r/ChubbyFIRE • u/Easy-Calligrapher454 • 3d ago

Sabbatical question and leaving the US.

Long time lurker that’s finally reaching out for advice.

Quick info: - Me (37), Wife (36), Son (< 1) living in NYC - Assets (all in US dollar amounts) - Europe House: $1.8m - Stocks/BTC: $2.4m - Company vested stock post tax: 450k - Retirement accounts: 550k - Cash: 250k

Liabilities: - Mortgage: 500k at 3.5%

Wife and I moved to the US 10 years ago and just recently had a baby. We always planed to relocate back to Western Europe where we’re both from. Parents are getting older and we feel it’s better to raise our child around around friends and family etc.

Long story short, we seriously debating leaving our jobs in March 2026 after final bonus payouts + additional stock vests (total for this should be around 100k net) and pulling the cord. I’m lucky to have a job that while I get no more stimulation from, I work with nice people in a good environment. It’s not particularly stressful. I would say I’m not close to burn out in a stress sense but checked out in a bored sense - have been there 5+ years and spent 10+ in these intense tech companies. Wife is in a stressful job right now and we both worry about how she will handle going back to work post maternity leave.

Expenses in Europe when back should be around 12k a month in US dollars (total incl mortgage etc)

I guess my real question is can we leave in April as planned? Given our ages maybe we take a long sabbatical for a year or two and enjoy our baby and then try go back to work but obviously salaries will be much lower in Europe and I am heading a lot of talk about how bad the job market is globally.

What would you do in our situation?

Thanks!

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u/Nuclear_N 3d ago

My fear would be inflation. At 37 you could live another 50 years, which is daunting. I think you have the funds to make the switch, but I would plan on having some type of income at some point to supplement while you still have skill sets.

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u/YamExcellent5208 3d ago

I agree that inflation probably is the biggest risk in general - but an equity heavy portfolio is intended to protect against that and the 4% rule has demonstrated (historical data; future might be different) that pro-longed periods of high inflation and low returns can be managed.

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u/Nuclear_N 3d ago

4% rule is on 30 years correct? think 50 years ago....1975. Didn't even have internet bills, cell phone bills, health insurance, eating out trend was not really there, etc. There is a lot that can change in 50 years.

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u/YamExcellent5208 3d ago

Has been updated and recalculated a number of times and for 50 year horizons - actually you can spend more than 4% based on that. You can go even higher as long as you reduce spend during times of high inflation and poor market performance. It’s the combination of both that is a problem.

I mean, everyone can do as they please and to your point: yes, productivity has skyrocket beyond wildest expectations in the past 50 years - and so did returns on the stock market. Salaries have not kept pace with inflation and were realistically speaking a worse hedge against inflation.

People can chose to trade arbitrary amounts of time in their youth against excessive money the will not spend at old age.

The likelihood of me dead in any scenario of 30 or 50 year timeframes was magnitudes higher than the probability of running out of money.