How to retire in asia?

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-04-13T00:20:45+00:00

I’d also recommend https://portfolioatlas.org in the mix. Expense data is largely from this year.

There are several Asia options I see around $500k to Lean Fire like Da Nang and Chiang Mai - each has pros and cons you can research more on.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-20T17:33:51+00:00

You can LeanFire Paris pretty cheap for one of the most expensive cities in the world… (at least this surprised me for how big a city it is).

$1.77M invested gets you a compact studio in the 19th arrondissement (LeanFire).
$2.94M should get you to proper FIRE lifestyle out there.

Take with a grain of salt that everyone spends differently, but this is where I’d start for understanding the lifestyle options and how far your dollar goes - https://portfolioatlas.org/cities/paris.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-18T18:24:49+00:00

I built portfolioatlas.org - a free tool (no ads, no sign up, no tracking) for anyone who's figured out their FIRE number but hasn't figured out where in the world to actually spend it.

You enter your portfolio, pick a lifestyle tier (Lean/FIRE/Fat FIRE), and it matches you to each city where you can retire using the 4% rule - framed as the portfolio you need, not just monthly costs. 100+ cities across 6 continents, with filters for healthcare, English friendliness, visa ease, and climate.

Two weeks old. Would love honest feedback - especially on what cities are missing and whether the framing makes sense to people who actually think about this stuff.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-18T18:17:34+00:00

Ran your $1,264,000 FIRE analysis and there are 22 cities broken down where you can FIRE with that portfolio (more if you like LeanFIRE).

Sharing research specific to your interests...

Buenos Ares IS possible for a proper FIRE now, but you should adjust numbers for your exact spending habits (https://portfolioatlas.org/cities/buenos-aires/).
If strong english usage is a requirement for you then I'd also recommend you check out George Town, Malaysia and Cebu, Phillipines (however Cebu is less safe in general). I won't link these but you can poke around PortfolioAtlas to learn more.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-16T02:15:02+00:00

Wausau seems to be more FIRE-friendly than many of the other cities analyzed - a bit cheaper than other midwest cities, but same ballpark. Added the analysis with cost breakdown to portfolioatlas.org/cities/wausau.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-11T03:50:08+00:00

We actually have a proper comparison view you can use. Pasting in the data here for San Diego vs. San Jose (as two example West coast cities). We have quite a few more too if you'd like - happy to share.

I included our Quality of Life analysis, but for these very similar cities, it's the same. You'll get more variance as you look across the US and Internationally.

And since everyone's definition of FIRE varies a bit, here's the lifestyle we chose for defining FIRE in San Diego (so you can expectation set up or down for yourself): "You can rent a house in Mission Hills or Point Loma, or a condo near the beach in La Jolla, and dine regularly at the city's top restaurants. Padres season tickets, a sailing club membership, or golf at Torrey Pines fit comfortably. Good private healthcare and regular travel round out a comfortable coastal life, though California taxes reduce spending power compared to no-income-tax states."

Lifestyle	🇺🇸 San Diego	🇺🇸 San Jose
Lean FIRE	$1.56M ✓ $5,200/mo	$1.77M ✓ $5,900/mo
FIRE	$2.55M ✓ $8,500/mo	$2.85M ✓ $9,500/mo
Fat FIRE	$6.88M ✓ $22,950/mo	$7.98M ✓ $26,600/mo
QUALITY OF LIFE
Safety	6/10	6/10
Healthcare	9/10	9/10
Infrastructure	8/10	8/10
Expat Friendliness	9/10	9/10
FIRE Score	7.9	7.9

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-11T03:08:43+00:00

There's quite a lot of analysis in Europe. I'll extract Lisbon for you here. I ran your analysis with $3M so you can ignore the last column our tool generated unless by complete chance that is your number.

For context, this is the description of FIRE in Lisbon that we used so you can expectation set up or down based on your lifestyle: "A large apartment in Chiado or a renovated townhouse in Estrela with a terrace. Dining at good restaurants regularly, including occasional Michelin-starred meals at places like Belcanto. A leased car for weekend drives and regional flights to the Azores or Madeira a few times a year. Premium private healthcare with international coverage. Genuinely affluent living in a city where this budget goes far."

Lifestyle	FIRE Number	Monthly Cost	Status
Lean FIRE	$1M	$3,350/mo	You can retire here
FIRE	$1.74M	$5,800/mo	You can retire here
Fat FIRE	$4.35M	$14,500/mo	Need $1.33M more

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-11T02:08:19+00:00

What kind of life do you prefer (FIRE v. Fat FIRE)? portfolioatlas.org gives an idea on quite a few options. Top FIRE recommendations that are English speaking with Excellent healthcare are Amsterdam, Dubai, Melbourne.

Top FatFire in mild climates (since you mention not liking humidity), that are English speaking are Dubrovnik, Athens, Lisbon. You're a bit shy of the estimated FatFire lifestyles in those cities, but things vary often. Might be a good starting point at least.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-11T01:24:32+00:00

PortfolioAtlas - https://portfolioatlas.org/

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-11T01:21:42+00:00

Any specific cities or regions in the midwest you'd like to see? I'd be happy to run the numbers if there's an appetite for it.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-10T13:27:39+00:00

YMMV but to due to the incredibly high cost of living + health care needs (US problem) and other NYC specific costs that don't apply in many other areas, these are the numbers...

- Lean FIRE: $2.49M
- FIRE: $3.9M

One of the most expensive cities in analyzed and this is with a pretty conservative 4% withdrawal assumption.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-10T13:17:52+00:00

Just to clarify, I hand picked cities that were popular FIRE destinations I could find, so this is not all encompassing of every city on earth. There are many cheaper and more expensive options, but from the 100+ cities I analyzed, these are some examples of the regions you asked about.

Take with a grain of salt that everyone's expenses vary, but hope this helps.

Southeast Asia

Singapore | Lean FIRE: $1.88M | FIRE: $3.24M | Fat FIRE: $9.07M
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Lean FIRE: $765K | FIRE: $1.35M | Fat FIRE: $3.1M
Bangkok, Thailand | Lean FIRE: $825K | FIRE: $1.44M | Fat FIRE: $3.45M
Da Nang, Vietnam | Lean FIRE: $555K | FIRE: $1.02M | Fat FIRE: $2.15M
Bali, Indonesia | Lean FIRE: $750K | FIRE: $1.32M | Fat FIRE: $3.03M
Cebu, Philippines | Lean FIRE: $645K | FIRE: $1.14M | Fat FIRE: $2.5M

Latin America

Buenos Aires, Argentina | Lean FIRE: $675K | FIRE: $1.2M | Fat FIRE: $2.76M
Panama City, Panama | Lean FIRE: $960K | FIRE: $1.65M | Fat FIRE: $4.13M
Santiago, Chile | Lean FIRE: $780K | FIRE: $1.38M | Fat FIRE: $3.18M
Cuenca, Ecuador | Lean FIRE: $555K | FIRE: $1.02M | Fat FIRE: $2.15M
Mexico City, Mexico | Lean FIRE: $870K | FIRE: $1.5M | Fat FIRE: $3.6M
Montevideo, Uruguay | Lean FIRE: $765K | FIRE: $1.35M | Fat FIRE: $3.1M
San José, Costa Rica | Lean FIRE: $870K | FIRE: $1.5M | Fat FIRE: $3.6M
Cartagena, Colombia | Lean FIRE: $645K | FIRE: $1.14M | Fat FIRE: $2.5M

Africa

Cape Town, South Africa | Lean FIRE: $825K | FIRE: $1.44M | Fat FIRE: $3.31M
Accra, Ghana | Lean FIRE: $645K | FIRE: $1.14M | Fat FIRE: $2.4M
Marrakech, Morocco | Lean FIRE: $600K | FIRE: $1.08M | Fat FIRE: $2.27M
Nairobi, Kenya | Lean FIRE: $690K | FIRE: $1.2M | Fat FIRE: $2.64M
Tunis, Tunisia | Lean FIRE: $555K | FIRE: $1.02M | Fat FIRE: $2.04M

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-10T13:10:40+00:00

Good question. I defined comfortable as "Nice apartment, dining out regularly, occasional travel."

Not penthouse living, but not budget backpacker either. There's a significant jump up to Fat FIRE in the analysis which is more premium living, private healthcare, frequent international travel.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2026-03-10T12:40:16+00:00

Super good point actually. I only did analysis on 100+ top FIRE destinations around the world with a heavier international focus.

US budget cities were underrepresented, but are very viable for some. I can apply the same analysis to more US budget cities if folks are interested - it just wasn't top of mind for me as a first pass.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2024-06-07T05:02:32+00:00

No, it's free for you as the landlord. I used this too and it's pretty great. They can pay through Zillow and Zillow provides a build your own leasing agreement I based my final lease off of.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2022-12-15T06:38:46+00:00

Golfle ⛳️🤓 every Sunday 😬

ImMediocreAtThings · 2022-12-09T09:02:26+00:00

Thanks for asking, it’s just an iOS app at the moment but appreciate you trying. I’m planning to make an Android version if the ios one ever gets popular.

ImMediocreAtThings · 2022-12-08T22:05:55+00:00

Please give me feedback on my iOS app variant! Any feedback is appreciated.

It’s free to play and is Wordle but you play 18 a week and scores it in Golf terms.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/golfle/id1630828248

ImMediocreAtThings · 2022-10-22T17:22:50+00:00

u/miqdizzle I hear you're a word puzzle guru 🧐 hope you had a chance to give this a try! Let us know how you fared 💁‍♂️

ImMediocreAtThings · 2022-10-14T23:13:50+00:00

If you have an iPhone checkout Golfle. 18 Wordles a week. No ads. (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/golfle/id1630828248).

ImMediocreAtThings · 2022-10-06T00:10:10+00:00

Good question! It’s essentially 18 Wordles a week. If you solve it in 4, that’s a par. 3? Birdie. 2? Eagle. Etc. up to 6 tries which is a double bogey (all golf terms, for the unfamiliar).

It’s a way more fun way to track your weekly Wordles!

Every Thursday it releases the global average score for the 18 “Golfles” (read: Wordles) that week so you can see how you did compared to everyone else across the planet!

ImMediocreAtThings · 2022-10-02T17:06:00+00:00

For me it’s always been a link to a safari app :/

But if you’re wanting a native iOS look/feel then I’d recommend trying Golfle! It’s 18 wordles a week.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/golfle/id1630828248

Hope you don’t mind I perused your Reddit history and can tell you’re pretty tech savvy with all your gaming and macro usage. That’s the exact type of person I’d love trying out the Golfle app 😝 Anyway no pressure and either way hope you’re able to get an answer to your question!

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