0:07 the Green Card line is so long and it's
0:09 going to take forever and I'm going to
0:11 lose my prime years of life if I'm going
0:13 to keep on waiting for it so I just
0:16 decided okay no that this is this is not
0:19 for me but I love the fact that I even
0:21 if I move like 20 minutes from here then
0:23 I can cut that number in half so I had
0:25 that flexibility I had that control
0:28 which uh kind of um it wasn't the case
0:31 when I was in US uh the bare minimum was
0:33 pretty high wherever I lived mistake IED
0:35 though like buying this flat right when
0:38 I got the job so I got into like the
0:42 huge uh like a depth for 3 to four years
0:45 uh while moving I was like totally not
0:46 sure if this is going to be for me or
0:48 not because everyone keeps on saying
0:50 that oh you're not going to get used to
0:52 India once you lived in us if you work
0:54 for 8 years and if you are like close to
0:56 it you might just want to finish those
1:00 40 points and uh then move because it's
1:02 big amount to let go couple of years
1:06 back I uh came to India I for 3 months I
1:10 took like unpaid leave and I uh I did a
1:13 trial run kind of like I mean I just
1:15 wanted to see like how my life is now
1:18 now that I have money uh then it
1:21 actually like changed my perspective uh
1:23 when I was deciding it because one of my
1:26 major challenge while deciding it was
1:29 who to ask because uh I knew no one who
1:32 mve to India and then people thinks that
1:34 oh that's a crazy idea why would you do
1:36 that no one does that so I was like but
1:37 why no one does that I didn't know that
1:39 and then later like this year I found
2:02 [Music]
2:04 hello everyone welcome back to another
2:07 episode of Dai return today we have Tes
2:10 on our show the just went to us for his
2:13 Masters and after completing the Masters
2:16 worked there for like uh more than a
2:18 decade spent close to 11 years before
2:22 deciding to move back to India uh as a
2:24 part of the move he wants to Achieve
2:26 Financial Independence retire early so
2:29 that he can follow his passions and uh
2:30 I'm really looking forward to this
2:33 discussion from someone who was in an IT
2:35 background who wants to follow his
2:37 passion in the creative world and how he
2:39 planned on the fire journey and how he
2:42 has achieved and any insights that he
2:44 can provide on that uh with that welcome
2:48 Tes to the show hey hi how you doing
2:51 good so let's start uh a bit about your
2:54 background thees uh your education what
2:57 made you to move to us and so
3:01 on um yeah sure um so when while I was
3:03 doing my engineering in computer science
3:06 I was looking at the numbers of the
3:10 entry level salaries and uh I I was not
3:14 sure if I would be able to uh buy a
3:16 property in India or whatever in that
3:18 like it will take like more years in
3:22 general so I decided to like uh go for
3:26 the Masters and uh uh U like speed that
3:28 up so that I can at least uh get
3:31 comfortable as soon as possible and
3:33 that's where my I think the the thought
3:35 of fire uh Journey started the fire
3:38 lingo is pretty newer so I got exposed
3:39 to it like probably like three or four
3:41 years back when everyone was talking
3:43 about it online but I kind of was
3:46 following those Rule and discipline uh
3:49 throughout my career uh in general uh
3:51 but then I decided to go to my masters
3:54 in computer science and then uh decided
3:58 to stay there for work um I had I didn't
4:00 plan anything while going like until
4:03 when I'm going to leave leave there or
4:04 when I'm going to come back to India I
4:07 was just going with the flow but uh but
4:10 after going there I realized like it's
4:14 fine I mean I was I think I was um the
4:17 life was okay I mean I it was not like
4:19 um there was always pros and cons for
4:22 both sides so I decided um so over the
4:24 time I decided to
4:27 like uh retire early and then do
4:30 something which uh which which intrigues
4:34 me yeah got it so went for Masters
4:36 worked there for uh quite a few years so
4:38 how was the life in general in us and
4:41 when did the idea of moving back to
4:43 India occur because you said you didn't
4:45 had any plans while going there um so
4:47 how is life going and then when this
4:49 thought even occurred to
4:53 you um yeah I mean uh life was good in
4:55 general no complaints um I mean life was
4:58 pretty easy work life balance was good
5:02 uh uh everything was fine it's just uh
5:05 uh in general I I didn't like the H1B
5:08 trap I I felt like first of all like I
5:11 didn't even like the 925 uh gig I I
5:14 think I'm a free bird I wanted to uh I
5:17 don't like to be uh in a contract with
5:21 any entity in general so 925 job was uh
5:23 I realized that it's not for me I want
5:25 to reti anyways and then on top of that
5:29 H1B uh was restricting lot of my freedom
5:32 uh in in general like even if I was in
5:34 tech I couldn't like explore uh
5:37 opportunities by taking risk I always
5:40 want had to like play safe uh and I
5:42 didn't like that because it's just I
5:46 felt I couldn't use the potential as uh
5:49 much as I could uh if I didn't have this
5:54 visa restrictions um so I I just did
5:56 thought like I this is not a place for
5:58 me I mean I was I was hoping for like
6:00 maybe in 10 years years I will get a
6:01 green card or citizenship or something
6:03 like that and then I'll have more
6:05 freedom um that's
6:09 why that's that's what my Hope was but
6:11 the Green Card line is so long and it's
6:13 going to take forever and I'm going to
6:15 lose my prime years of life if I'm going
6:17 to keep on waiting for it so I just
6:20 decided okay no that this is this is not
6:23 for me I mean that uh even if I get
6:26 green card in next next five to 10 years
6:27 I'll again have to live for five more
6:30 years in order to get the citizenship
6:32 uh and and I didn't feel that it was
6:35 worth it so uh but life in general was
6:38 good but it was monotonous it was
6:41 restrictive uh the traveling uh was a
6:43 hard part because every time the
6:47 stamping and then um you just end up not
6:49 doing any plans it's not that it's not
6:51 it's not like a prison that you are
6:53 trapped but it's just the choice you
6:57 make is in in general like because it's
6:58 just so much hassle even if you want to
7:00 go to the Europe then you're going to
7:01 get the shenen visa which is going to be
7:04 then another city like the embassy is
7:05 going to be another city you have to fly
7:07 there um then you have to Visa then you
7:09 have to come to India then go to
7:12 stamping and again again and then uh
7:14 there are not many vacations in Us in
7:17 general uh I used to take UNP leaves
7:19 anyway because I thought it was
7:21 important but it's just the traveling
7:24 restrictions uh wasn't so I couldn't
7:27 even use that money as I could right so
7:30 I think uh over the time of felt
7:33 like this H1B thing is not going to work
7:36 out for me so so if you're okay again
7:37 you know just to confirm from
7:40 immigration side you have your i140 upov
7:41 but again you don't want it to wait for
7:44 your green card to come uh available
7:46 like in 5 years 10 years whatever it
7:47 like I mean you just don't want to have
7:49 that restricted you want the flexibility
7:51 to choose what you want what you want to
7:53 do and I think that's the motivation for
7:55 you to you know kind of think about
7:58 moving out of us if you're relocating to
8:01 India after years abroad listen up I
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9:07 better decisions ready to plan your move
9:09 with the confidence click the link below
9:12 in the description to join for free and
9:14 start receiving actionable strategies
9:17 right in your inbox yes uh that was
9:20 primary reason and also like U even
9:22 though if so I wanted to all come back
9:24 to India in general anyways for to
9:27 pursue my creative Fields that's that's
9:30 talk about later uh but U I think uh
9:33 even if I get the even if I got the
9:36 citizenship in us I think uh the Double
9:39 taxation part was something I wasn't
9:41 like uh comfortable with so I would
9:43 rather go for citizenship with some
9:45 other country where uh I don't have the
9:47 double taxation thing if you're aware of
9:49 that whereever you live in the world you
9:51 had to pay taxes in us and whereever you
9:54 live right so uh by the time you're 50s
9:56 and 60s your income racket is going to
9:59 be more and then you're going to end up
10:02 paying taxes on the both sides that then
10:03 again you going to rethink about the
10:04 citizenship right so that was another
10:08 reason that I wasn't that uh Keen
10:10 towards living back in us just for that
10:13 reason yeah okay just to maybe one uh uh
10:15 you know key information there I think
10:17 even if you become an US citizen you
10:20 have to pile your taxes on the global
10:22 income but uh you know if you pay taxes
10:23 you will get credited because of the
10:26 double taxation avoidance uh treaty
10:28 that's there between India and us uh but
10:30 for sure to your point yeah whichever
10:32 taxes is higher you have to pay those
10:33 taxes you know IR respect to even if
10:36 you're not living in that country so
10:39 that sounds great um so I know you moved
10:41 early this year like it's been about an
10:44 year so when did the thought of moving
10:46 occur to you like was it like uh four
10:48 years five years or is it just like
10:50 something that you planned uh quickly uh
10:51 anything that you can talk about your
10:53 planning and when this thought occurred
10:57 and how did you go about it so over the
11:00 time I always uh knew that I want to at
11:01 some point move here like like I said
11:03 like probably get a citizenship and then
11:05 have some Freedom then move around like
11:08 40s of my age or something like that but
11:10 uh uh the last year I was like just
11:13 running some numbers and uh I think the
11:15 fire number I had in my mind was crazy
11:17 like I don't know why I had that uh it
11:19 was like crazy in multi-million or
11:22 something and then I uh because of that
11:24 I thought like oh maybe until 40 I'll
11:27 probably reach there and then uh uh
11:28 that's why I was like working towards it
11:31 but then I started following the fire
11:33 Community online on the Reddit and the
11:34 YouTube and there's bunch of resources
11:36 online right now and then the formula
11:39 was like just uh made it easy to
11:44 calculate like annual uh expense into 25
11:46 and then I thought like that is
11:50 achievable like I mean u i uh yeah last
11:53 year uh uh when I made the number I was
11:55 closely towards it but now I'm
11:58 comfortably uh I can say achiev that
12:00 number so I thought I was just
12:02 overthinking and I was you don't need a
12:05 crazy number to retire in general so uh
12:08 when I realized that and then I realized
12:11 uh while I'm single I can move around I
12:14 have the freedom to do anything and uh I
12:17 have energy and excitement to go around
12:20 places and do things and uh I just
12:23 decided to do it uh within a year so
12:26 makes sense so it's the idea of like uh
12:28 when is the right time to move is the
12:30 realization of that happen in last year
12:32 and then you just executed on that um so
12:35 let's uh talk a little bit on this fire
12:37 thing so if you're open uh you can talk
12:39 about like you know maybe a calculation
12:41 from an expenses on how how much it
12:45 would cost to live in a city in India
12:47 and uh you know the multiple so if you
12:48 can talk through that like you know what
12:50 is that you went through in your thought
12:52 process on seeing like what is that
12:54 number where you are comfortable to make
12:56 that plunge to move to India you know
12:59 where uh that fire number would work um
13:02 yeah and again with that I think I was
13:04 overestimating numbers before coming
13:06 here uh after moving here I realized
13:08 that the number are highly flexible you
13:11 can take a control of it and uh um it's
13:14 easy to cut down on numbers if you
13:18 really want to um so cost wise I'm I'm
13:20 living in Mumbai which is uh probably
13:23 the most expensive city um uh in in
13:26 India even in the world probably uh one
13:29 of the but uh but I think that's why the
13:31 number are little bit little bit higher
13:33 but I love the fact that I even if I
13:36 move like 20 minutes from here then I
13:38 can cut that number in half so I had
13:39 that flexibility I had that control
13:43 which uh kind of U it wasn't the case
13:45 when I was in us the bare minimum was
13:49 pretty high wherever I lived so and also
13:51 like having a family house in India
13:53 helps that you have that mental Security
13:55 in your head that uh even if something
13:57 goes wrong you always have a place to go
13:59 to uh so that's another
14:02 uh aspect that gives you a peace of mind
14:05 um the cost wise u i mean talking about
14:09 cost I think uh i w i I keep my budget
14:13 around like two lakh a month um uh but I
14:16 later realize uh however I spend it I
14:21 don't reach that number like I uh I I
14:24 spent my uh like I spent on like lot of
14:28 leg things fine dining a month in in
14:29 single month to just see like how can I
14:31 stretch it but it's fine it's it barely
14:34 touches that number uh the rent is uh
14:36 probably the major part in it so apart
14:40 from rent uh I think uh within a lack
14:42 you can uh easily for a single person
14:46 you can easily uh uh like enjoy things
14:49 and eat out and everything and uh if you
14:51 want to if you want to cut down and
14:55 expense just eating at home is pretty uh
14:59 inexpensive in general uh so uh yeah but
15:02 I think my calculation was in general
15:06 was the monthly expense in 25 U but also
15:09 I wanted to keep one lakh uh budget each
15:12 month just for the travel so that I can
15:14 uh travel around uh the world where I
15:16 want to uh because one thing I wanted to
15:19 do before coming moving to India was I
15:21 didn't want to have any regrets like uh
15:23 oh if I was in us I would have spend on
15:26 this I would have uh gone to this place
15:28 or I would ate at this place so I just
15:31 wanted that peace of mind that I I don't
15:32 it doesn't really matter I'm still
15:35 living the same life of course you can't
15:38 compare life like exact to exact like
15:40 you can't have a single family home in
15:42 Mumbai but you can live in a really
15:45 Prime area U with the tiny apartment but
15:47 it's still the access to things is going
15:51 to be still better so uh but it the cost
15:53 varies significantly throughout the
15:57 cities tier to C here City my mom dad
15:59 lives in Pune and the cost and the
16:01 standard of living is completely
16:03 different it's probably like one third
16:06 of what I'm spending here so it it
16:08 depends uh so it depends on where you
16:11 want to live and I because of uh I
16:13 wanted to be close to the creative uh
16:16 field I think I chose Mumbai uh and I
16:18 grew up around here so I I was more
16:22 familiar with it um that's why I I had
16:23 some higher fire number in my mind
16:25 otherwise uh just moving to India in
16:28 some other city is fairly easier if
16:29 you're working in US
16:31 got it so I think just to summarize I
16:33 think for a single person living in
16:36 Mumbai uh if you keep the rent aside
16:38 which is a big major factor because of
16:39 the you know depending on the location
16:41 and so on it could vary a one lakh is a
16:44 good number to plan for you know the
16:46 budget for a monthly expenses with any
16:48 additional money for your travel and so
16:49 on I think that that has been your
16:51 experience and definitely that number
16:54 changes if you go to tear two tear three
16:56 City and the standard of living can
16:58 change you know dynamically I think you
16:59 know dra
17:01 um was there I know you kind of
17:03 mentioned about this fire like even when
17:05 you're going to us right I mean you have
17:07 always have this like you know if you
17:08 want to have a house you know how
17:10 quickly that I can achieve so you are
17:13 financially Savvy or you know thinking
17:15 along those lines from a beginning uh
17:18 how have you planned your Investments or
17:22 your uh things like in us to achieve
17:24 this fire number you know is there
17:25 something that you have followed or you
17:28 split between India and us or primar for
17:31 focused in uh us anything that you can
17:32 share like you know how you planned and
17:34 achieve this fire in as a
17:40 journey um yeah sure uh so I think uh uh
17:42 the most most of my like almost all of
17:45 my investments are in us uh there was
17:47 only one investment I did which was
17:51 buying a flat like a condo in India uh
17:54 which didn't really appreciate at all uh
17:57 but uh my mom dad lives there now so uh
17:59 I think uh that's it's probably worth it
18:03 but uh that that is a uh but apart from
18:06 that most of my investments are in us um
18:09 I think uh the the one mistake I did
18:11 though like buying this flat right when
18:14 I got the job so I got into like the
18:18 huge uh like a depth for three to four
18:20 years and then uh until then I couldn't
18:23 buy a property in us or I couldn't do
18:25 any investment because the loan APR was
18:26 so high in India and I wanted to just
18:29 pay it off as soon as possible uh so
18:31 that is the one mistake I did uh I'm not
18:34 saying uh I I regret it it definitely
18:37 had lot of Pros about having the uh
18:41 mental peace and taking risk after that
18:43 uh but I think I could have grow that
18:46 number way more than what it is right
18:48 now and then buy the flat after like
18:51 five years probably down the road uh so
18:53 that was one retrospectively mistake I
18:57 did uh but uh after that I once I had a
18:59 flat in India and I was like okay I I
19:02 have a uh a property in India to go to
19:04 so even if something goes wrong even if
19:06 my H1B doesn't get picked up uh I don't
19:08 have to worry about it and that was
19:09 another reason I got a flat because I
19:11 was on OPD and I didn't know that if I
19:13 would get H1B or not because there was a
19:15 competition so I wanted some place when
19:18 I go back to India and uh uh so after
19:22 that like I had some uh security back in
19:24 my head and I started taking risk I
19:28 started investing in Risky assets uh and
19:31 and uh I think I initially started
19:35 investing heavily and then the like the
19:38 it during last decade was really a good
19:41 time uh for uh to be in us and I think
19:44 uh my investments grew more than way
19:48 more than average returns uh after that
19:51 um I think what uh what we did like we
19:54 got a property of the money um we
19:58 invested in um and then um you B
20:00 basically had to do the 20% down payment
20:03 but we only did 10% and chose to pay the
20:06 PMI uh and I again reinvested that
20:08 another 10% uh in Market on the heavy
20:12 assets uh like a risk risk heavy assets
20:14 and I almost uh double that money within
20:18 two years uh then um again I put the
20:21 down payment for second house and um
20:23 that was again
20:27 15% uh because the PMI was so High um
20:29 and then I locked in another
20:33 a good interest rate back there uh so uh
20:35 the one first house is almost like
20:38 paying for itself and the another house
20:39 which was a little higher on the mest
20:40 side but it was fine because I know it
20:43 was a longer uh run and the properties
20:45 were in Seattle so I know the with the
20:48 tech bubble and Silicon Valley I think
20:49 if if they call it like Silicon Valley
20:52 in the forest uh so the market is always
20:55 going to be booming in Seattle uh so uh
20:57 that that kind of that is kind of like a
20:59 major portion of my portfolio
21:00 uh where the
21:02 property uh property rates grew in
21:05 Seattle and I was fortunate to be in
21:09 Seattle at that time uh now other than
21:12 that then now that I have that in place
21:15 I uh usually just do the risky asset
21:19 Investments so uh whenever uh so and
21:21 then and and over the time doing this
21:23 with the discipline I am getting good at
21:25 it and now I know what to do what not to
21:28 do I understand the psychology of the uh
21:30 market and psychology of each stocks
21:33 what it does so I think it just took the
21:35 practice I I didn't plan how I would do
21:37 it but over the time doing that
21:41 consistently kind of u u like made me
21:45 better at it so uh so now uh in a way
21:47 the properties are going to be for the
21:49 long term uh where I can retire on it
21:54 probably uh if it uh goes well uh and uh
21:56 the other Investments are going to be
21:59 like for my expenses and what things I
22:01 want to do in life great no thanks a lot
22:03 for such a detailed uh overview and how
22:07 you approached it so am I assuming that
22:08 the two properties that you have in us
22:10 are you renting them out through a
22:14 property management company uh yes okay
22:17 yes I I have a really trusted broker in
22:21 Seattle and uh yeah they take care of it
22:23 uh very well like okay and it's been
22:26 going fine for you uh yeah so far yes
22:29 okay I I made sure like uh I always
22:31 chose to buy a property in a really good
22:34 school district so that you attract the
22:36 a good tenant you attract the good
22:38 prices so even though there were if
22:41 there is a a price plate going on in the
22:44 market that market always stays good so
22:47 yeah that was one of my key point I
22:49 would be I was okay to cut down on uh
22:52 other aspects like interior square feet
22:55 uh but the lot size and the neighborhood
22:57 was the most important things for me to
23:00 buy a property makes sense so yeah let's
23:02 talk on the career side the transition
23:05 so I'm assuming you left your corporate
23:07 world uh because you said you have a
23:11 passion for uh the creative side and uh
23:13 you want to have the financial
23:15 Independence so you left the corporate
23:17 world and moved to India uh is that
23:20 right yeah okay and how is the career
23:22 transition I think you know how how how
23:24 how is this uh uh you know going for
23:26 your passion working out like uh what
23:28 progress you made anything that you can
23:29 share to give some encouragement for
23:31 people who have these things on what
23:35 they can do um yeah sure so uh so the
23:37 thing is like I since I worked for a
23:40 decade uh I wanted to take a break like
23:43 real break and not think about what next
23:45 because uh once I have in my mind what I
23:46 going to do next I'm going to take
23:49 actions and I'm going to be uh Restless
23:53 for it so u i i I took a break entire
23:55 this year I didn't do anything I just
23:58 chilled I traveled uh few places and and
24:01 uh um yeah I was trying to get settled
24:05 in the new place too uh so I think uh
24:07 but from like last one or two months I
24:11 started uh doing the networking just
24:13 because I I think I'm done with the
24:15 sabatical now and I want to uh get to
24:18 the creative field uh but that's why I
24:20 chose to live in Mumbai Mumbai where I
24:23 could meet people around I could uh uh
24:25 have the people so uh there are a lot of
24:27 the creative people lives around here so
24:30 you tend to meet them around at friends
24:33 place at the party or you know wherever
24:36 and that is helpful and then having the
24:38 exposure of uh this surrounding
24:42 motivates you to do things so I uh I met
24:44 a couple of people uh in a brewery on
24:46 and they told me like what to read what
24:48 to uh do in order to get into it then I
24:51 started reading some books and uh uh
24:53 getting it so right now I'm exploring
24:55 the screenwriting area but eventually I
24:57 want to explore the the film making
24:59 process and how economy works if I could
25:01 produce something what it is so it is
25:04 totally new for me so I'm still like
25:07 getting into it but being uh closer to
25:11 the location always helps uh and I think
25:15 that's uh uh So currently I'm just in uh
25:17 like I'm learning some skills so that I
25:20 can offer something and I'm making a
25:23 networking so that I can uh probably
25:25 like ask for something uh but yeah I
25:27 mean depends on what kind of field you
25:29 want to get into there are always the
25:32 steps you always go to the guy and or
25:34 girl and just ask them like how they
25:38 achieved that and what to get like like
25:40 like in coding uh like in the coding
25:41 world you go with the cracking the
25:43 coding intervie book and then you start
25:45 from that then you go to lead code and
25:47 then you go to the job so it's kind of
25:50 fairly simple for all other fields so uh
25:52 of course there is going to be the money
25:55 crunch problem so I wanted to make sure
25:56 that I'm comfortable enough before
25:58 getting into this SE because there is
26:02 uncertainty yeah and uh so so yeah but
26:05 currently um I'm still exploring I am
26:08 still getting out of my sabatical zone
26:10 uh but I'm hoping to start some uh
26:13 internship soon and uh if that works out
26:14 well then I'll probably like start
26:17 working somewhere and go and learn
26:19 things here so how is life in India it's
26:22 been almost getting close to an year um
26:25 and uh anything that you miss in US
26:26 versus like uh you know some of the
26:28 challenges or life in India in general
26:31 like how how has been your experience so
26:34 far uh I mean life is good I mean I so
26:37 far I've been loving it I uh while
26:39 moving I was like totally not sure if
26:41 this is going to be for me or not
26:42 because everyone keeps on saying that oh
26:44 you're not going to get used to India
26:47 once he lived in us for these many years
26:50 uh but I I don't like I didn't find that
26:53 true I mean I am like I like the life
26:55 here in general so of course you can't
26:58 expect the exact things that that you
27:01 had in us but you also have so many
27:02 other things that you want to get
27:04 exposed to so uh I have so much time in
27:06 my hand I have so much Freedom the
27:09 weather is pretty good outside and then
27:13 um um and then I think the community
27:17 community based society is uh is always
27:20 different than um like individualistic
27:23 Society both has its pros and cons uh
27:25 but now that I learned how to live
27:27 individualistic life I think I can
27:30 Implement those in the community based
27:32 society life uh so I think there are
27:33 like yeah pros and cons on both sides
27:36 you just had to choose what works for
27:39 you and how you going to work it out so
27:42 for example like I that's why I decided
27:44 to live in Mumbai specifically in bandra
27:47 which is more exposed to the Western
27:49 World the people around here are more
27:51 exposed to that world so there are like
27:53 lot of like most of the things I used to
27:56 get in us I get it here within 5 to 10
27:58 minutes uh and then the people I'm going
28:00 to meet around are going to be in the
28:04 creative field or in the um somewhere
28:06 some of them are going to be exp so uh
28:09 there is a big exper group that has a
28:12 meetups uh every month uh so things like
28:16 those so I decided to be where uh I will
28:17 feel that that this is going to be my
28:19 community or this is going to where I
28:23 can make my community uh so overall like
28:26 that part is good uh and uh there are
28:28 there are of course some challenges when
28:30 you move to the new place anyways but
28:33 since I grew up around here I think I I
28:37 was familiar with it um so yeah uh
28:41 that's good so any advice uh that you
28:43 can share for people who are considering
28:47 to move to India uh from your
28:50 perspective um yeah I mean if you're
28:52 specifically you're in us uh make sure
28:55 you have i140 approved uh so that even
28:57 if you regret even if you feel like oh
28:59 this is not working out you can easily
29:01 go back and you can approach any company
29:03 they will be happy to send you back
29:07 probably and uh uh try to keep don't
29:09 burn the bridges in the US and just keep
29:12 those door open if in case you know move
29:14 that is that is just for us though and
29:16 uh another thing for us residents would
29:19 be like that uh I saw your post recently
29:21 on your page about 40 points rule of
29:23 Social Security uh so you have to
29:25 complete those 40 points in order to get
29:27 the Social Security benefits uh so I
29:29 don't think it's a big deal but if you
29:31 work for eight years and if you are like
29:33 close to it you might just want to
29:36 finish those 40 points and uh then move
29:40 because it's a big amount to let go uh
29:43 or you can but you can also go back to
29:46 us whenever you want and finish that 40
29:48 Point uh as long as you have I i140
29:50 approved and you are in the same field
29:54 since I was going to uh leave the tech I
29:56 uh I decided to live little bit longer
29:59 like few months and going to the January
30:00 until I leave my job so that I can
30:02 accumate those points those are two
30:06 things specifically for us folks um
30:09 other than that um I think uh we
30:10 shouldn't like romanticize idea of
30:13 living anywhere uh I did that while
30:16 going to us and uh I was disappointed
30:19 because uh it's okay the life is good
30:20 but it's it has pros and cons you have
30:23 to uh look at it and a lot of people do
30:26 that while moving back to India so
30:29 that's not that's not not really uh
30:31 going to work it's going to disappoint
30:35 you on many ways so always try to uh
30:38 like list out pros and cons list uh
30:40 compare what are important things to you
30:41 and what are not and then make the
30:43 rational decision more than emotional
30:49 one uh because uh both sides has uh pros
30:51 and cons and you had to make sure that
30:53 where you will get frustrated less yes
30:57 so for me like that H1B trap uh was a
31:00 frustration and I was like no it even
31:02 though if even if I move to India and I
31:04 don't do anything crazy with my career
31:06 that's fine but I I won't have regret
31:09 about what if what if right so that was
31:13 more than my comfort my single family
31:15 house or car whatever those so I I had
31:19 my pros and cons on my list so maybe do
31:22 that and uh another thing that helped me
31:24 a lot that couple of years back I uh
31:27 came to India I for three months I took
31:31 like unpaid leave and I uh I did a trial
31:33 run kind of like I mean I just wanted to
31:36 see like how my life is now now that I
31:39 have money uh then it actually like
31:42 changed my perspective uh because the
31:44 Life I Lived growing up was very
31:46 different uh because I came from the
31:49 middle class family uh but when I saw
31:52 the 1 perent life in India it is way
31:54 better it's way different and it has a
31:58 lot things to offer um and uh I think I
31:59 lived with my friends in different
32:03 cities and saw how their jobs are and
32:05 how their lifestyle lifestyles are and I
32:07 liked it I was like this is good this is
32:09 not like bad as I was
32:11 imagining not at all like I mean it was
32:14 actually better than in lot of Senses so
32:17 uh if you really are in doubt maybe just
32:20 do the trial run take a shortterm leave
32:23 or whatever um and live for like couple
32:26 of months at least uh even if you are
32:29 going to spend money on this trial you
32:31 can always live three months longer in
32:33 us to cover that cost but you won't have
32:36 regret in general that oh I should have
32:39 probably through this or that um but
32:40 yeah another thing is like if you decide
32:43 to move to India don't buy a house and
32:47 move to India because there's so much uh
32:49 like possibilities of you living
32:51 anywhere and the renting Guild is so low
32:53 that it makes sense to just start with
32:57 the rental and uh uh see where you see
32:59 yourself in next few years if the city
33:00 works for you and if the city works for
33:02 you the neighborhoods are going to be so
33:04 away from each other then if you end up
33:06 getting a job in some other neighborhood
33:08 you g to spend a lot of time on
33:10 traveling especially if you in city like
33:14 Bangalore or uh Mumbai maybe you know so
33:16 uh I think probably just start with it
33:18 until they get the idea of it and once
33:20 you're comfortable then you can probably
33:23 think about it in future but uh but yeah
33:24 those are the few things I would say
33:27 yeah no a lot of valid uh helpful in
33:30 sites there thanks a lot thees uh so
33:32 thank you very much thees for taking the
33:35 time and sharing your fire story what
33:37 made you to move how the life has been
33:40 in India for you and especially uh
33:42 giving some insights on the fire numbers
33:45 right you know how much it would CA to
33:47 live in India now and also some of the
33:49 examples that you had from your trial
33:51 run uh when you look at your friends
33:53 Lifestyles you know your lifestyle uh
33:56 that's very helpful so thanks a lot and
33:57 thank you very much for sharing your
34:00 journey with us on our podcast thanks a
34:02 lot aash for inviting me on your podcast
34:04 and yeah I mean I I wish I could find
34:07 find a resource like this last year when
34:09 I was deciding it because one of my
34:11 major challenge while deciding it was
34:15 who to ask because uh I knew no one who
34:18 moved to India and then people thinks
34:19 that oh that's a crazy idea why would
34:21 you do that no one does that so I was
34:23 like but why no one does that I didn't
34:25 know that and then later like this year
34:26 I found your page and I was like oh man
34:29 like I wish I could have someone to
34:31 validate my decision but it's not a
34:33 crazy idea it's not a crazy yeah there
34:35 are a lot of people who are moving but
34:36 it's a minority but still there are a
34:38 lot of people who moves and it's not a
34:40 crazy idea at all yeah yeah and I think
34:42 the number is growing lately because
34:44 this year four of my friends decided to
34:46 move to India and they are actually
34:48 moving and even after uh when I moved
34:51 like some of people some of people in us
34:52 they called me and like oh we've been
34:54 thinking about it since years how is it
34:55 and then once I told them they are
34:58 actually like considering moving now so
35:01 it's all about I think that blocker that
35:03 you had and I think probably the things
35:05 were different in India maybe 20 or 10
35:07 years back definitely that's why like
35:09 probably Indians back then didn't really
35:11 move here but now things are changing
35:13 the entrepreneurship world the startup
35:15 world uh you have a lot of problems to
35:18 solve in general in India so if you want
35:20 to uh even if you don't make money same
35:23 as your uh job in US you're still going
35:25 to have lot of fulfillment out of that
35:27 job because you're going to make an
35:28 impact going to make a change where you
35:31 live uh so those are probably things
35:34 that matters uh to me personally so
35:36 definitely yes once again thank you very
35:39 much thank you [Music]
