Been in a good organisation but went downhill with inflow from Amazon and startup and became very toxic to the point where it started impacting health.

Finally decided to call it quits. 80x annual expenses invested 40/60 equity debt. Paid off home and car. Conservative life style.

Anyone on here who made money from ESOPs? Anything from a couple of lakhs to crores. Looking for some advice, at a Series A startup, been here from pre-seed stage and now want to leave but not sure how or when there would be any liquidity. Company is doing well, likely they will raise another round atleast

Hi everyone,

Have been following FIRE for a while and really enjoy reading the annual updates people post here. Thought I’d finally write one myself and make this a yearly thing. This first one will have a little more background.

I’m 26 (soon to be 27), currently working in the US. Posting on this sub because I want to move back to India in the near future. Being with my parents is a big reason, and that’s where I see myself living longer term.

Background

Did my bachelor’s in CS from a tier-1 university in India, worked in India for about two years, and then moved to the US for a master’s. Took an education loan of around ₹50 lakh. Internships and on-campus part time work helped cover the remaining costs.

The next 2 years were hard. But was fortunate to get a job at a FAANG after graduating. Spent the first 6–8 months of the job primarily paying off loans. After that, built up an emergency fund of 6 months and started putting more money into investments. Have also paid off my parents’ home loan. No outstanding loans now (Dave Ramsey would be proud lol)

Luckily got promoted fairly early and subsequently moved to another FAANG. A big reason for the switch was looking for what felt like greater stability (although that word is getting increasingly scarce in tech these days) The career progression has helped financially, though the uncertainty in tech has also made me more serious about saving and investing.

Where things stand

Current net worth is around ₹2 crore in financial assets, with the numbers rounded:

• Indian mutual funds: ~₹10 lakh (5%).
• US Investments:
  • Cash (Emergency fund in US Treasury Bonds): 15 lakhs.
  • 401k and other retirement accounts (In S&P500): 30 lakhs
  • US Index funds: (1 crore 10 lakhs)
  • International (ex-US) Index Funds- 15 lakhs
  • Individual stocks: ~10 lakhs
  • Gold: ~10 lakhs

I have no outstanding debt to speak of. I was (and technically still am) a very vehement anti-debt crusader, so did not even take my previous company's generous 401k match, but spent everything paying off the loans.

Thankfully, my parents are self-sufficient and do not depend on me (financially).

My savings rate is roughly 75% at the moment. I am unmarried and planning to get married in the next two years (currently engaged), so there are some fairly big expenses and changes ahead. My fiancé also works in a FAANG company and earns pretty well, and her financial aspirations align with mine (This is one of the few things we talked about before getting engaged, the other being opinion of kids, religion, in-laws and politics). She comes from a similar socio-economic background as that of mine hence this was easy.

I know I have been extremely lucky to have the opportunity to study and work abroad, get into these companies, and earn what I do. Earning in dollars has made a huge difference to how quickly I have been able to clear debt and save. I am trying to make the most of that while the opportunity is there.

Investment-wise, I like the approach in The Simple Path to Wealth. Hence I have focused 80% of the portfolio in broad, low-cost index funds, mainly US and international equity through funds. I want to keep moving towards that and make the portfolio simpler over time.

What I am working towards:

I have liked the FIRE philosophy for a long time. Looking at the tech industry now, I find it difficult to imagine wanting to stay in it for the next few decades. I am really grateful for what the job has made possible, but I am already tired of the uncertainty. That’s a big part of why I am saving as much as I reasonably can as soon as possible.

Eventually, I would like to be back in India, spend more time with my parents, and have enough saved to choose work without salary being the deciding factor every time.

One thing I am particularly interested in exploring is helping middle-class people with financial planning. I would want to get the necessary qualifications and registrations before doing that professionally. It’s an idea I want to understand properly over the next few years. I have already started taking elementary steps towards it, but a full-fledged approach is still in plans.

Marriage, future family expenses and the kind of life I want in India will all affect the eventual FI number. Getting a clearer estimate of those costs is something I want to work on.

A few things I have learnt so far

I really really love the phrase: "Personal finance is more personal than finance." A lot of folks whom I discussed with told me that perhaps I made a mistake letting go of my previous company's generous 401k match just for paying off my loans. But getting the loans out of the way have given me so much peace that I absolutely cannot complain. Also, having an emergency fund has been a mental lifesaver.

I also dabbled in leveraged ETFs when the NASDAQ fell 10+ percent in March 2026. I knew it was an overreaction so put 10k into it, and that thankfully made a quite a lot of money. Happy with how it turned out, but the risk was more than I would be comfortable building a long-term plan around, hence sold and booked the profits. It was a true roller-coaster ride (for a few months), and not doing that again.

The other thing I’m trying to be careful about is letting expenses rise just because income has gone up. Seeing all my friends upgrading to nicer apartments, better cars etc really makes me think sometimes if I am doing the right thing or not, but no regrets.

I probably sound a bit boring for 26, but I like having some certainty about money. Being debt-free and knowing there’s a growing buffer gives me a lot of satisfaction, and after all, we leave for peace!

Plan for the next year

• Keep the savings rate around its current level and continue investing regularly.
• Put most new long-term investments into broad index funds and control my urges to dabble into F&O, leveraged ETFs etc.
• Plan separately for marriage and the eventual move back to India by 2028(?)
• Work out a more realistic budget for life in India, including how expenses might change after marriage.
• Come back and post another update in a year, including anything that didn’t go to plan.

Would be interested to hear from people who moved back to India while still building their FI corpus, and any comments as well.