Hybrid FIRE Plan (USA ↔ Pakistan): How realistic is it?

Portfolio Review

Hi everyone, I wanted to share my situation and get some info from anyone who has actually done (or is doing) a hybrid FIRE setup between the U.S. and Pakistan.

Both my wife and I are physicians. We’re both 33 years old. I work full time and wife works part time. We have one beautiful daughter who is 2.5 years old and we will likely plan for one more child. Our household income is around $650,000 per year, and after taxes we clear about $34,000 per month. Our current household spending is roughly $10,000 per month, and the remaining $24,000 per month gets invested. We already have about $400,000 invested, and at this pace I’m projecting a total net worth of about $1.5 million in the next 3 years. Out of that, roughly $400k will be in retirement accounts, meaning about $1.1M will be in taxable investments generating dividends and capital gains.

Our motivation to move back to Pakistan is not purely financial. We want to be closer to family, we’re honestly tired of the monotony of life in the U.S., and raising kids here without any domestic help has been exhausting. Unfortunately, our parents cannot move here. The idea of having family support and affordable help in Pakistan feels like a huge quality-of-life upgrade for us.

We do not currently own any property in Pakistan, and the plan is to live on rent initially, not buy right away. Our preferred locations are DHA Lahore or DHA Islamabad, mainly for security, infrastructure, and a family-friendly environment. The plan after reaching around $1.5M is to live primarily in Pakistan, while I come to the U.S. for 1-2 months each year to work, which should generate roughly $60,000 gross annually. On top of that, I’m expecting around $40,000 per year from dividends (at 4% withdrawal rate). Do you think that should comfortably support a good lifestyle, rent, kids’ schooling, healthcare, and travel between the two countries? The retirement accounts would stay invested long term and continue compounding. I will likely work very little in Pakistan but could generate maybe 100-200k pkr/ month working a light job.

My main question is: has anyone here actually done this in real life? Specifically, living mostly in Pakistan, and doing seasonal or temporary work in the U.S. each year to top up income. If so, would you recommend this model? What were the biggest challenges you faced—taxes, banking, healthcare, kids’ education, or currency risk? Is there anything you wish you had planned for earlier before making the move?

I’d really appreciate hearing from people with real-world experience, not just theoretical FIRE math. It sounds good on paper but i wanna know the real life implications. Thanks in advance.

Posted Nov 28, 2025, 5:38 PM UTC

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