Hello everyone! I’m currently going through some major transitions in my life, and I am seeking your input to gain a broader perspective on my circumstances and help me make some financials decisions. Specifically, I would like to brainstorm with you about how to approach the challenges I will face in the coming years.
Let me start by giving you some background information about myself. I am a 31-year-old male with 7 years of experience in IT, specifically business analyses and consulting. I currently reside in the US, and am also a proud holder of the Russian passport (sigh). No other citizenships as of yet. I am fluent in Russian and English, I am also intermediate in Spanish.
Now about my financial profile. I have $60,000 in a 4% savings account, $5,000 in checking, $4,000 in cash, $6,000 in VTI/VOO, $6,000 in BOA, and 0.8 of BTC. I have no other assets or obligations to my name, no cars or houses, no family, and no loans or debts. Excluding crypto, my holdings amount to approximately $83,000.
On the surface, my financial situation may seem comfortable, but the truth is that I am tired of my current job and have decided to quit in 1.5 months. I am leaving the US and not coming back. My plan is to spend the next few years in Asia, traveling, and acquiring new skills, such as programming. I have started learning programming recently and found it to be a source of joy. I expect to become qualified enough to land a junior developer job in two years, but due to the uncertainty caused by my citizenship, I am accounting for three full years before I can expect to have a job to cover my daily expenses.
I am a frugal person and enjoy cooking my own meals. I expect to spend no more than $10,000 per year, and I believe that I can sustain myself on that budget in countries like Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and India.
As for my assets, I am hesitant to expose myself to stocks more than I already am, especially given the current market conditions and speculations of a looming recession. I'm also slightly scarred by having suffered some financial losses due to the war. However, I also don't want to miss out on potential gains if the market rallies.
My plan as of today is to keep most of the money in high yield saving accounts to continue gaining some guaranteed passive income (around $200 a month with the current rate). If the market or the individual tickers tank, I will move some of the money (considering up to $30,000) from savings account there. The tickers I'm monitoring include APPL, Visa, Mastercard, BLK, MSFT, CROX, Sofi, AMD, MS. If the market does not tank, well, I'll just have to live through the FOMO and enjoy my little interest until I have a stable income and/or the market global economy has improved.
On the bright side of things, I am not a citizen of the US and therefore will not owe any taxes after having lived outside the US for half a year. While I will be relieved from tax when it comes to selling crypto and stocks at profit, now that I'm writing this I'm realizing I'm not sure if tax exemption will also apply to the interest from savings account.
As per crypto, this is going to be my last resort so I intend to keep it until it either rallies or dies or if I'm desperate.
So, if you were in my position, how would you manage the specified assets in the coming years of uncertainty?
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