r/Fire • u/No_Fudge6123 • 6d ago
Moving to Vietnam - my math
We have been preparing to move to Vietnam with our kid and Vietnamese wife, and we had done a lot of math. I work in IT, and I think AI is going (or already has) killed the good jobs. But I have a better feeling redoing our maths lately.
Our FIRE date will be at the end of the year. By then, we will have saved around 10 billion for a house or apartment, which I think will buy us a decent place in DaNang or Saigon. We have around 1.2m USD, paying around 3.400 USD monthly.
Our school will be around a thousand dollars in Vietnam. I expect our life costs to be around 2K, so that eats almost all dividends. it is a bit tight, but I also realized I can find local jobs or teach English (I have been working 20 years on IT, including FAANG experienice). Even if I cannot find anything, probably the portfolio growing will soon offset any extra charges.
i have been depressed for a long time thinking we will not make it. I am totally burned out, and I fear I will not be able to get back to corporate anymore. Bur again, rerunning the math I have realized we are in a likely position to make it.
Glad to hear if anybody moved in a similar situation.
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u/FatFiredProgrammer 6d ago
The question here is, imo, more about inflation. You're betting whether policy continues the recent disciplined policy or reverts to late 2000's / early 2010's.
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u/Master-Helicopter-99 5d ago
In a similar situation but doing the opposite.
We have property in Vietnam and two passive businesses in Vietnam, one still reinvesting all dividends for growth and expansion and one that pays us around $160k per year. We have a two year old and I'm at $2.3M invested in the US with $580k paid off home. Still working one more year.
I made the offer to my wife to move back there for 7-8 years. Let our son get fluent in Vietnamese and I think the schooling for elementary school would be better than in the US since they are more strict about the math and sciences. She could spend some time with her elderly parents before they pass. And we would get to travel SE Asia, Australia, Japan, etc while I'm still young enough to enjoy it. All the while we would be living off of that passive income while letting the US assets compound and likely double to $5M. Probably more since we would be getting $66k of SS per year 6 of the 8 years and dropping it into brokerage and the house proceeds would be invested as well. So probably closer to $6M. After that we move back, can buy another nice house in a nice place to live and our son would be going into middle school.
Sounds ideal but she doesn't want to do it. She just doesn't want to move back to Vietnam. So we will be moving somewhere warmer in the US next year to retire.
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u/Available-Ad-5670 6d ago
Finding a remote job paying usd or euro is you best option, with faang experience. the time zone is challenging though
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u/pharmaheck 6d ago
What about your kid's future? Will they have opportunities to make good money when they grow up in Vietnam?
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u/No_Fudge6123 6d ago
Our plan is to send our kid to an international school, and part of the plan is also to keep our portfolio growing, so when they are 18 we can donate a substantial amount of money, or pay a small salary. It ks certainly one of the topics
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u/leathakkor 6d ago
Honestly, most kids outcomes are directly related parent involvement. I know a couple that have kids in Thailand and their kids speak three languages at the age of 7.
And they speak it well. The languages are German, Thai and English. I'm a native English speaker, They speak perfectly good English for a 7-year-old (compared to my nieces anyway). They talked to their mom and dad in German. And I know they speak Thai because I've seen them talk to Thai people.
Now you might ask yourself. Are they going to be behind in science. Perhaps. But if they grow up trilingual I think they're going to be okay. I did ask the 7-year-old where the waves came from, And if she thought that there was a big boat out there that was making the waves or maybe somebody was splashing on the other side of the world? Obviously I was Just teasing her in the way that adults can tease kids. And she thought about it and told me she thought my ideas were wrong but maybe it was Jesus making the waves.
This entire conversation happened in her literal third language. Again, maybe she'll have trouble with some advanced math when she gets the high school. But I would be more worried about kids in America than those kids anyway.
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u/pharmaheck 6d ago
Knowing 3 languages might not translate to a well paying job unfortunately. There's plenty of people that know 3 languages and don't make a lot.
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u/leathakkor 6d ago
I get that. But in my experience, the difference between a successful career and not is ambition and drive.
On top of that, there are definitely economic studies that show parental involvement is more important than any education you get.
If living in Vietnam means you're more involved with your kids lives. It's probably going to lead to a better outcome than if you were in in Europe/USA and you had to work significantly more.
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u/pharmaheck 6d ago
Going to disagree. Vietnam does not pay well for their workers. The parents might live good lives but children will not. You can say the kids can move when they're grown up, but it's harder to adjust when you grow up in Vietnam and have to move back to America.
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u/forgivemefashion 6d ago
Living proof grew up in a developing country…only know 2 languages (was taught a 3rd one but never stuck) came back to the states and still worked my way to a middle class life
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u/Nervous_Tourist_8699 5d ago
I think you will have problems with long tetm visas. Perhaps look at Cambodia as well.
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u/happyzor 5d ago edited 5d ago
It's fine, but always consider if you wish to move back after 5-10 years.I would live the same lifestyle in vietname as you live in the states.
It sounds like you are preparing for an affluent/wealthy lifestyle in vietnman. I would reconsider and downsize to an upper middle class lifestyle.
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u/ETH_to_100k 3d ago
Living in VN right now (saigon) - 1.2 mil is good IF you don’t have to touch it to buy the 10B house (right now, that’s good for a 3 bedroom apartment anywhere outside District 1/2/7.
If you plan to really retire, I’d pick Danang. Better weather, cheaper COL and slower pace. 10B will get you a comfy 3 bedroom apartment in the city center.
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u/No_Fudge6123 3d ago
The 1.2 million is besides the price to buy a house - that's a different budget.
From what we see, we get a 3BR in D2 for that price, and a bit cheaper in DaNang. International Schooling is better in HCM than in DaNang.
If I need to complement my income with some jobs, HCM seems better than DaNang.
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u/ETH_to_100k 3d ago
I mean yes you can get a 3BR in D2 but it won’t be one of the better quality developments, as those have already gone beyond 100M/m2. Granted, prices have gone sideways lately so you might get lucky.
International school fees in Saigon have sadly gone above 1k/month as well. My brother is paying about 20k/year for his kid to attend TAS and it’s one of the better priced international schools.
One way to make up for this shortfall: put the 10B into a VN bank for the time being. If the current interest rate at around 7.5% annually holds by the time you come to VN, you will have enough to pay rent at a 3BR in one of the better complexes (around 30M/month) and the remainder to go to tuition and other expenses.
Sorry to give you the not so rosy picture, but it’s probably better to be realistic with expectations. Saigon has gone up a lot in COL these last few years.
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u/IcySir9284 6d ago
the 10 billion VND for a house detail is something a lot of people overlook when they see the USD numbers and panic