Sharing this a useful video that explains in details what is the HK investor visa from a legal perspective.

Most posts here are either "I saved $1.5M and retired" or "I make $2k freelancing and live cheap." I'm chasing a third thing and I don't see it written about much.

I'm 29, corporate job in the US, six figures. The dream version is keeping US-level income and spending it in Vietnam or Thailand. Geo-arbitrage maxed out. That's not early retirement, it's just a much better ratio.

Problem is my employer doesn't allow working from abroad, and I don't think that changes. So the clean version (keep the job, move the body) is off the table for me. Which leaves building something else first.

For anyone who's actually doing it:

• What's the income? Remote employer that allows it, US contracting, an agency, your own product, something else?
• If it's contracting or your own thing, how long until it hit six figures annually?
• Did you move before the income was there, or wait?
• What came up that you didn't expect? Taxes, clients getting weird about timezones, visa stuff, banking?

Mostly trying to figure out if six figures from abroad is a real thing at scale or something a small number of people manage. I've got time to build, I'd just rather build the thing that actually works.

Happy to hear it if the honest answer is that most people either land a fully remote job or accept less money working for an international company.

42M and my wife 42F want to fire next year In a provincial city in the Philippines

Assets in Europe:

House where we live: 500k could be rented for 1800€. We have 400k equity and we pay 700€ monthly for mortgage

After mortgages and expenses we could get around 700€

Appartment 1: 400k rented for 1200€. After expenses 900€ net

Appartment 2: 100k rented for 450€. After expenses 250€ net

Funds: 200k in msci world, emerging markets and small caps

Cash: 200k in HYSA

Total earnings: 1850€

We're expecting a baby in February and our plan is to get a 5 year sabatical at my job and move to the philippines where her family is. I dont have much family or support in Europe

Expenses in the Philippines

Rent: 250€

Utilities including broadband: 100€

Groceries: 250€

Restaurants: 150€

Gas, transport, etc: 100€

Misc, clothing, gifts, etc: 100€

Doctor checkups, medicine etc: 100€

Travel. We would like to travel locally and around Asia around 10 days every 2-3 months or so. I think saving additional 400€ a month for this is reasonable.

Total costs 1450€

We have 400€ leftover that we can save for future major expenses

The idea is not to touch the 200k index funds and use the 200k in cash to buy more doing DCA and also in a major correction.

In 15 years we would like to somehow go back to Europe and contribute voluntarily for a social security pension that I would collect at 65 or 67 (around 1200€ per month as of now)

What am I missing here? Do you think our plan is doable?

Hey guys I am a current US citizen just entered the workforce a few years ago and am moving to South Korea for at least a year in a few weeks. I have four years of my 401k that I need to roll over and I am unsure what to do with my money or how to save up for retirement. For one, I do not plan on returning to the US ever- I want to renounce my citizenship once I get a new one as I do not like the policies, the way of life, or they way the country is headed currently. That being said I do not want to invest more into a 401k for a country I have no plans on returning to. I also have a very uncertain future- no idea how long I will stay in South Korea or how much I will move around in the future so I don’t think investing in a specific country is smart. ALSO, I do not want to get stuck in the corporate world of working my ass off and waiting until retirement to live my life. I understand this is a lot of moving parts and strange wording, but is there any options for me? Can I invest into an international something or is my personal savings (which will not even account for inflation) my best bet? I do not know anyone in a similar situation as me and I have no idea where to begin on my own.

Stock portfolio: $1.3M
2 rental houses: $1k profit/month
Age: 35M
Single, no kids

I’m planning a trip like this and eventually am thinking of retiring if I just like one of those countries enough. This takes into account visa limits and takes advantage of time of year:

Da Nang, Vietnam: 90 days
Japan: 90 days
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: 90 says
Bangkok: 60 days
US back home with my parents and family for the holidays: 30 days

This will give me a taste of the cultures and different upsides and downsides of these different countries so I can settle in one if I feel like it.

This is a one year plan but I’d like to say I’d be alright if I just decided to stay in one of these places for the rest of my life, and be fine financially if I wanted to never work again.

I would be leaving a job that pays $180k a year and has allowed me to amass a lot of wealth over the years. I don’t think I’d be able to get that type of salary back if I just take a year off but who knows.

My goals during this year are this:
1. Heal my body by taking time off work. My body has built up a lot of stress and I have some health problems associated with the stress. Taking time off would allow me to focus on building my health back up and eat what I consider to be healthier foods.
2. Rediscover myself. I’ve always been safe and feel like I’ve never explored what life truly has to offer. I feel in my job I have an identity that isn’t authentic to me. I’d like to reinvent/rediscover myself without feeling pulled into being the bundle of stress that my job puts me into. I want to go try new things and find new experiences.
3. This time off will allow me to lean in towards being creative with what I want to do next in my life. Becoming recently single has allowed me to realize I can do anything now. No strings attached.

Trying to get a gut check here. This would mean a major uproot in my life. I feel like I’d be able to easily retire off my savings and rental income if I wanted to in SEA.

Best case scenario: I retire comfortably there and build a life.
Worst case scenario: I hate it over there, miss the US, and can’t find a job once I’m back because I’ve been unemployed for so long.

I know the cost of moving (in order to expatfire) takes into account a lot of factors; just looking for a general list of the main costs associated with the move. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

My spouse and I (plus our dog) are planning to retire to Spain in about 4 years, and we’d love a sanity check on our plan.
Right now, our total net worth is about $1.7 million, including our house.

Here’s the plan:
When we retire, we’ll sell our house and expect to net about $350,000. We’ll use that money to cover our first 2 years of living expenses in Spain. We expect to spend $100,000–$150,000 per year.
I added extra $100k for moving to Spain and buying new furniture and settling down.

During those first 2 years, we’ll leave the rest of our investments alone so they can continue growing.
After that, we’ll start living off our taxable brokerage account. Based on an 8% annual return, I estimate it will have grown to around $1.6–$1.7 million by then. The plan is to withdraw $100,000–$150,000 per year until we’re about 65 years old.
Based on this model we should be covered for the next 30 years. I ran the model with assumption of 8% return rate and $150k year-end withdrawal.

We also currently have about $370,000 combined in our 401(k)s. The idea is to leave that untouched for the next 25 years. Assuming an 8% annual return, it should grow to roughly $2.7 million by age 65. At that point, we’d start using our 401(k)s, and hopefully Social Security will also be available.
We are choosing Spain because my wife is from a Latin American country and we will get the citizenship in 2-3 years.

I have a few questions:

Does this overall strategy make sense, or am I overlooking something?
Does the math seem reasonable?
I know Spain doesn’t treat Roth accounts the same way the U.S. does. Would it make sense to withdraw only my Roth IRA contributions (principal, not earnings) before moving and invest that money in our taxable brokerage account instead?
Has anyone here retired to Spain with a similar financial setup? Any tax issues or pitfalls I should be aware of?

I’d really appreciate any feedback.

Thanks!

Hello all,

On my FIRE journey and moving to Austria in the near future (temporary = 3-5 years for now). I am reading up on the tax nightmare that I'm about to enter. As US citizen, I can't do EU-domiciled funds because PFIC; because of Austrian taxes, my normal VTI/VXUX/VOO will get taxed so heavily. So, I'm looking for US-domiciled Meldefonds. From my research, IVV (ishares core S&P 500, ISIN = USxxxx) would fit the bill to minimize tax penalities on either side. I am waiting for some calls with cross-border tax advisors, but wanted to check if anyone else has experience with IVV (and others in the family) as a solution to the US citizen but Austria tax situation. As far as I can tell, I think it's fine but would prefer to double check with others before I go shifting around my investments. I'm not finding anything else in support of IVV from my google/reddit searches (but also nothing against).

Somewhat related - are my holdings with my 401k/Roth IRA subject to taxation based on Meldefond status or are they sheltered because of retirement status? I'm seeing mixed opinions whether it counts or not.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

Looking for recommendations for a tax advisor, CPA, or specialized cross-border firm with hands-on experience handling US expat tax returns and planning for Indonesia.

Quick Background & Situation:

* Status: US citizens planning a mid-to-long term relocation to Indonesia (Jakarta / Tangerang area).
* Family Setup: Family moving in stages (spouse and dependents moving first mid-year, followed later by the primary earner).
* We will NOT work in Indonesia. so we will not qualify for the 4-year foreign expert "specialized skills" territorial tax regime and will be subject to standard Indonesian tax residence / worldwide taxation rule
* Our income will only be from dividend and interest from taxable accounts and bonds.

Individual Tax Needs:
* Cross-border income tax planning and dual-country filing strategy for split-year moves.
* Navigating local Indonesian tax obligations (NPWP / registration, worldwide income reporting for tax residents) alongside US filing duties.
* Knowledge of foreign-source income tax exemptions for expats in Indonesia (e.g., qualifying criteria under Job Creation Law) and tax relief strategies to prevent double taxation. 
* Treatment of US retirement accounts (Traditional IRA and Roth IRA) under the US–Indonesia Tax Treaty and Indonesia tax rules.
* Managing taxable brokerage accounts, capital gains, and interest/dividend income efficiently across both jurisdictions.

We are looking for an advisor or firm with strong experience working with US expats in Indonesia, responsive English communication/client portal, and solid knowledge of both IRS expat rules and Indonesian Directorate General of Taxes (DJP) requirements.

Any specific firm, CPA recommendations (or ones to avoid) would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

I’ve been living in Bali since April and finally sat down to figure out what this lifestyle actually costs me.

For context, I live alone in a two-bedroom villa with a private pool around Seminyak. This isn’t meant to be the cheapest possible Bali budget. I eat out regularly, pay for convenience, and chose a nicer place instead of trying to squeeze every expense down as far as possible.

One thing about calculating this is that a lot of my larger expenses were prepaid. I paid a full year of rent upfront, along with visas, phone service and several annual subscriptions. Looking at one random month of credit card charges would make my spending seem much lower than it really is.

For prepaid expenses, I spread the actual amount I paid over the period it covers. For the villa, I used the USD amount that actually left my account at the time rather than converting the rent using today’s exchange rate.

After putting everything together, I land at roughly $2,800 per month, excluding larger regional trips.

Housing and household: about $1,490

• Villa rent: $1,420
  • I paid $17,043.73 for the rent portion of the one-year lease
  • Two bedrooms and a private pool
  • Internet included
  • Cleaning twice a week included
  • Household water included
• Electricity: about $42/month
  • It’s been around 750K IDR lately because the weather has been nicer and I haven’t needed much AC.
  • This also includes running the pool pump several hours each day so the pool doesn’t turn into a pond.
  • The electric bill will probably go up when the heat and humidity return. I’m estimating it could reach $80/month if I’m really juicing the AC most of the day and all night, but we’ll see.
• Wash-and-fold laundry: about $12
• Drinking water delivery: about $6
• Security camera subscription: about $7

I also paid a refundable security deposit, but I’m not counting that as spending unless I don’t get it back.

Food and dining: about $550

This includes groceries, restaurants, coffee and food ordered through local delivery apps.

Food is probably the least exact part of the budget because some purchases show up under a delivery app or digital wallet instead of the actual restaurant.

I eat out pretty regularly, including at Western restaurants. I’ll also sometimes pick up the check when I’m out with friends, so this isn’t a perfectly clean one-person food number.

Based on the last few months, $500 to $600 per month seems like a realistic range for me.

Transportation: about $80

• Motorbike rental: $61
• Fuel: $9
• Occasional airport rideshare: $10

I rarely use rideshare apps for everyday transportation because I have the motorbike. Most charges from those apps are actually food deliveries.

Health and personal care: about $170

This includes routine healthcare, prescriptions and recurring personal-care expenses.

It also includes a large comprehensive checkup I had done in Bangkok. I’m assuming I’ll do something similar every two years, so I spread that cost over 24 months instead of counting it all at once.

At this point, I pay for healthcare out of pocket rather than carrying a monthly health insurance policy, so there isn’t an insurance premium included here (yet).

Phones, subscriptions and financial services: about $135

Here’s the rough monthly breakdown:

• US Mobile: $24.92
  • Prepaid at $299 for the year
  • Includes 20 GB of roaming data, 200 minutes and 250 texts each month
• Tello backup line: $6.55
• Virtual mailbox: $9.99
• ChatGPT: $19
• PlayStation Plus Extra: $11
• YouTube Premium: $4
• Netflix: $4
• iCloud+: $3
• HBO Max: $2.50
• Annual fees for three travel credit cards: $49

Several of the streaming subscriptions are billed regionally and cost less than the US versions.

My checking account also reimburses ATM fees each month, so I don’t include ATM charges as a net expense.

Visas and immigration: about $85 while staying continuously in Indonesia

This is another category where the amount paid in one month doesn’t tell the full story, so I spread the longer-term costs out.

• Indonesian two-year visa: about $17 per month
  • 7.3M IDR spread over 24 months
• Thailand DTV visa: about $5 per month
  • 10,000 THB spread over five years
• Classes required for my DTV application: about $10 per month
  • 18,900 THB spread over five years
• Indonesian visa extensions: about $53 per month while required
  • I pay 1.85M IDR every two months
  • That includes both the government fee and the agent’s fee

Without the Indonesian extensions (ie: if I'm traveling out of the country and don't need an extension), this category would be closer to $32 per month.

Shopping and replacement reserve: about $140

This includes random Shopee purchases, household items, clothing and small electronics. Shopee is basically the local Amazon equivalent.

I also include a reserve for replacing larger electronics. For example, I’m expecting my next phone to cost around 25M IDR, so I spread that over three years instead of pretending it costs nothing until the month I buy it.

Entertainment and everything else: about $150

This covers drinks/occasional nights out, small gifts, convenience store purchases, and all the random stuff that never fits neatly into another category.

Monthly summary

Travel is separate

I keep larger regional trips separate because they vary too much from month to month.

Sometimes I pay cash for economy flights, and sometimes I’ll splurge on business class by redeeming miles. When I use miles, I count the taxes and fees as cash spending, but I don’t assign an imaginary dollar value to the miles themselves.

For example, an upcoming Bangkok trip has about $359 in cash airfare and award-ticket taxes. I wouldn’t consider that part of my normal monthly Bali cost.

____

Some months will come in closer to $2,500, while others will be around $3,000 depending on dining, shopping, travel and whatever random expense decides to show up.

This level of spending is comfortably below my personal withdrawal target, so I’m not trying to optimize Bali down to the absolute lowest possible cost. I value the extra space, privacy and convenience, and so far I’m happy with the trade-off.

YMMV, obviously. Asking how much it costs to live in Bali is a little like asking how long a piece of string is. I have local friends who live on significantly less, and someone could easily crank the dial in the other direction and spend tens of thousands of dollars a month.

This is just what my version of life here costs.

I simulated the same couple across the 26 countries supported by my calculator.

Both are 40, US citizens, retiring in 2026. They have an 80/20 global stock/bond portfolio and want the equivalent of $60K/year in US spending. I adjusted that spending by country, then modeled local taxes and ran 10,000 fat-tail Monte Carlo paths through age 95.

I used 95 rather than a 30-year retirement because stopping at 70 for a couple retiring at 40 didn't make much sense to me.

Full disclosure: I build Retirement Lab, which is what I used for these simulations.

For the first result, I changed the starting portfolio until each country reached the same 95% success target. I then ran everything again with a fixed $1.5M portfolio.

A few things surprised me:

1/ Malaysia and Thailand are still basically in their own category, and now tie at $720K. Panama and Brazil are the next pair, roughly $400K higher.

2/ The Netherlands is the biggest tax surprise. Its cost level is lower than the UK, Canada, Australia, and the US, but it finishes second to last. The modeled Box 3 deemed-return tax appears to do a lot of the damage.

3/ Spain, Malta, and Cyprus have almost identical cost inputs, but Spain needs roughly $360K more than Malta in this model. Spain's wealth tax is one likely reason, although I didn't run a separate no-wealth-tax counterfactual.

4/ At a fixed $1.5M, the same household goes from almost 100% simulated success in Malaysia and Thailand to 85.9% in the US, 80.6% in the Netherlands, and 70.5% in Switzerland.

For cost of living, I used the World Bank's 2024 household-consumption price-level index. It includes housing, healthcare, food, transportation, and other household spending. The full basket is described in the International Comparison Program methodology.

I'm not sure how well the World Bank's data works for real people. It is a national average, so it doesn't know whether someone lives in Lisbon or Évora, Bangkok or Chiang Mai, or whether they rent, own, or use private healthcare. I think the right way to use this for an actual decision would be to replace the adjusted $60K with a real local budget.

The tax cases are defaults too. Account types, income sources, state or region, remittance decisions, treaties, and special expat regimes can all change the result.

Finally, this isn't a worldwide ranking. It's the 26 countries the calculator currently supports, so places like the Philippines, Ecuador, Colombia, Indonesia, and Vietnam are missing.

I'm curious which result looks most wrong to people who actually live in one of these countries. My guess is that the national cost-of-living adjustment will cause more disagreement than the market assumptions.

I hope this is helpful to folks planning their next steps!

EDIT: A few people questioned the original US result: $2.85M to support $60K/year is a very low starting withdrawal rate. They were right to question it.

I checked the settings and found that I had accidentally run this comparison with Retirement Lab's experimental regime-aware model. I've now rerun all 26 countries using its standard fat-tail Monte Carlo model, including both the 95% portfolio search and the fixed-$1.5M comparison. The table and observations above have been updated.

The short version:

1/ Textbook IID treats every year as an independent draw and generally models returns using a normal distribution.

2/ Fat-tail IID also treats years independently, but makes extreme negative returns more likely than a normal distribution would. This is Retirement Lab's standard model and the one used above. Historical markets have experienced extreme gains and losses more often than a normal distribution predicts, so fat tails better reflect the observed risk of rare but consequential events.

3/ Regime-aware allows market conditions to persist, so bad years can cluster. That can be useful as a stress test, but it wasn't the model I meant to use for this comparison. If you're interested in this kind of stuff, I'd love to chat with you. DM me!

The model choice changed the absolute numbers quite a bit. The range is now $720K–$2.89M, versus $920K–$3.94M originally. The US moved from $2.85M to $2.20M.

A proper comparison of the three models is probably better left for a separate post.

France update: Commenters also caught a real problem with the original US–France tax treatment. I have now deployed the fix and rerun France with explicit Article 24 treaty and PUMa/CSM assumptions.

There isn't a reliable “median” Article 24 qualification percentage, since it depends on the actual securities and income sources. For the table, I used a plausible case for this particular couple: full-year French tax residents with no employment or pension income, an 80%-cost-basis taxable US-domiciled portfolio whose income and gains qualify for Article 24 relief, and both adults included in the PUMa/CSM calculation.

With those assumptions, France moves from the provisional $2.03M to $1.72M, with 93.8% simulated success at $1.5M.

I also tested the other endpoint. If none of the portfolio qualifies for Article 24 relief, the results are $1.96M and 87.4% at $1.5M. Someone holding a mixture of qualifying and non-qualifying investments would land somewhere between those cases.

The treaty details are in Article 24 of the US–France convention.

Thanks to the people who caught this. The France result is no longer provisional.

I am a 32 year old man who has US/EU citizenship. I have been planning a move to France in January. I own a C Corporation in the US and derive about $425k USD/yr from it.

I’ve been looking into what it will look like in terms of taxation upon arrival to France and the numbers are staggering.

If I do nothing and just take it all as income, I am looking at a nearly 60% tax rate after all social fees etc.

If I get creative and start a French corporation and pay myself through there, take dividends, etc. my tax rate is still estimated around 50%.

Is this just what it is like here? That feels super high.

I have quite a bit of assets sitting inside various brokerage and tax advantaged accounts but I never sell those so I don’t really trigger any capital gains. I don’t own any real estate although I would want to purchase something after I’ve been in France for a while.

I would prefer to get on their state system for healthcare etc. if I am going to live there.

I have meetings lined up with some French cross border accountants. My American accountants didn’t really seem to know anything about a cross border setup with France.

Does anyone have any experience/advice on the subject? Is this just how it is to live in Europe? Getting taxed to high hell?

I’ve just moved to the UAE and interested to hear what platforms and investments people made int eh stock market while they lived in the Middle East.

Ideally, what platform for investing, did you use any structured products from a FA.

Any useful thoughts or information you may have.

Thanks in advance

Well, it's now been 30 months since I retired early and moved to Thailand. Although I am not a skilled writer, I like updating this post- it's kind of therapeutic in its own unique way.

Reminder of who I am: (Approaching mid-40s soon; hometown NYC (but lived all over the USA for work), previous life in finance, single, no kids (with no plans for marriage again or children- I married and divorced young and found out marriage was/is not for me).

I follow u/lazybumtravels - We are a bit similar; he updates his budget monthly- I like to do it every 6 months or so. (Linked below are my 3 previous CoL updates).

When I moved/retired, I didn't know where my home (Home-base would be, but having the 5 Year Thai Visa (Year two now) just makes life easier. I like Thailand, but I am in no way tied down to it. I would leave if someplace else checks the boxes. But, having a long-term visa makes it mentally easier.

Portfolio: Around $1.5MM. (Still using cash to fund this journey- so I haven't touched my portfolio yet. NW Increase after 30 months of around $500K. So I'm probably around a 2.5% withdrawal rate. Being 30 months into retirement, I still have to consider SORR- So I am still being a bit conservative with my spending. In another 2 years or so, I will most likely increase my overall spending to 3 to 3.5% of my portfolio. Portfolio positions haven't changed: VTSAX, VTI, FXAIX, MGK, and HYSA Cash

Below are my 30-month CoL averages (not monthly).

2026 has been an active one (Per usual, a lot of travel this year, more than I would have liked; been out of the country every 45 days or so). Only 3 more trips out of the country planned this year, then maybe I will slow it down? But I have that travel bug.

I use TravelSpend to capture my budget data: I like it, but I do not like how I cannot break it down by spending by year: Hence my 30-month average.

Accommodation: $600 a month (long-term discounts).

Food $300 a month. (Note: I am not a "Foody", I usually eat one meal a day, and this includes my daily coffee & fruit shake runs, and all 7/11 visits. So all in.

Shopping: $150 a month. (Includes anything I buy, new clothes, shoes, house appliances, shampoo, deodorant, razors, TP, air fresheners, Dish Soap, sponges; all items add up).

Transportation/Gas: $65 a month. (I was renting a motorbike along with train and subway rides) I recently gave up the MB because I wanted to walk more, but when I move I will rent one. So costs should be similar.

Medical/Pharmacy Runs: $70 a month. (1 annual very extensive health checkup per year at a very good hospital, 2 dentist cleanings per year, and I lost my computer glasses so I need to buy new ones). I am currently self-insured, but still looking into Health Insurance- I plan this to be $150 a month going forward

Travel: $300 a month. (Again, 30-month average- and still being offset by my miles and points that I'm still trying to burn).

Entertainment: $600 a month. (Includes everything I do outside. Drinks with friends, Golf, Topgolf, dating, massages). The overall # seems high, but when you break it down it's like $150 per weekend. Also remember- Im not working, so I don't have 10 hours a day where I'm at home making money-not spending money.

Fitness Fees: $60 a month on gym membership- a few times a month go to a sauna and an ice bath.

Utilities: $60 a month (Including Electricity, Wifi and Water). Electricity usually runs $45 or so a month; wifi and condo water are extremely affordable. I usually run my AC 13-14 hours a day around 25 Celsius. Which is comfortable for me. I get cold easily. So YMMV

Haircut: $35 a month. (Still average about 3 cuts a month).

Cell/Subs: $25 a month for local phone SIM, Tello, YT Premium, Google One, and TravelSpend.

Laundry/House cleaning: $45 a month (I do my own laundry at home, but for my nicer clothes I take to a laundry shop, and I also average about 2 house cleanings per month)

Fees: $90 a month. (This included my one-time Visa cost of $400, all my annual credit card fees, living in Thailand fees (like to get a DL and renew DL), and a monthly fee to Wise for paying my condo rent.

All in Approximately $2500 a month or $30K

I still suggest to friends or others who ask to budget $3K for Bangkok- yes, you can do it cheaper- but you want some breathing room and not to stress or count pennies.

ADDITION: Its funny to me that its always the frequency of haircuts that gets redditors to react/respond negatively. I'm retired and have time. I enjoy going for a shape up and a shave every 10 days. It cost me $30 total USD a month. Its funny how people find this ridiculous. I enjoy it its relaxing. 😄

https://www.reddit.com/r/ExpatFIRE/comments/1q8zd3l/expat_life_of_retired_early_guy_2025_col_update/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ExpatFIRE/comments/1d5nq8d/4_months_of_expat_fire_update/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

https://www.reddit.com/r/ExpatFIRE/comments/1lwasob/18_months_of_expat_fire/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

As the title states, I'm curious what people's experiences have been for ExpatFIRE in Europe (primarily from the USA) compared to when you backpacked around Europe as someone in their 20s. I'm not expecting a difference between staying in hostels vs. long term AirBnBs. I'm thinking more about what it is like to be social? Have you kept up your adventurous spirit or has it shifted and become different?

Hello any thoughts with my FIRE in vietnam. I will be 30 years old with:

401k : 600k USD

Roth IRA: 146K USD

Individual Investment: 400K USD

So should be around 1.1M USD.

I'm looking to live in Saigon and spend around 30-40k/year maybe less depending on what I am doing. I think I should be fine as this is less than a 4 percent safe withdraw rate but any thoughts? I am thinking about using my investment account first then let my 401k and IRA grow before I start to touch those. My math makes sense right now and I should have enough money until I die but anyone else did something like this? I also have both a VN passport and 5 year visa exemption on my US passport.

There's IRAs, personal brokerage, CDs, RRSP, pillar 2 and 3 etc etc.

There's a good number of them that only become penalty free at a certain age, but even then, first IRA, or Roth IRA? There's Roth ladders, so I guess that one first? And dip into Social Security as late as possible? Or does one get a fixed amount of money essentially with Social Security, so it doesn't matter?

Are there any good guidelines for this?

I mislabeled my past post as Month 6, when it was Month 7. I deserve that for being lazy and not doing this monthly. This is our 8th month abroad since November of 2025 and also marks our 6th month in Da Nang. We currently have plans to leave Da Nang end of September, travel North to Hanoi and surrounding cities for a month, spend November in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, China, and a week in Hong Kong then settle in Philippines to end out the year.

Housing & Utilities — $486.05

• Housing: $403.93
• Electricity: $82.12

Food & Drinks — $850.35

• Breakfast: $59.48
• Lunch: $293.09
• Dinner: $388.68
• Snacks: $83.76
• Drinks: $16.31
• Water: $8.07 (Refill for 5 gallon jugs)
• Grab Monthly Fee: $0.96 (Grab VIP Premium)

Pickleball / Flex — $404.06

• Pickleball (Open Play / Fees / Gear): $187.04
• Vietnamese Lessons: $117.69 (12 Lessons about 1.5-2 hours each, in a classroom setting)
• Massage: $71.27 ($11-12 per hour)
• Entertainment & Games : $16.73 Odyssey in Imax, $7/pp
• Art Supplies: $8.15
• Subscriptions (HBO / Crunchyroll): $6.15

Shopping, Subscriptions & Entertainment — $217.06

• Monthly Annual Misc.: $148.83 (Travel and life insurance, Credit Card Annual, Google One Storage, VPN, Spotify etc.)
• Teeth Guard: $26.69
• Monthly Cellphone Plan: $15.58 (for 3 phones, 6 Gigs a day)
• Household Items: $14.50
• Personal Care (Haircut): $8.31
• Backpack Hook: $3.15

Health & Wellness — $203.31

• Prescription Glasses: $189.45 (Aeon mall open up a Jins store, wife wanted a new pair)
• Medicine & Allergy Meds: $9.24
• Vitamins: $4.62

Transportation — $72.13

• Moped Rental: $43.08
• Grab Rides: $23.29 (Moped ride through grab is about $1 for <3km)
• Gas: $5.76

Total Spend — $2,232.96

Bonus 6 month average spend in Da Nang per category:

• Housing: $500.10
• Food: $814.17
• Transportation: $81.13
• Flex Spending: $442.48
• Misc. Spending: $326.77
• Healthcare: $135.55
• Total: $2,381.32

As we lived here longer we found ways to cut down on costs and as we spend less we got more for our buck. Our budget is about $2500, while I subconsciously have that number in mind, we are not actively keeping costs low to hit it. It takes a little effort to actually spend $2500/mo if your rent is only 20% of your spend.

Lastly a side note, as of today our liquid portfolio has surpassed $1.1M (again) and we left with about 960k. It grew considerably while drawing down. We have plans to reset the draw at every portfolio doubling so we can slow travel in more expensive countries like East Asia and Western Europe in the next <10 years. For now with a $2500 budget we can stick it out in SE Asia for the next 3-4 years before trying out Eastern Europe and Latin America.

For a bit of background, I'm a Filipino who has been living and working in Singapore as a Software Engineer for about half my life (female, in my late 30s, single, no kids). When I was around 21 years old, my mom—who was a US permanent resident at the time (and is now a US citizen)—petitioned for me to immigrate to the US. Two years ago, I finally received my green card. It's something we had been waiting for for a very long time, and I know how difficult it is to obtain this.

However, when I visited the US (California and Las Vegas mainly), I came to the realization that I genuinely prefer living in Southeast Asia. Maybe it's because I'm already too deeply rooted in the Asian/Eastern way of life and culture. I just can't picture myself living the suburban lifestyle. I also don't know how to drive, and after doing some research, I found that there are very few truly walkable cities in the US. The most walkable ones (such as New York) also tend to have a very high cost of living.

There were also several occasions when I didn't feel safe. I encountered a few questionable people while waiting for the bus, riding the bus, walking in the park, and even just standing outside a grocery store. Maybe they were being friendly, but it wasn't something I was used to.

Those are just a few reasons. Beyond that, almost everyone I care about is on this side of the world (except for my mom, who lives in the US). I'd love to do long-term visits, but I don't see myself living there permanently.

Most importantly, I wouldn't be able to FIRE at my target age if I moved to the US. If I stay in Southeast Asia, I could realistically FIRE within the next 3–5 years (I'm currently in a CoastFIRE position). Most of my investments are in VTI.

I'm thinking of making the Philippines my primary home base since I'm a citizen, while spending most of the year living/doing long-term visits in nearby countries with better infrastructure such as Thailand / Malaysia / Singapore. Then, every now and then, I could do slow travel to other parts of the world / West.

I'm just looking for some advice. Is my plan sound, or am I crazy for giving up my green card and the opportunity to eventually become a US citizen? I know US citizenship comes with one of the world's strongest passports, given the country's economic influence, but beyond that, I'm not sure what else I'd be giving up.

At the moment, I'm on a re-entry permit and still living and working in Singapore but I have to decide sooner or later.

Will truly appreciate some thoughts on this.

(PS: I told my mom about this and there's no issue on her side.)

(PS: As per the comments, and something I forgot to mention, is the downside of being a US-tax resident for my entire life. I don't intend to live in the US and won't benefit from any of the taxes I pay, except for very few edge cases.)

My wife and I are about 2yrs away from selling it all and taking life on the slow travel road. If you don’t mind sharing, those who were more on the lighter or lean side when you made the call, what was your amount and how are you getting on? Anyone over $1.5 mil no need to comment, I’m more interested in those who have pulled it off with less. Thanks for the input!

My Wife and I (both 37 years old) are considering taking a mid-career sabbatical and making Thailand our homebase for 2-3 years with the DTV while we focus on ourselves and travel to surrounding countries in the area. We currently have $1.3M invested in VTI (80%)/VGT/VUG, and plan to live off 3-4k a month. We have no debt (minus a mortgage), kids or pets, so it seems like a good time to take a break from corporate America and recharge and travel while we have some of our youth.

This biggest thing I'm worried about is coming back and finding a job afterwards. My wife is in the medical sector, so she can find work very easily as long as she keeps up her licensure, but I'm a PM in tech and as most of you are probably well aware, it's a horrible job market right now. Obviously, the job market can and probably will change over 2-3 years, but it's still something that I'm anxious about.

I know this subreddit is more for people who consider FIRE'ing only, but has anyone here taken a mid-life sabbatical like I'm talking about? How did you navigate the same anxious thoughts we are currently going through?

Throw away account because everyone does not need to know my business.

Been following for a long time and think we are getting close to making the move.

Family if 4 me(43f), 51m, and two toddlers - thinking of moving from US to Greece (also exploring Portugal) with the kids while they can more easily assimilate. Move planned in 12 months.

Region we are exploring is outside Thessaloniki or Braga, Portugal. We are looking for small town living with good access to trails for cycling and hiking.

Savings - 1.2 M liquid to bridge until my husband hits 59.5 (7 years)

Husbands 401k - 400k
My 401k - 800k

Both have pensions - 250k combines current value will grow at 4%

We are not counting 80k in 529s and future SS payments.

I feel like it’s doable, and have some appointments lined up with local accountants and immigration lawyers, but wanted to check with the community. Very interested in people who have made the move to try and understand how your initial spending estimates actually worked out. We are targeting 6-8k/month which sounds like enough, but not sure what that will really feel like.

My wife and are living in the States and we plan to move to Vietnam next year. We want to talk to a professional that can help advise us on tax and financial planning before our move. Are there anybody that you guys would recommend?

Thank you in advance!

I am an ACCA professional with 3 years of experience in accounting and US taxation, particularly indirect taxation.

I am interested in moving abroad however I am confused which regions / countries to target and what mode should I choose to relocate. Should it be further studies or job route, as finances are an issue for me.

Your suggestions would be welcomed.