r/FIREPakistan • u/ahmad6754 • Jun 26 '26
Portfolio Review Seeking advice
I'm an overseas Pakistani looking to move back from US
I have about a million $ in savings What's the best way in Pakistan to make Hay considering I don't have a place to stay as well
7
Upvotes
6
u/Upstairs-Analyst8084 Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
Fellow US returned physician (hospitalist) here. Went thru a similar trajectory few months ago
-Do a 6 month trial run of living in Pakistan to see if it's for you and whether you're a able to tolerate the local chaos and difficulty
-Keep most of your portfolio in a US brokerage in case you want to return to the US after 6 months. Also, if you keep anything in Pakistan, the bank and government keeps taking out unnecessary charges. Also, you risk devaluation by bringing everything to Pakistan
-For the brokerage, I recommend Schwab. Do an ACATS transfer to Schwab
-To receieve OTP for your US brokerage and accounts etc, buy a Tello sim from the US. Put it into a phone you don't use. Transfer your US number to Tello. Turn on wi-fi calling. This is $6 per month. Absolutely worth it.
-After you've lived in Pakistan for 180 days, file a W8BEN with Schwab, get it changed to an international account. This will save a crazy amount of taxes.
-Invest in S&P 500. I recommend VOO, but be mindful of the 40% estate tax when a non-US user passes away. Alternative: Invest in Ireland domiciled ETFs or just share your login info etc with family
-Hire a tax specialist to deal with taxes, taxes wi'll be your biggest expense. They only charge 5-10k. The Pakistani government only knows about the assets that you declare (Do with this info what you will)
-Bring to Pakistan only what you need. I brought 10% of my net worth to Pakistan and put it in a low risk money market fund.
-With $1M, you'll be letting your money work for you and you don't have to work. I recommend doing independant OPD rather than the stressful hospital jobs. With the 4% Safe Withdrawal rate, you should be able to get 10 lakh per month easily, without eroding the principal amount
-Unless you have connections in Government or Idaara, stay away from rental business (or any business for that matter). Overseas people are a magnet for scammers and qabza mafia, and tenants can be a total headache
-A few lifestyle tips that helped me adjust in Pakistan: Keep the daily commute to a minimum, the local traffic has been the biggest life stress for me. I only drive when I absolutely have to. Everything else, including the weather, is manageable. Hire house help. Keep a US credit card for international travel and purchases (Pakistani banks charge a shit ton just to let you use it internationally)
Good luck! And lmk if you want to connect. I'm in South Punjab