Insights & Updates
Thoughts on wealth, technology, and staying organized.
60 articles
The Expat Financial Checklist: What Mid-Senior Professionals Get Wrong Before They Relocate
Everyone checks the cost-of-living calculator and the school ratings. Almost nobody reviews the financial decisions that need to be made before they leave — the ones with hard deadlines that disappear when the moving truck arrives.
Your EPF Balance Is Probably Taxable in the US. Nobody Told You.
The IRS has not issued clear guidance classifying EPF as a qualified pension plan. The conservative position: interest accruing annually in your EPF is US-taxable income, even if you haven't withdrawn a rupee. Most NRIs in the US have never reported it.
The Green Card Exit Tax: Why Your Biggest Immigration Upgrade Has a Hidden Cost
After 8 years, a green card isn't just an immigration status — it's a tax position with a specific cost to exit. The deemed-sale rule applies to your entire portfolio on the day you leave. Most NRIs don't discover this until they want to move back.
NRE, NRO, and FCNR: The Three Indian Bank Accounts That Determine Whether Your Money Comes Home
My CA stopped me mid-transfer: 'Which account are you paying from?' I said NRO. He said: sit down. The account you use to buy Indian property determines how easily you can repatriate the proceeds when you eventually sell. Most NRIs learn this too late.
NRI Selling Property in India: The Two-Tax Hit Nobody Explains Clearly
India taxes the property. Your country of residence taxes you. The DTAA doesn't eliminate the second hit — it sequences them and gives you a credit. On a large Indian property sale, the combined effective rate is closer to 24% than the 12.5% India rate most people quote.
You Can't Share This With Anyone Who Won't Make It Weird
You typed the text. Then deleted it. The people who most need peer context are the ones most isolated from it — family has baggage, friends have context mismatch, advisors have incentive misalignment. This is the problem NettWorth was built to solve.
You're Making $400K and You Still Don't Feel Wealthy. Here's Why the Benchmark Is Wrong, Not You.
Priya earns $420K in San Francisco, has $800K saved, and feels behind. She's comparing herself to HENRYfinance posters who have no parents to support, no cross-border obligations, no Bay Area cost structure. The benchmark is wrong, not her.
Net Worth by Age Charts Are Wrong
The SCF benchmark is the most rigorous household wealth dataset in the US — and it doesn't count your EPF, your Hyderabad apartment, your unvested RSUs, or your NRE FDs. For cross-border HENRYs, the standard benchmark is measuring the wrong person.
What AI Lab Employees Are Actually Doing With Their Equity
S has $3.2M in unvested equity at a major AI lab and genuinely doesn't know what to do. Not because she's unsophisticated — because nobody around her is being honest. Three camps, one clear pattern, and what peer data actually solves here.
Locked In Twice: RSU Concentration When You're Also on a Visa
Arun had $900K in unvested RSUs and 60 days to find a new H1B sponsor. His liquid net worth was $140K. Job loss and immigration risk are perfectly correlated for H1B workers — and the standard RSU playbook doesn't account for this.
The Remittance Fee That Costs You $9,400 Over 20 Years
$800/month to family through your bank at 3% all-in? That $192 annual savings from switching to Wise compounds to $9,400 over 20 years. Most people never run this math.
The RNOR Window: The 2-3 Year Tax Opportunity Most NRIs Miss
Your first 2-3 years back in India, foreign income is largely tax-free. It's the window for Roth conversions and asset restructuring. Almost nobody plans for it before they leave the US.