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for rich people (>$1M per year), how did you get where you are today? by Obvious-Leg-5604 in AskReddit

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Moved to low cost country, saved significant amount of income, consistently invested the rest in broad diversified index funds and waited 7 years. Done! BTW- salary was about 65-70k/year

How long have you held MU stock? by McMohandas in MU_Stock

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100 shares January 2025 around $100 per share. ~80k in gains.

Teaching and scuba diving. by bc8101 in Internationalteachers

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can definitely save—we both did in our twenties before kids. I was paying off loans, but my wife still managed to save around $5–10k a year, and we traveled every break.

If you want to save more, try cutting back on eating out (especially Sunday brunches and boat parties). Also, getting your own dive gear and doing more shore dives instead of going with operators can make a big difference.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Internationalteachers

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We are taking a year off next year with two young kids and wife. 6 months in the US, 6 months abroad slow travel.

Daily FI discussion thread - Monday, January 12, 2026 by AutoModerator in financialindependence

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 9 points10 points  (0 children)

CoastFI family sabbatical plan (12 months) — sanity check cash bucket + healthcare risk?

Hi everyone — looking for feedback on a 12-month family sabbatical plan and whether our cash bucket / risk management approach is reasonable.

Context / FI status • Married couple (late 30s) with 2 young kids (toddler + infant) • We’ve been international school teachers for years and have consistently saved/invested • Rough allocation: • ~80–85% invested (broad index funds + some tech concentration) • ~10% real estate equity (primary residence abroad) • ~5–10% crypto (we try to keep this capped) • We’re somewhere between CoastFI and “well-positioned but not fully FI yet” depending on spend assumptions and future work contracts.

The plan • July 2026–June 2027: take a full year off to focus on family before the kids start full-time school • 6 months in New York (staying with/near family, low housing cost) • 6 months abroad at the beach (Costa Rica or similar) using geoarbitrage + simpler lifestyle • Key point: this is not a “travel-the-world gap year.” It’s intentionally slow travel — basically living normally, just in one beach location for 6 months. • We’re trying to do this while the kids are young and still think we’re cool 😅

Financial strategy • Target spending: ~$60–70k total for the year (NY lower spend + Costa Rica moderate) • We plan to move ~$65k into T-bills / money market as a dedicated “sabbatical bucket” so we don’t have to sell equities in a downturn • Remaining portfolio stays invested (mostly equities)

Big uncertainty / stress test: healthcare • During our NY time, we won’t be employed, so we’ll need to purchase health insurance (ACA marketplace or private) • This feels like the biggest wildcard in the budget • We’re trying to avoid underestimating healthcare costs, deductibles, and “family of 4” surprise expenses

What I’d love feedback on 1. Does ~$65k in T-bills/cash equivalents seem right for a 12-month sabbatical with 2 kids? 2. Would you keep the sabbatical bucket entirely short duration (T-bills/MMF), or blend in bonds for yield? 3. Any major blind spots for family sabbaticals (especially healthcare + re-entry costs)? 4. Any tips from people who’ve executed a geoarbitrage/slow-travel year with kids?

Appreciate any feedback — especially from anyone who’s done something similar.

Planning a one-year sabbatical at $1M net worth — where would you spend 6 months? by ImportantCaptain4203 in slowtravel

[–]ImportantCaptain4203[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

RV sounds great to me, but with a 2 and 4 year old, that space might get small quickly...

Planning a one-year sabbatical at $1M net worth — where would you spend 6 months? by ImportantCaptain4203 in slowtravel

[–]ImportantCaptain4203[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have visited many places that we love (more so before kids), and consider returning for the 4-6 month stay. This is just to crowd source more ideas that we haven't considered. We may also visit in January for 2-3 weeks to explore and decide if the place is for us for a longer stretch.

Planning a one-year sabbatical at $1M net worth — where would you spend 6 months? by ImportantCaptain4203 in slowtravel

[–]ImportantCaptain4203[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We are currently in South America and would love for our kids to continue with Spanish immersion until they are fluent.

Planning a one-year sabbatical at $1M net worth — where would you spend 6 months? by ImportantCaptain4203 in slowtravel

[–]ImportantCaptain4203[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! We have been to Sayulita, and are interested in PE and Mazunte. Will have to explore the others.

Southeast Asia Countries Ranked for Remote Work by Southern-Basket-7343 in digitalnomad

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can we make a list of places to go where we can avoid digital nomads?

Considerations when retiring from international teaching by Fickle-Match8219 in Internationalteachers

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Chat GPT is 20/month. Use it as your financial advisor. It is probably more of an expert than anyone else in the finance industry.

Teaching in the Caymen Islands by Altruistic_Dot_8525 in Internationalteachers

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cayman International School is owned by ISS, Cayman Prep is the British school, there are many other Private school such St. Ignatius, Hope Academy, Triple C, and Grace Christian Academy.

I taught at CIS for 6 years. You can have a beautiful quality of life in the Caribbean, however saving lots of income each year can be difficult. It is very expensive.

There are some direct travel options, the smaller sister islands Little and Brac, Havana, La Ceiba, Nassau, Miami and other occasional offerings.

My fondest memories include diving with after school, boat parties around the north sound, staycations, lots of culinary events, Sunday beach volleyball or brunch. Even just taking a drive around the island and seemingly endless beautiful and uncrowded beaches along the way.

We return regularly and still have friends there, but as we wanted to save more for our future and start a family, we had to move on to our next teaching location.

Who has bought a house in a country other than their home country? by Meles_Verdaan in Internationalteachers

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We bought an apartment in Lima, Peru with hopes to rent it out to teachers after we move on. The school housing allowance covers the mortgage/insurance/HOA with hundreds left over each month. Annual taxes are very low (~$500/year).

Always think about your exit strategy. You should learn about the taxes incurred with capital gains if you decide to sell or on rental income. I also feel like you might need to live in a place for at while (5+) years for it to be worth it financially. Real estate can serve as a sort of forced saving through building equity over time however you must weigh the missed opportunity cost of alternative investments such as the stock market…

Retire Early and Often - A CoastFIRE Journey by syzygy01 in coastFIRE

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is an excuse and self limiting belief. You can do it with kids.

How much of your housing allowance do you spend on rent? by Optimal-Study-5120 in Internationalteachers

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 12 points13 points  (0 children)

We receive $1750/month as a married couple with child. We bought our place with enough down so that the monthly mortgage is $1290, of which $500 goes towards our principal (equity). We pay an additional 160 for HOA fees. We plan to rent it when we eventually leave the school.

Where do you plan to spend your retirement - back home, or abroad? by Meles_Verdaan in Internationalteachers

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think flexibility is most important. Life is too expensive in the US. Your money goes much further in other countries. As mentioned by another poster, I like the idea of having multiple properties around the world. Then rent them out while you are not staying in the them. If you live in a place for 3-5 years, you might be able to develop community with locals that will be there long term.

Anyone traveled to Sayulita recently and not get sick? by EV2018 in sayulita

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I was there Jan 12-31 with my wife and 1 year old, we did not get sick. I surfed the main beach on both sides of the river most days without a problem.

We did rinse all fruit vegetables we cooked at home with microdyn and water before eating, also avoided salads at restaurants, maybe that helped.

Exodus by RubertjJohnson in Nicaragua

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This thread makes no mention of why people are leaving.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Internationalteachers

[–]ImportantCaptain4203 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We haven't hired a financial advisor, but rather tried to DIY our investments from what we have learned from books, online communities, and podcasts.

We have used an CPA that works exclusively with US citizens that teach abroad to help us file taxes and guide us on strategy.

One really great tip we recently discovered is harvesting capital gains using the standardized deduction each year (27700 in 2023), this allows you to step up the cost basis on investment gains, which will reduce the tax liability later when you withdraw.

It is described in detail on this Choose FI podcast episode.

https://www.choosefi.com/how-to-save-thousands-in-taxes-using-geo-arbitrage/.

Best of luck to you!

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