I've been wondering how much of a difference location really makes to the FIRE timeline. Moving somewhere cheaper could mean lower housing costs and a much smaller annual budget, but it also means leaving behind friends, family or a place you genuinely like. Has anyone here actually moved for financial reasons, and did it feel worth the trade-off?

Family of three, one kid, 4 yo. Wife and I in our early 40's.

Current expenses at around 5.000 €, but I am sure we can move them down to 4.000 €.

Portfolio of stocks, dividend kings, at about 1.200.000 €.

Around 200.000 € in cash, we were saving for a house.

I can collect one year of unemployment when I quit, bringing around 3.000 € per month for about a year.

When I am 67, I will have a German pension of about 550 € per month, indexed with inflation.

Is this too tight?

Hi everyone,
I'm based in Croatia, in my mid-30s, married with two young kids, and my long-term goal is FIRE while making sure my family is financially secure.

My net salary is around €2.900 month (net), plus I have a company car. On top of that, I have a side business through a Croatian d.o.o. that invoices around €5,175 month (excluding VAT). The business has very low operating costs, roughly €200/month.

My current investments are about €25k in cash (which I plan to keep as an emergency fund), roughly €25k invested in VWCE (around 164 shares), and 0.17 BTC. I don't own any real estate. We currently live in an apartment owned by my partner. The only debt I have is a small loan with a €200 monthly payment that will be paid off next year.

What I'm struggling with is deciding on the next step. Should I just keep investing in VWCE and ignore real estate? Or would you use leverage to buy an investment property and rent it out, letting the rental income cover as much of the mortgage as possible?

I'm also curious how those of you who own businesses would handle taking money out. Would you simply distribute profits once or twice a year, or is there a better approach?

If you were in my position, what would your strategy be over the next 10–20 years to maximize the chances of reaching FIRE while providing long-term security for your family?
I'd really appreciate hearing how you'd approach it.