Very interesting update. Curious why you didn't choose to apply for jobs in the US? There's obviously the Visa issue tying you to an employer, but you could possibly FIRE at LCOL locations and work less hours or non profit.
Hi Marty! Since I've already stayed in the US for ten years, I'm now looking to experience life in a different country. I especially want to target a country where I can quickly earn a PR/citizenship. That rules out the US, since I can only target an EB-2 green card and the wait for that is indefinite. Also, I'm not very sure how easy it is to directly apply for jobs in the US while you're applying from India.
I was going through all your post on FIRE sequentially starting with your move from US to India, 1 year update and then came to this. I will be honest I wasn't expecting you would be ending your FIRE journey. But anyways people learn as they move and we have to adapt to changes. Happy that things are working out for you as you want them.
I am in similar boat as you were in 2021. I am also planning for my FIRE journey and want to move back to India. Will keep your experience in mind during my journey. Thanks for sharing it.
1 thing I would like to know is could you share your FIRE plan. How much was your corpus. How much was your expected monthly expenses calculated in your plan, what was your expected inflation rate and ROI rate in your calculation.
Is traveling the world for few more years only the reason for you getting back in the corporate world? Could you not do that being on FIRE?
Hello FIRE Aspirant! Glad you could resonate with my posts :)
The reason I came out of FIRE was not because I wanted a job, but I wanted to redesign my life situation using my job as leverage. I haven't been happy with the lifestyle I'm getting to live in Bangalore and wanna get out - back to a developed nation, and I'm using my job as a means to get to that goal (either through internal transfer, or through a resume booster for a new job).
I used to very openly talk about my net worth during the early days of the blog, but then started getting self-conscious about that, so took all that info private :) But sharing it here again after a long time.
My wife and I began our FIRE journey with a corpus of $1.3 Million spread out across checking account, brokerage account, HSA, traditional and roth IRA. To be honest I didn't run a whole lot of calculations, just went by the simple 4% safe withdrawal rate rule. That along with a paid off house in Bangalore gave me the confidence to live off our savings indefinitely. Before moving to India, I transferred Rs. 30 lakh to my Indian account to cover our expenses for the first couple years. We basically lived off of that for our 3 years of FIRE.
>> Is traveling the world for few more years only the reason for you getting back in the corporate world?
I'd say some of my long-term vision right now is:
- To move to a developed nation. I'm looking at Germany, or some other European nation with a strong IT-industry base. Another factor I'm looking for is a faster path to PR, and maybe citizenship. The slow-paced European way of life also appeals to me. Couldn't care about lower pay compared to the US, or even compared to India for that matter.
- To build a lifestyle where I'm living in a suburbian city in a decently spacious house, but with close proximity to great outdoors, because that's very important for me to be happy, and for my kids-wellbeing.
- To hold a remote-friendly job that doesn't tie me down to a location, so I can move around as required.
I'm rattling off a vision for my life inspired by Cal Newport's lifestyle centric career planning :)
Congratulations to you for taking the risk (again!) and going ahead with it, especially with how the job market is these days. Honestly, I was not expecting this post :). After reading it, I realized its really important to have a hobby if one plans to FIRE. Although how it pans out in blr is something I can't be sure of.
Did you consider moving to a tier-2 city with less chaos than blr before applying for jobs, where you could've continued your FIRE journey?
And as always, I really like your writing style. Please keep posting!!
Hey PG! Trust me, I have no shortage of hobbies. I'm finding a job not because I was bored, I'm finding a job as a means to get the hell out of Bangalore - which truly is an unliveable city for the kind of lifestyle I'm looking at.
Moving to a tier-2 town holds no incentive to me because most of our extended family is in Bangalore. We'll be lonely in a tier-2 town. And honestly, I'm skeptical that I can have an interesting, outdoorsy lifestyle in a tier-2 town, or even find like-minded progressive people. There's very little to do in tier-2 towns, it gets boring and monotonous in no time. It's also easier-said-than-done for someone in Karnataka that's interested in, say, mountaineering to move to some random tier-2 town near the Himalayas.
My opinions might feel like close-minded generalization. I'll be happy to hear opposing thoughts!
Yeah I agree with you. All are really valid points. Although I am now doubtful of whether I should move from US to India haha. I was highly motivated to pursue my FIRE journey when I came across your blog. Will have to some more research on that now.
I’m happy for you, Dog. I was wondering why you hadn’t posted in such a long while. Job search is all consuming - it makes sense now.
I’m sad that Bangalore crushed one more spirit. It’s not the easiest city to return to. Every morning, riding on my scooter and coming around the bend on ORR at Sarjapur junction and seeing the traffic backed up at least till Bellandur - I would just feel trapped thinking I need to fight through this once again. I’m glad I don’t need to do it or feel that way anymore.
I will miss vicariously seeing FIRE through your posts but I am happy for you. Working in an Indian office is fun and your TC is amazing. Congratulations on your new job. You worked hard for it. Enjoy getting back on the saddle.
I hope it's not the saddle of the bike that Mr. Garrison rides in South Park 😂
I have to commute to the Microsoft office in Bellandur, at least for sometime in the beginning until I can slowly switch to working more from home. Not looking forward to that shitty commute, especially with the rainy season beginning soon. The gates of hell open up in Bangalore whenever there's a big rain.
I'll keep showing up here on the blog ocassionally whenever I feel I have something interesting/useful to say, so this post isn't a goodbye post. I'll be around :)
My take is you need something keep you occupied other than family to keep your brain going haywire.
Either its hobby (real one) which i am also trying to find or some work which keep us occupied for few hours a day else we start finding wrong in every right we have.
Hi Rahul, the problem with moving to a chaotic, crowded metro like Bangalore is that you'll have to compromise on your outdoor hobbies. I used to do a lot of street running and cycling when I was in the Bay Area. A quick hike up a local mountain within a half hour drive was something I used to take for granted. I've given up on all these now in Bangalore - now I run on treadmill and use the stationary bike in the gym.
I used to enjoy making YouTube videos ocassionally, but now even that's a challenge because of the background noise of traffic and distant vehicles honking, which totally ruins the quality of my audio recordings. One of the drawbacks of living in the upper floors of a high-rise apartment (I'm on the 15th floor) is that you'll be exposed to more distant noises, without other buildings in the way to absorb those sound waves. First world problems! :D
You can maintain these hobbies if you are really motivated, but it's no longer as easy and accessible as it once was.
Congrats on the new job (I guess?). I hope your internal transfer goes through and you don’t have to suffer Bangalore traffic for too long.
Tech job market hasn’t been kind over the past year, at least here in the US. Where I work, there’s lots of roles moving to lower-cost-to-hire countries. So don’t beat yourself too much about not finding that job abroad.
Thanks Abhinand! Yeah the job market abroad definitely has been tight, and the huge wave of layoffs in the last couple years have only worsened the situation. So I guess I was testing the job market not exactly at the best time.
That's OK, I'm a patient man and hold on to hope even when my aspirations seem to be years away. So if moving abroad is not on the cards right now, then maybe next year, or the year after :)
Although I've never lived outside of India, I echo your feeling that most cities here are not great to live in. We've been thinking (although at an idea stage only right now) of finding a place an hour or so outside a city where the air is fresher and my daughter has place to run around without constant supervision. Let's see how that goes :)
That's sad not finding a job abroad, but I guess Microsoft is not terrible either, unless you're being called to office every day. I imagine the Bangalore traffic wouldn't help in that case. Hope you get that internal transfer soon!
Hi Prashanth! The idea of living outside the city sounds appealing to me sometimes, but that's only if you don't have the need to travel into the city frequently for work or many other reasons. That drive can very quickly become a huge hassle. Most options in the outskirts of Bangalore are either very expensive gated villas going at the rate of 2-3+Cr, or they're villages, so it seems a little hard to find affordable, decently upscale places in the outskirts without letting go of city conveniences.
I hope to see a post on your blog someday where you've made that move! :)
Very interesting update. Curious why you didn't choose to apply for jobs in the US? There's obviously the Visa issue tying you to an employer, but you could possibly FIRE at LCOL locations and work less hours or non profit.
Hi Marty! Since I've already stayed in the US for ten years, I'm now looking to experience life in a different country. I especially want to target a country where I can quickly earn a PR/citizenship. That rules out the US, since I can only target an EB-2 green card and the wait for that is indefinite. Also, I'm not very sure how easy it is to directly apply for jobs in the US while you're applying from India.
I was going through all your post on FIRE sequentially starting with your move from US to India, 1 year update and then came to this. I will be honest I wasn't expecting you would be ending your FIRE journey. But anyways people learn as they move and we have to adapt to changes. Happy that things are working out for you as you want them.
I am in similar boat as you were in 2021. I am also planning for my FIRE journey and want to move back to India. Will keep your experience in mind during my journey. Thanks for sharing it.
1 thing I would like to know is could you share your FIRE plan. How much was your corpus. How much was your expected monthly expenses calculated in your plan, what was your expected inflation rate and ROI rate in your calculation.
Is traveling the world for few more years only the reason for you getting back in the corporate world? Could you not do that being on FIRE?
Hello FIRE Aspirant! Glad you could resonate with my posts :)
The reason I came out of FIRE was not because I wanted a job, but I wanted to redesign my life situation using my job as leverage. I haven't been happy with the lifestyle I'm getting to live in Bangalore and wanna get out - back to a developed nation, and I'm using my job as a means to get to that goal (either through internal transfer, or through a resume booster for a new job).
I used to very openly talk about my net worth during the early days of the blog, but then started getting self-conscious about that, so took all that info private :) But sharing it here again after a long time.
My wife and I began our FIRE journey with a corpus of $1.3 Million spread out across checking account, brokerage account, HSA, traditional and roth IRA. To be honest I didn't run a whole lot of calculations, just went by the simple 4% safe withdrawal rate rule. That along with a paid off house in Bangalore gave me the confidence to live off our savings indefinitely. Before moving to India, I transferred Rs. 30 lakh to my Indian account to cover our expenses for the first couple years. We basically lived off of that for our 3 years of FIRE.
>> Is traveling the world for few more years only the reason for you getting back in the corporate world?
I'd say some of my long-term vision right now is:
- To move to a developed nation. I'm looking at Germany, or some other European nation with a strong IT-industry base. Another factor I'm looking for is a faster path to PR, and maybe citizenship. The slow-paced European way of life also appeals to me. Couldn't care about lower pay compared to the US, or even compared to India for that matter.
- To build a lifestyle where I'm living in a suburbian city in a decently spacious house, but with close proximity to great outdoors, because that's very important for me to be happy, and for my kids-wellbeing.
- To hold a remote-friendly job that doesn't tie me down to a location, so I can move around as required.
I'm rattling off a vision for my life inspired by Cal Newport's lifestyle centric career planning :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpSlr5TYAEw
Hello!
Congratulations to you for taking the risk (again!) and going ahead with it, especially with how the job market is these days. Honestly, I was not expecting this post :). After reading it, I realized its really important to have a hobby if one plans to FIRE. Although how it pans out in blr is something I can't be sure of.
Did you consider moving to a tier-2 city with less chaos than blr before applying for jobs, where you could've continued your FIRE journey?
And as always, I really like your writing style. Please keep posting!!
Hey PG! Trust me, I have no shortage of hobbies. I'm finding a job not because I was bored, I'm finding a job as a means to get the hell out of Bangalore - which truly is an unliveable city for the kind of lifestyle I'm looking at.
Moving to a tier-2 town holds no incentive to me because most of our extended family is in Bangalore. We'll be lonely in a tier-2 town. And honestly, I'm skeptical that I can have an interesting, outdoorsy lifestyle in a tier-2 town, or even find like-minded progressive people. There's very little to do in tier-2 towns, it gets boring and monotonous in no time. It's also easier-said-than-done for someone in Karnataka that's interested in, say, mountaineering to move to some random tier-2 town near the Himalayas.
My opinions might feel like close-minded generalization. I'll be happy to hear opposing thoughts!
Yeah I agree with you. All are really valid points. Although I am now doubtful of whether I should move from US to India haha. I was highly motivated to pursue my FIRE journey when I came across your blog. Will have to some more research on that now.
I’m happy for you, Dog. I was wondering why you hadn’t posted in such a long while. Job search is all consuming - it makes sense now.
I’m sad that Bangalore crushed one more spirit. It’s not the easiest city to return to. Every morning, riding on my scooter and coming around the bend on ORR at Sarjapur junction and seeing the traffic backed up at least till Bellandur - I would just feel trapped thinking I need to fight through this once again. I’m glad I don’t need to do it or feel that way anymore.
I will miss vicariously seeing FIRE through your posts but I am happy for you. Working in an Indian office is fun and your TC is amazing. Congratulations on your new job. You worked hard for it. Enjoy getting back on the saddle.
>> Enjoy getting back on the saddle.
I hope it's not the saddle of the bike that Mr. Garrison rides in South Park 😂
I have to commute to the Microsoft office in Bellandur, at least for sometime in the beginning until I can slowly switch to working more from home. Not looking forward to that shitty commute, especially with the rainy season beginning soon. The gates of hell open up in Bangalore whenever there's a big rain.
I'll keep showing up here on the blog ocassionally whenever I feel I have something interesting/useful to say, so this post isn't a goodbye post. I'll be around :)
Congrats on new pursuit.
My take is you need something keep you occupied other than family to keep your brain going haywire.
Either its hobby (real one) which i am also trying to find or some work which keep us occupied for few hours a day else we start finding wrong in every right we have.
Hi Rahul, the problem with moving to a chaotic, crowded metro like Bangalore is that you'll have to compromise on your outdoor hobbies. I used to do a lot of street running and cycling when I was in the Bay Area. A quick hike up a local mountain within a half hour drive was something I used to take for granted. I've given up on all these now in Bangalore - now I run on treadmill and use the stationary bike in the gym.
I used to enjoy making YouTube videos ocassionally, but now even that's a challenge because of the background noise of traffic and distant vehicles honking, which totally ruins the quality of my audio recordings. One of the drawbacks of living in the upper floors of a high-rise apartment (I'm on the 15th floor) is that you'll be exposed to more distant noises, without other buildings in the way to absorb those sound waves. First world problems! :D
You can maintain these hobbies if you are really motivated, but it's no longer as easy and accessible as it once was.
https://www.deccanherald.com/india/karnataka/bengaluru/as-mobility-plan-languishes-cyclists-risk-lives-on-b-luru-roads-3050381
Congrats on the new job (I guess?). I hope your internal transfer goes through and you don’t have to suffer Bangalore traffic for too long.
Tech job market hasn’t been kind over the past year, at least here in the US. Where I work, there’s lots of roles moving to lower-cost-to-hire countries. So don’t beat yourself too much about not finding that job abroad.
Thanks Abhinand! Yeah the job market abroad definitely has been tight, and the huge wave of layoffs in the last couple years have only worsened the situation. So I guess I was testing the job market not exactly at the best time.
That's OK, I'm a patient man and hold on to hope even when my aspirations seem to be years away. So if moving abroad is not on the cards right now, then maybe next year, or the year after :)
Although I've never lived outside of India, I echo your feeling that most cities here are not great to live in. We've been thinking (although at an idea stage only right now) of finding a place an hour or so outside a city where the air is fresher and my daughter has place to run around without constant supervision. Let's see how that goes :)
That's sad not finding a job abroad, but I guess Microsoft is not terrible either, unless you're being called to office every day. I imagine the Bangalore traffic wouldn't help in that case. Hope you get that internal transfer soon!
Hi Prashanth! The idea of living outside the city sounds appealing to me sometimes, but that's only if you don't have the need to travel into the city frequently for work or many other reasons. That drive can very quickly become a huge hassle. Most options in the outskirts of Bangalore are either very expensive gated villas going at the rate of 2-3+Cr, or they're villages, so it seems a little hard to find affordable, decently upscale places in the outskirts without letting go of city conveniences.
I hope to see a post on your blog someday where you've made that move! :)