FatFire in India now vs US much later. Is it time to R2I?
My spouse and I (both late 30s) are at a crossroad. We’ve been in Bay Area tech for 15 years and have been incredibly lucky, especially coming from lower-middle-class backgrounds in India. This life is something we never imagined growing up.
However, the way the industry is shifting with AI has us questioning if the "juice is worth the squeeze" anymore. The burnout is real, and I find myself dreaming about passion projects rather than grinding another decade in Big Tech just to hit a higher number.
The Numbers:
- NW: ~$4M (₹37 Cr) all-in.
- Split: 70% liquid (brokerage, 401k, etc.) / 30% real estate equity.
- Estimated India Spend: ₹5L/month (covers rent, International Schools, and vacations).
- The Alternative: If we stay in the US, our "Fat" target is $8M, which likely means another 10 years of the grind.
The Dilemma: Our twins turn 5 soon. We feel like the R2I window is closing; if they get rooted in the US school system, moving them in middle or high school feels unfair. We want them to have that connection to family and culture, but we’re also wary of "one more year" syndrome. We feel $4M provides a very comfortable, upper-middle-class life in a Tier-1 city (Bangalore), allowing us to work on what we actually enjoy.
A few questions for the group:
- For those who R2I’d with a similar corpus, does it feel truly "safe" given inflation (education, healthcare for aging parents, etc.)?
- Is the "quality of life" trade-off (pollution/infrastructure) as bad as people say, or does being close to family (we have parents in the same city) make up for it?
- Did you actually stop working, or did you just end up in the same high-pressure grind for lower pay in India?
Additional Context: We are not US citizens yet, but we expect our Green Cards in the next 1–2 years. Does it make sense to wait for the GC as a "safety net" before leaving, or is that just another form of the golden handcuffs?
Would love to hear from anyone who moved with young kids or decided to stay and grind for the $8M mark.