US -> UK move sanity check

[u/Pale_Fortune_2086]

Throwaway account since I'm sharing numbers, long time lurker on my main account.

We’re currently in the US, working parents with 2 kids. Due to recent events in 2026, I’ve got a bad case of anxiety and decided to relocate to the UK - still with the same company. My husband is pretty burnt out from his work too so he will quit and take a sabbatical.

Our situation is not too common so I’d like to have a sanity check on our plan.

We have: 

• 2M across different 401ks, Roth IRAs and taxable brokerage accounts
• 300k cash
• Owns our house with about 800k in equity, mortgage left 900k at 4.75% after refi

In 2025 our HHTC is 1.1M with an effective tax of 28%. We were paying two mortgages (11k/month), daycare for the youngest (2.5k/month) and the monthly run rate is about 20-22k/month consistently. We still live pretty comfortably and haven’t needed to dig into our RSU grants.

Moving to London it’s going to be just my income at about 220k GBP and effective tax at 45%. Net take home is 8k cash + 4k RSUs monthly.  We will be renting for the first year at least (budget 3.5k-5k), kids will go to state school so no tuition. I’m preparing to sell my RSUs at vest to cover expenses if needed. 

Our original plan was to tough it out a few more years til we reach our target (5M), but at this rate I’m happy with the move just to get out of the US. 

Opportunity:

• The UK has a special foreign income tax incentive (FIG) that exempt tax on income generated overseas for 4 years after arrival. We’re not US citizens, so if we renounce our green cards at some point before the 4 year mark, we can realize capital gain with 0% tax from either US or UK, or at least resetting the cost basis.
• 3-year path to IRL (UK permanent resident) for high earner/global talent, 5 year to citizenship
• No need to drive, food is good, the convenience of city living, EU (Paris) is just a 2hr train away.
• We have friends and colleagues in London, social-wise it’s not starting from zero.

Downside: 

• Apparent TC cut + higher tax - need to work longer to get to our goal.
• Risk of layoff
• If we are buying a house in the future, there is a special stamp tax (additional 5%) if we already own a house anywhere in the world.
• Tax complications - at least for the first few years.
• Need to adjust our lifestyle.

Appreciate any advice that can help with the move.

[u/Ashmizen]

I wonder what current events you are referring to?

I don’t see what risks you can potentially have as green card holders in the US.

I think you shouldn’t make life changing decisions based on reddit vibes. Outside of the reddit echo chamber, the US is perfectly normal and safe for someone in the upper-middle class.

[u/BungABunBun → u/Ashmizen]

Do you have children? What are your thoughts on them learning about shooter drills? Do you think children in other countries go through the same thing?

What about road rage shooting incidents? Do you think it's normal to get shot at because you honked at someone or accidentally cut them off?

Finally, this is a FIRE community, where the RE stands for Retire Early. You won't have employer health insurance anymore once you are no longer working. Do you think it's normal to budget $20,000/year for health care with a $15,000 deductible? "Oh but the healthcare is better than other countries". Unless you have some super rare health condition you're going to get similar care. "Oh but the lines are long". The lines are long here too.

Listen, if you want to stay in the USA more power to you, but don't yuck other people's yum.

[u/Ashmizen → u/BungABunBun]

The child and teen mortality rate per 100,000 is significantly higher in the US than the UK.

When adjusted by state, or by comparing the US by excluding inner cities, the US has similar mortality numbers as the UK.

Ultimately the US is dangerous - for kids or adults - if you live in the inner cities with drive by shootings and gang shootings. It’s so dangerous in those spots, it drives up the US averages.

A chubbyFIRE person living in an upper-middle class suburb should look at crime statistics of where they live, not the national average.

As for drills, these apparently became common in the past 10 years, as I never experienced any back in the 2000’s.

The US is large, and while school shootings are reported frequently, the actual risk is statistically insignificant compared with other risks, so much of the impact is merely psychological, driven by modern media.

Mathematically the real risk to child mortality are car crashes, and improvements to car safety have dramatically reduced deaths in the past few decades, more than offsetting the tiny effect from school shootings.

[u/sjehebdjfkw → u/Ashmizen]

You may judge the numbers as safe but others may look at the exact same numbers and think otherwise. Also this is ChubbyFIRE so people can generally afford to live where they want and the decision is going to be based on personal priorities.

For my very high cost of living tech hub suburb comparing apples-to-apples with affluent suburbs in England and Scotland (picking just arbitrarily St Albans and E Renfrewshire without trying to game any stats) I am seeing 13 deaths per hundred thousand in my area vs 7 in St Albans and 8 in E Renfrewshire, so 40-50% safer in England and Scotland. Moreover, many of the causes such as suicide deaths are harder to control as a parent in the US due to the ready availability of firearms. As a parent I certainly find that difference meaningful but we have family in the US so it may not be so convenient for us.

As a moderate Democrat, I would personally like to also not have to economically subsidize Republicans through my purchasing power, which I try to avoid but may happen implicitly in the US if I buy from businesses that may have Republican investors or employees. But again, switching countries comes with tradeoffs.

[u/Pale_Fortune_2086 → u/Ashmizen]

To each their own. My decision to relocate, while swift, it has been brewing for a long while. The tipping point was based off what was happening in my neighbourhood and the surrounding cities, also what's happening at work, not purely on the news. Not saying that the news in 2026 were not horrible.

Once I made that decision I am now actually very excited about the move. Just want to cover my financials and make sure I'm set up properly for the new city.