Is US still an attractive place ?

jinx2007 · Post by **jinx2007** » Mon Sep 03, 2007 7:06 am

Folks,

A few years ago our US$ went very far back in India and you could truely consider yourself rich with 1 USD fetching close to Re 49. Everything in India seemed affordable! In the last 5 years the trend has changed completely -

I plan to R2I in 2010 but looking at the above I wonder, if I should do it even earlier. I bought a proprty back in India (not long ago, which I probably should've done 5 years ago) and paid a premium price for that! I see value of my net worth eroding and wonder how long do I need to be in the US ? I agree the quality of life maybe better here ( I own a nice house, nice cars,..) but isn't it getting better in India every passing day (at least in the Metros) ?

Any comments/opinion/experience on the above ? Anybody out there who thinks like I do ?

Appreciate your comments.

MadMax · Post by **MadMax** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 10:27 pm

If yiou plan to own a home then USA looks like a better option. In most places you can get a decent SFH for 250-300K. The same will only fetch an apartment in Hyderabad! :emcry:

Old-Spice2 · Post by **Old-Spice2** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:12 pm

>>If yiou plan to own a home then USA looks like a better option. In most places you can get a decent SFH for 250-300K. The same will only fetch an apartment in Hyderabad.

Will you get a SFH for 300K in NYC or Chicago (not the suburb but the city)? Wrong comparison - big city RE in India versus suburb in US. It is a different matter there are no jobs in Indian suburbs, so many of us are stuck in metros.

MadMax · Post by **MadMax** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:19 pm

Old-Spice2;43003>>If yiou plan to own a home then USA looks like a better option. In most places you can get a decent SFH for 250-300K. The same will only fetch an apartment in Hyderabad.

Will you get a SFH for 300K in NYC or Chicago (not the suburb but the city)? Wrong comparison - big city RE in India versus suburb in US. It is a different matter there are no jobs in Indian suburbs, so many of us are stuck in metros.[/quote]

What part of "most" didn't you get?

Also, if you compare the infrastructure, the metro cities in India don't even compare to the smallest towns in the USA.

For R2I you need to think with the heart, not with the mind. Coz, if you think with your mind...R2I is a total lose-lose.

babu_babu · Post by **babu_babu** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:14 am

jinx2007;42808Folks,

A few years ago our US$ went very far back in India and you could truely consider yourself rich with 1 USD fetching close to Re 49. Everything in India seemed affordable! In the last 5 years the trend has changed completely -

These days 1 USD is almost down to Re 40 and some say it may go down to Re 35!!
Salaries in India have gone up significantly (particularly in the hi-tech sector). In the US it hasn't really appreciated much.
Property prices in India has skyrocketed (doubled or more than doubled in some cases!) and is almost not affordable in you're talking prime locations. In the US its going down!!
Stocks in India has outperformed whereas in the US it hasn't appreciated really much
Indians in India have become lot richer than 5 years ago (again, those in hi-tech sectors)
I plan to R2I in 2010 but looking at the above I wonder, if I should do it even earlier. I bought a proprty back in India (not long ago, which I probably should've done 5 years ago) and paid a premium price for that! I see value of my net worth eroding and wonder how long do I need to be in the US ? I agree the quality of life maybe better here ( I own a nice house, nice cars,..) but isn't it getting better in India every passing day (at least in the Metros) ?

Any comments/opinion/experience on the above ? Anybody out there who thinks like I do ?

Appreciate your comments.[/quote]

NRIs, who ever invested in india for the last 7 years, have got their investments surpassed their salary income.

As a thumb rule, if the investment income becomes twice the salary income, one must stop working and concentrate on investment.

Thats why, now a days, you see many R2Is and RR2Is. They add aging parents,cultural issues and sense of belonging to excuse list and R2I.

Old-Spice2 · Post by **Old-Spice2** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:50 am

>>>What part of "most" didn't you get?

OK..I missed the "most" part. Anyway, point is life in suburb with open space, wide roads and big homes are the factors that make LIA comfortable.

Coming back to OP:
>>I agree the quality of life maybe better here ( I own a nice house, nice cars,..) but isn't it getting better in India every passing day (at least in the Metros) ?

If you can look beyond the regular issues like pollution, traffic jams, etc, I would agree life in India is getting better. With govt pulling out of many industries and fierce competition in pvt sector, consumers are getting lot of options. It is work in progress. There will be lot of inconvenience during this phase. And remember - "if you see the bandwagon, you are too late" (Courtesy James Goldsmith).

Desi_by_Nature · Post by **Desi_by_Nature** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:33 am

For most of us in IT it is easy to look through our tinted glasses and see India becoming a better option day by day.

However USA is still attractive for people who come here from India to drive taxis, cook, run motels/gas stations - i.e. unskilled labor.
Also for people aspiring for a career in research, academics, core engineering this is still the place to be.

HighTorque · Post by **HighTorque** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:08 am

Couple of things that can make US still a attractive place to live from a security and political standpoint.

1.The first drawback I see living in India these days (forget the traffic, pollution, water problem etc , if you have money you can find solutions to these) is security. With repeated bomb blasts and terror groups all over south india, it is getting very unsafe to even visit popular places with family. We all know how much security is being provided from the powers to be, so it makes it all the more concerning. You are basically on your own.

2. Secondly, With growing commie vote base, who knows, in the next election they might increase their strength from 50 odd seats to 100. If that happens, power shifts to the left and guess what will happen to the growth story, stock market, the burgeoning private sector etc then.

Let us hope that these dont happen.

desihometown · Post by **desihometown** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:58 am

If its unaffordable to buy a home in India while having a US salary, it WILL BE unaffaordable to buy a home in India with a Indian salary.

If the economy/IT sector in US tanks, the IT sector in India will tank.

If rupee keeps aprreciating and IT slaries keep going up, US will find alternate
ways to get cheaper labor. IT work is not India's exclusive forte.

The salaries have not appreciated at the same level for a reason. US is a mature economy. Its good that slaries do not have such wild swings. The deal with a swing is that that a wild swing forward can have a wild swing backward. Salaries have appreciated in a lot of sectors. Again, supply versus demand.

Anyways, just my 2 cents.

ssppss · Post by **ssppss** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:37 pm

babuvrr;43071NRIs, who ever invested in india for the last 7 years, have got their investments surpassed their salary income.

As a thumb rule, if the investment income becomes twice the salary income, one must stop working and concentrate on investment.

Thats why, now a days, you see many R2Is and RR2Is. They add aging parents,cultural issues and sense of belonging to excuse list and R2I.[/quote]

what is RR2I?

By investment income, you mean RE, right?

But most of RE gain is unrealized gain (you can really sell it).