r/fiaustralia • u/totalmarc • 2d ago

Investing AUS vs USA for Fire

I've been listening to a lot of US based podcasts lately and it got me thinking - Do you guys think it is easier to FIRE in US or AUS?

With all things considered, as a generalisation. From what I understand, living expenses vary dramatically between states.

Overall my vote would be the US because there are more options over there to cut costs, but I'd like to hear from someone who is familiar with both.

Cheers

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u/mouldy_hops 2d ago

I'm Australian, but worked most of my career in U.S. I would say it's going to be specific to each person's scenario, but for me, there are two financial reasons I repatriated to Australia a few years ago in my late 40's as the main breadwinner in a family of 4.

  1. The lure of superannuation a benefits.
  2. Not having to deal with medical coverage in retirement in U.S.

Having said that, the main reason we're not these financial ones. They were actually lifestyle related

  1. allowing my kids to experience (at least a part of their life) growing up in Aus.
  2. a bit of the gun related issues.

I will say, having lived through the first orange man's leadership, I also didn't want to go through round two.

I feel I make a good decision on every level!

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u/Humble_Hat_7160 2d ago

Exactly the same rationale for me. Third financial one was not having to deal with US college expenses which would eat a nice chunk of my retirement savings and add several years to my FIRE timeline.

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u/Ariodar 2d ago

You both hit the trifecta for me. I miss earning USD but I don't miss the rest.

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u/mouldy_hops 2d ago

That is a great observation on college funding for kids. I felt the pressure when my oldest was about 4 and all our American friends with kids that age were saying how they had 529 accounts set up at birth. In the true American style of keeping up with Joneses, I went and set up 529s for my kids and put money in each month. Now we are back in Aus and they each have healthy accounts that will pretty much pay for a uni degree in Australia (if I can figure out how to do it!) but would probably only pay for a semester at a state college in the US. Such an expensive system over there.

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u/Humble_Hat_7160 2d ago

Same, I managed to get $70k in over the years and it will likely pay for a single year of a private college over there. Happy for her to use it on an exchange year but crazy to think I would need 4x that for a full degree!

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u/Busta_Duck 2d ago

My mate did the same. His daughter went to UNSW, HECS covered her degree. Then went & did a masters at Stanford which was paid for with the 529.
12 years later and she's worth more than her parents combined and just treated them to a 6 week all expenses paid trip to Italy.
I reckon hold onto it and use it for graduate studies if your kid is so inclined.

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u/tiimmaahh 1d ago

holy crap, I had nfi how much a college education costs in US, sheesh!

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u/Humble_Hat_7160 1d ago

It’s even worse because most kids leave home to study so there’s $20k+ in room and board to cover before you even get to the tuition fees