u/Few-Truck-4873

Hi guys,

I heard from too many parents, Girls or even boys get cranky in teenage years. So to keep my kid(7year old) busy I enroll her in all activities I possibly can(And she likes).

Monday - Bharatanatyam (Indian dance)
Tuesday - Eye level and tennis
Wednesday - Ice skating and Bharatanatyam practice
Thursday - Rock Climbing (if there are spots)
Friday - Swimming Sunday - Roller skating.

All above activities are chosen by her. When she does not like an activity I drop it (I dropped badminton because the coach was too strict).

She used to go Eye Level Twice a week last year, But this year I want to drop it to one and have her pick rock climbing.

Thoughts? Anyone else doing the same?

3 of my friends and family who I knew initially mentioned one and done ended up with multiples. Now I am shopping for a minivan. I am firmly oad. Tempting fate here, but I am buying the minivan anyway.

Just want to say.

Hi all, hoping to get some neighborhood recommendations.

We bought a house in Ardenwood (Fremont) back in 2023. We spent around $150k-$180k remodeling it and making it our own, but recently my job has been pushing us to be in the Santa Clara office more than our current 2 days a week. The commute is just getting to be too much.

Looking at recent comps, if we sell now, we'll likely just get back our original purchase price. Eating the renovation cost is a tough pill to swallow, but honestly, it is what it is—getting my time back and dropping the commute is worth it at this point.

We have an 8-year-old who is currently in Fremont public schools, but if we move, the plan is to switch to private school for 3rd grade. Because we are going the private route, I specifically want to avoid paying the massive housing premium that comes with top-tier public school districts.

I’m looking mostly at Santa Clara, West San Jose, or parts of Sunnyvale where you aren't paying a premium for the schools. Our ideal target is around $2.2M, but we are willing to go up to $2.5M max.

For context, something like this in Santa Clara caught my eye recently as a good example of what we're looking for:
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Santa-Clara/981-Curtis-Ave-95051/home/648215
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Santa-Clara/2354-Fatjo-Pl-95050/home/1773526

Are there specific pockets or neighborhoods in SC, WSJ, or Sunnyvale that we should focus on? Any advice on where you get the best value/house for your money when the local public schools aren't a factor?

Fun fact:
I found my Ardenwood house on blind and bought it through shopprop/Rob(Seller paid 2.5K and I paid 2.5K). During renovation and living in the house for 2-3years I know what to look for in a house. But definitely need help in selecting the area.

Wife and I (1 kid, 8years) are burnt out from the daily grind and driving to endless kid activities. We're at a crossroads:

1. Upgrade here: Hire a daily cook and daily cleaner. We keep our US salaries, investments, and kid's routine, but totally outsource the chores. We already have Weekly help, But have to 6X that expense to make it happen

2. R2I: Move back for the built-in help and family, but take a huge hit on absolute dollar savings and have to start over.

By upgrading inplace I will buy couple of years, If I cannot move because kid is too old, Thats fine. Not absolute requirement, Have to miss parents, But I can make it work/live with it.

For those who already R2I'd: if you had just spent the cash for full daily domestic help in the US, would you have stayed? Is the R2I itch mostly just about escaping chores and burnout?(Excluding those who moved for parents)

Update: For people saying its rage post, Adding more details:

We are late 30's couple, Parents are okay, they visit us, We visit India atleast once a year. No expectation from parents to settle down in India or to take care of them.

If I were to move, I will move to Bengaluru. Both of work work in Big tech, We are SDE/SDM. If we were to move, We will make ~40% of what we make in US(Initially because of US RSU, As time falls off, it will be 1/3rd of US). Both of us on H1, Investments in US and India.

Update2
For people who want me to "Man up", Why exactly should I do that? I would rather spend my 1Hour playing with my kind than doing chores any day.

Seeing a lot of posts about moving back, but if your kids are US citizens, you need to accept that they will move to the US for undergrad, or worst case grad school. Whether you like it or not.

Honestly speaking, the US is just miles ahead in education. It's way less stress and far more practical. The Indian system is a massive grind and too focused on rote memorization and crazy competition.

Once your kids grow up and realize their blue passport lets them skip the whole H1B nightmare and get a US degree with better job prospects and a better work-life balance, they are going to take that opportunity.

Move back for yourself if you want, but don't expect your kids to stay in the Indian system forever. They will leave when they turn 18 or 22.

Used to always dream about fat fire india to escape the corporate grind. my wife and I work in bay area tech and we are at ~2.5MN nw today. so technically the math works out for india.

Honestly now that the option is there, I have zero desire to actually pull the plug. I realized I am earning for my kid not for my retirement. I plan to just continue working in bayarea as long as my job allows me to, let the portfolio compound and build a generational foundation for my daughter.

My work is decent, I work in Cloud operations, so lot of firefighting, but I actually enjoy it. Part of me says this will not last long, but yeah as long as it lasts I am happy to be part of this.

Is this a normal phase? anyone else hit their target and just completely ditch the RE part?

Want to hit 3-4M liquid, then stop heavy accumulation to prioritize kid school.

Buckets:
817K Trad 401k/IRA
512K Brokerage
185K 529
128K Roth
22.5K HSA
400K Home Equity (assuming 0 appreciation)

Also have ~1MN in India real estate inheritance. Not counting it in my target, just treating it as a safety net so I can be aggressive in investments.

Maxing trad 401ks, 68K Roth total, 150K RSUs yearly. Plan is to cut wife's 32K Roth to cash flow for private school in 6th grade. Am I thinking about this right?