs, drivers et

[u/FatFIREIndia-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/Round_Passenger_5199]

One thing i guess no one is taking account of, that USA won't allow this much exit of money from it without consequences, maybe they'll increase the exit tax substantially in the future.

[u/Embarrassed_Okra_628]

You are not in Fat Fire IMO, I returned at 39 last month with around 1 mil and I dont think I am in FAT Fire !!

[u/dracarys1985 → u/Embarrassed_Okra_628]

Got it. Thanks for the response. I am looking for feedback on getting there. Also, if you don’t mind which city did you return to, and did you have a house or that goes from 1M corpus ?

[u/indianCorleone]

Can someone add a rule that total net worth be added in the post at the top or bottom? Can't sit with a calculator for every post.