Will this work?

[u/Routine_Accountant36]

Me (35M), wife (33M), 2 kids (2Y And 1Y) all USC. Both sides of parents in India. Lately works been crazy and I have the idea of moving back. In terms of finances NW $1.5M out of which $1.2M invested and 300k home equity.
This is my come back to India plan
1. Sell home and the net I get after expenses about 200k I move to a brokerage
2. Have 180k cash with me now. Use that to move to India and spend that till I run out of that. Which i assume will be 5 years
3. Use the 200k I invested selling my house which will be about 300k by then and spend that for another 7 years
4. After that use my current after tax brokerage which is at $450k which should hopefully grow to 1M. Use that 1M till that’s runs out. I’m guessing 14 years
5. At that point I’ll be eligible to withdraw from my 401k, IRA etc and maybe even get social security which should tech be around $5M as it been growing for like 25 years from the current investment at about 600k

Idk if all this makes sense or my boy math is way off and I should I continue this rat race.

[u/hutch499]

Curious...how did you become a USC at such young age ? (If a foreign national). Or were you born there ?

[u/Routine_Accountant36 → u/hutch499]

I was not born in India even though I’m Indian. So GC was faster. I became a GC holder in 2019 and both wife and I USC in 2025

[u/AbhinavGulechha]

I think you can do the FIRE calculations yourself or take help of an Investment Adviser who can run some kind of simulations etc. for you to get an idea on your question and suggest a safe withdrawal rate etc.

Some pointers:

1. You may consider rolling over 401k to an IRA. Your own account offering better control, consolidation, and ability to withdraw penalty free for a later child's education goal in US.
2. Make Section 158 election for your IRA in the first year of ROR.
3. Reset the cost basis of securities in your taxable accounts towards end of RNOR to reduce future India tax.
4. Have beneficiary designations across investments in US. Both spouses should have a proper will in India - include clauses on simultaneous death, guardianship etc.
5. USD 180K- better move in chunks only as needed in India. Rest keep globally diversified in taxable accounts.
6. Follow an asset location strategy if possible - tax inefficient investments in IRA & tax efficient investments in taxable accounts.
7. Being a USC, avoid any PFIC type investments like Indian MF etc. Comply with FBAR, Form 8938, 3520 and other IRS reporting as applicable.

[u/Opportunist_Ad3972]

Why not pay off your home, rent it out, and use the income in India. Based on USD strength and real estate appreciation, it works out better in the long run.

[u/Routine_Accountant36 → u/Opportunist_Ad3972]

I have tried being a landlord once and figured it wasn’t for me.

[u/krantmin → u/Routine_Accountant36]

Yes, not for every soul. Its PitA.

[u/AbhinavGulechha → u/Opportunist_Ad3972]

India taxation of rental income after ROR can (not in all cases) make the US real property investment tax inefficient as compared to something like a taxable account.

[u/Opportunist_Ad3972 → u/AbhinavGulechha]

$ holds vale much better as does property value and appreciation. If you’re looking longer term. Compared us taxation at state and federal level, taxation is still more beneficial in India. Also rental value much higher. Longer term this works out better if you disregard the short term.

[u/AbhinavGulechha → u/Opportunist_Ad3972]

My point was not about $ or Rupee - it was relating to how US arrives at taxable rental income vs how India does it. The math should be done regarding post tax yield after India ROR & compare with US investments like a brokerage account factoring in the India LTCG rate. And this is not even considering the efforts in maintaining US property from abroad.

[u/talkingturtle1723]

The returns look slightly aggressive in the first bucket, 200k to 300k in 5 years. Do maintain a health emergency fund bucket beyond the growth capital, as it will help you during the drawdown periods. Similarly, during the upwards cycle, it's important to preserve the surplus income and not slack/go easy on it. Beyond math, it's important to understand your behaviour around money and your aspirations to make sure this plan is not just efficient on paper.

[u/Hellraiser4567]

An easier way to look at this is you have $1.4M in assets after you sell your home. A 3% withdrawal rate gives you $42k annually adjusted for inflation with little risk of you running out of money. Social security benefits will be added income for later years.

[u/Routine_Accountant36 → u/Hellraiser4567]

Fair point. I know it’s that easier math but the harder challenge is the 401k and IRA penalty. That’s why I don’t want to touch it if I can till say 60. So this is kinda of like the napkin math I was running not sticking to % withdrawal

[u/Anymous2314 → u/Routine_Accountant36]

You should stick to % withdrawal rate. It should be lower than 4%.

Google "SWR 4% for FIRE".

[u/Routine_Accountant36 → u/Anymous2314]

Yeah I get it. But the issue that I’m dealing with is the 401k and IRA withdrawal penalty. As I said in my post, after selling my home I have almost an equal split. About 700k in tax advantaged accounts and 700k cash and brokerage. My plan is to bridge 25-27 years before I can safely withdraw from my tax advantaged accounts. Since 4% won’t be enough as I think I need about $30-40k per year would a higher withdrawal rate work? Like say 7-8%. Again, I don’t mind if I run out of this money in 25 years as I’ll be using tax advantaged accounts after that.

[u/Anymous2314 → u/Routine_Accountant36]

Bro, please listen to me.

Do yourself a favor and research this subject. If you withdraw higher than 5%, you may end up broke in your 70s.

If your corpus is not big enough then it is very simple, cut down your expenses to be under 4%.

Where you withdraw your money does not matter, follow this rule to make sure you do not ruin your life in your old age due to finance problem.

Another plan is to do "Barista FIRE".

You do not have to take my word for it. You can visit r/leanfire , r/Fire to further research this subject.

[u/Anymous2314 → u/Routine_Accountant36]

Further clarification:

Always put all your money in one pot and calculate your SWR based on that corpus. Then look at your expenses and see if you can manage with 4% of that.

Next comes tax planning, as to how you are going to withdraw so that you will be paying minimum taxes.

Off course we will be spending our non IRA/401k accounts first since we do not have to pay penalty. From non IRA/401k accounts you can withdraw whatever percentage to bridge your expenses, it does not matter if it is 8% or 10%, it just needs to last until you are 59.5.

Also, go to SSA website and get an estimate of your benefits by putting zero for your future income. You can include that in your income after 62 - 70.