LIFE CHANGES
Would moving buy you more freedom?
Compare two household budgets, include the cost of moving, and see when the change starts paying back.
$500 more saved each month.
A fictional move from $4,000 income / $3,000 spending to $3,500 income / $2,000 spending.
A cheaper place to live is useful only if the whole move works. A lower rent can be swallowed by lower earnings, school fees, transport or regular trips home. Start with what your household would actually keep.
Compare two complete monthly budgets
The new job pays $500 less, yet you save $500 more each month. With no debt payments in this illustration, your savings rate rises from 25% to about 43%. The annual cost of your life falls by $12,000, too.
A move costs money before it saves money
Suppose getting there costs $10,000. At $500 extra saved each month, the simple payback is 20 months. At an assumed 4.75% effective annual real return for world stock index investing, after investment costs and before personal tax, with the extra savings invested at each month-end, it takes about 21 months to catch the financial path of staying. Money spent on the move also loses the growth it could have earned.
TRY IT IN WOSAVEST
Compare the move, including the cost of getting there
- Open Saved scenarios → New scenario. Name the first comparison Stay, enter net monthly income 4000 and monthly living spending 3000, then Save scenario.
- Create another scenario called Move. Enter income 3500 and living spending 2000. Under One-off costs or money added, enter 10000 as One-off cost at the start.
- Leave investment-return changes at 0 for a like-for-like comparison. Save it, then compare the two scenarios after 1, 2 and 10 years.
- For a real move, replace the practice amounts with a researched take-home salary and a complete budget. Under Country, returns, inflation and taxes, a country name is only a label; tax assumptions change only when you enter them.
What to look for: The move starts behind because of its upfront cost. Higher ongoing savings can later overtake that loss. Your plan’s existing debt payments and assets still apply to both scenarios, so its crossover need not equal the simplified 21-month example.
The example account uses fictional data; its changes are temporary and are not saved to an account. Use it for these practice figures; use your own numbers in your saved account. Links open a new tab so you can keep these steps beside you.
What would make the attractive budget wrong?
Price the life you intend to live, not the cheapest life advertised online. Separate refundable deposits from costs you truly lose, and allow for months when you might pay for two homes. Verify the income and tax estimates relevant to your own situation before relying on them.
Finally ask what the spreadsheet leaves out: family, friendships, language, career opportunities and whether you want to live there. The comparison tells you the financial trade-off. It cannot tell you where you will feel at home.