R2I 2025 April

[satish1961]

Yes. I can sympathize with these nasty curve balls. "In fact she herself told me "Daddy, lets go to somewhere where there is no Kannara(thats her pronounciation I dont want to study kannara" . Does even IGCSE schools now mandate Kannada? (Never mind: I did not read your post fully. Yes, IB/IGCSE schools would have a method)

[loyalindian]

@wd40, here is some unsolicited advice :
Don't focus on returning to India now unless a job loss forces you to do so
Unless parents or in-laws are in poor health, you can get them over to Singapore for a few weeks every year and your daughter can get to spend quality time with them
Congratulations on building a nice net worth to-date, but why stop here ? If your daughter wishes to go to college in US or UK, a lot of money will be required
Not sure about your residency status, but I am assuming you are already or will be soon eligible for Singapore residency or citizenship. This will give your daughter more options when she grows up
As a backup you can always buy some property in India

Dont get too stressed about work. Enjoy life and your family.

[wd40]

Thanks LoyalIndian.

I logged in just to post an update on my thought process:

So when I started this thread on 5th of July it was very reactionary based on my interaction with my manager.
It has been about 1.5 months since then and now with a cool and calm mind I analysed everything and here is my thought process/mindset as of now:

I just realized I was mixing 2 very different dilemma themes:
1)R2I dilemma
2)FIRE dilemma

People normally cannot handle one dilemma and here I was dealing with 2 dilemmas lol.

But I also realized, that the R2I was never a dilemma, it was always a side effect.
I actually started contempating FIRE back in 2015 when i had a bad boss, I had joined the original r2i forum(I wish it was still alive )
But in Singapore, because I dont have residency, I am on a work visa and my skills are outdated and I hate putting effort; this meant whenever I had a bad day at office almost 100% due to manager; I would contemplate FIRE and being in Singapore on work visa, it meant R2I.

So I was swinging between cycles. Bad day at office -> Plan FIRE -> Plan R2I -> things calm down -> Continue to work -> put R2I on the back burner.

This cycle has continued for the last 10 odd years and that has been awesome! The fact that I could sustain here for the last 15 years in Singpore, living through this uncertainty and dilemma, yet I have amaased 11cr and hit my FIRE target and pretty much exceeded it.

Now with my calm mind if I analyse, I dont mind continuing to work, because things have become normal in my office, however the urge to R2I has grown strongly on me over the last 2 months.

The main factor is I have been here in Singapore for 15 years; I am totally done, main reason was financial that is fulfilled, next I have explored this place and the region and nothing excites me anymore. We will never get PR here, so no point continuing there, the more we stay here it will be a pain to go back.

So the R2I decision stays! I will enroll my daughter for 8th standard in a school in bangalore for next year, we will choose a school in December.

However, I am considering to ask my manager to allow me to work from Bangalore, from home. My bank doesnt have entity in India, so I will have to move to payroll of vendor like TCS, Cognizant, which I am okay, as long as I can work from home at my own pace.

I think my manager shouldnt have a problem, I am very valuable in terms of the tribal knowledge I have gained over the years I have stayed here. So, he wouldnt want to lose me.

Then after moving to Bangalore, I will continue with the single dilemma whether to continue working or whether to FIRE.

But R2I is certain, my wife and daughter are both excited and onboard, I have conveyed to my parents, they are also happy as they are getting old. So we go head with this decision.

Next checkpoint is basically December. The good thing is Indian schools start admission for the following year in current year october itself. So we can finalize and lockin the school when we go for vacation in December. Then after my bonus is announced in Mar 2025, I make a soft verbal resignation to my manager asking him, if he has any options for me to WFH. If there no options, I will resign in Apr, 1 month notice period and in May end we come to Bangalore I take a break and think what to do next. If I get wfh option, we will still come back to Bangalore in May end and continue working.

So thats the plan!

[cnu]

All the best wd40 but you had such plans in the past too.
Reminds me of my plans in 2011 when I was in my 30s and my kids were still 12 and 10. Both of them now have completed Masters and are working . And I now at 47 still dream of retiring in India LOL But I sincerely hope that your plans succeed. Wish you the best.

Thanks Well my original plan was Mar 2024. We should have moved back this year, but we are extending it by 1 more year. But this time we are firm. In my case, I am not a high achiever, I am slacker. So for me making the decision is relatively easier than for most people who are obsessed about their title in their company and their position. I on the other hand have always taken confort with my networth and my plan was to always retire early. But I was trying to push myself as much as I can. Now I think I have reached my potential. This is not to say, I will never work again. I will move back to India, settledown and then see what interests me. I will spend a lot of time travelling and exploring and if I get bored I will get back to working.

Thanks for the post.

The thing is after a certain level it is not always the talent but whom you know decides the career ladder. Some people would like to butter-up or keep their ego to the side while others like you/me will not put our soul on trade for career.

As a parent, you are setting a great example of not becoming an office-prisoner (9 to 5 job) mentality and make someone rich, but be independent. I think you got a good savings there and your plan looks solid to me.

If I can add anything, embrace frugal living. The best things are free: Chat with parents, walk in a park, water, dinner with family.

Well done, all the best with your move!

[SAPPORO]

@Wd40- Best wishes on your latest clarity! What you detailed is what a lot of folks in BLR/HYD are doing now.
TBH, knowing you, the plan may work as a ruse to R2I if that, but not sure about its long-term viability. I think there should be a FIRE carrot to sweeten R2I
All the very best!

[r2somewhere]

but we are extending it by 1 more year.

I have read about the '1 more year' syndrome, but this is the first time I have seen this in the wild lol

[r2somewhere]

The thing is after a certain level it is not always the talent but whom you know decides the career ladder.

When does one reach this level? I am 10+ years in and still depend on leetcode to get raises (by changing jobs).

[wd40]

but we are extending it by 1 more year.

I have read about the '1 more year' syndrome, but this is the first time I have seen this in the wild lol

Lol! Is that the only thing you found worth picking in my thread?

I suspect X+1, means X is a number in future, for example 3.
So something like "I will go to India after 3 years" and then you keep saying the same thing each year.

But I doubt anyone who says, "we are going to India next year", will then keep incrementing by 1.
1 year is pretty close that you need to plan a lot of things, so you cannot just keep postponing it indefinitely.

Anyways, in my case; it is 9 more months to go

[JINSAKAI]

The thing is after a certain level it is not always the talent but whom you know decides the career ladder.

When does one reach this level? I am 10+ years in and still depend on leetcode to get raises (by changing jobs).

Hey r2somewhere, nice to see you back. Talking about leetcode, I really hate dynamic nature of the problems and “Dynamic Programming” more. Such problems remind me of my low IQ

[wd40]

All the best wd40 but you had such plans in the past too.
Reminds me of my plans in 2011 when I was in my 30s and my kids were still 12 and 10. Both of them now have completed Masters and are working . And I now at 47 still dream of retiring in India LOL But I sincerely hope that your plans succeed. Wish you the best.

Thanks Well my original plan was Mar 2024. We should have moved back this year, but we are extending it by 1 more year. But this time we are firm. In my case, I am not a high achiever, I am slacker. So for me making the decision is relatively easier than for most people who are obsessed about their title in their company and their position. I on the other hand have always taken confort with my networth and my plan was to always retire early. But I was trying to push myself as much as I can. Now I think I have reached my potential. This is not to say, I will never work again. I will move back to India, settledown and then see what interests me. I will spend a lot of time travelling and exploring and if I get bored I will get back to working.

Thanks for the post.

The thing is after a certain level it is not always the talent but whom you know decides the career ladder. Some people would like to butter-up or keep their ego to the side while others like you/me will not put our soul on trade for career.

As a parent, you are setting a great example of not becoming an office-prisoner (9 to 5 job) mentality and make someone rich, but be independent. I think you got a good savings there and your plan looks solid to me.

If I can add anything, embrace frugal living. The best things are free: Chat with parents, walk in a park, water, dinner with family.

Well done, all the best with your move!

Thank you Sir. Frugal living is embedded in me and comes naturally. Actually it getting myself to spend which is difficult.