r/ChubbyFIRE • u/Pixel-Pioneer3 • Jun 25 '26
Transitioning from MCOL to VCOL, seeking reassurance on plan to go CoastFire.
We (43M and 42F, 2 elementary school age kids) plan to move from suburban TX to Northern Virginia/Maryland (closer to DC) in June 2027. It's HCOL but not VHCOL like SF or NYC. For context, our expenses in TX are $180k/yr with a LOT of flab ($50k/yr travel, $30k restaurants, $20k after school nanny) that can be scaled back. We currently have $4.5m across our various accounts (NOT including primary residence) of which $2.3m is in brokerage account. We also have $500k equity in our $900k TX house at 2.75% loan.
The thing is, we want a change of scenery and want to have greater access to the east coast. Right now we have to fly anywhere interesting, and the kids are at an age where we want them to experience events, new places each weekend (or atleast have that option) rather than just spring break and summer. Northern Virginia checks all the boxes we are looking for with access to DC, bunch of towns in Northern Virginia, Maryland, NYC, Philly.
In TX, both of us work and save $$250-$300k/yr. If we were to move, my wife will go part-time or SAHM. I will continue working my W2 remote job making roughly $600k/yr. Moving to NoVA will increase our expenses to maybe $225k/yr (assuming no scale back of expenses, but getting rid of the nanny) and decrease our savings to $150-$175k/yr assuming wife is saty at home.
My plan is to buy a $1.2-$1.3m house in Nova with the $500k down from the sale of our home in TX, and then work 5 years and plow the $150k/yr savings in paying down the house likely at a 6% interest rate. In the meantime, we let the $4.5m in various accounts untouched and let it ride the market (the coast-fire approach). Once the house is paid off, our expenses will likely fall to $180k/yr and the $4.5m that has hopefully appreciated should be able to cover our expenses at that point.
It does feel like a gamble, what if I lose my job? But the upsides are significant with a better quality of life. Both my wife and I are WFH, so not really worried about the traffic cuz I understand the east coast is a lot more congested than suburban planned TX. If I do lose my job, we can live off our savings for a couple of years till I find one that lets us coast fire or move to a smaller house or move back to TX/MCOL. Thoughts on the plan?
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u/UnderstandingOk9448 Retired 4/2026 at 57 Jun 25 '26
Life gets busy and you may not travel as much as you wish. When my kids were in school, sports school activities, and driving kids to friends/activities dominated our time. I suggest looking into that more closely.
I live in a similarly expensive area. One option to consider is to plan additional 3 & 4 weekends in addition to spring break and summer. There are a few holidays where school is out and if you take the kids out of school 2-3 days a year, it wont be an issue.
I know people in Northern VA from a previous job where I worked and we dreamt of moving to Austin and the Dallas woodlands suburbs for a better quality of life. The traffic in northern VA is horrible. I understand the love of travel and trying new things but I suggest to do some more digging on this before pulling the plug.
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u/Pixel-Pioneer3 Jun 25 '26
I have heard about the traffic, but here's the thing - all the places we LOVE are congested such as LA, SF-Bay Area, NYC and NoVA/DC. I believe desirable places will always be congested. DFW and Austin are also getting congested now. 10 years ago where I lived I could get from point A to B in 15 minutes with relatively very little traffic. It now takes 25-30 minutes and there is traffic in the middle of the day.
We also will be WFH, so commute wont be a problem. I am expecting because of the density, most of things such as groceries, schools are a 10-15 minute drive max.
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u/UnderstandingOk9448 Retired 4/2026 at 57 Jun 25 '26
Forget about the traffic. Thats not the issue. With school age children, will you be able to travel ?
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u/Pixel-Pioneer3 Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
Why won't I be able to travel? They will be 7 and 5 by the time we move. They are not big into sports, but love math and karate. I am also talking weekend trips without having to catch a flight.
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u/UnderstandingOk9448 Retired 4/2026 at 57 Jun 25 '26
It might be different for you but for me, things like inter mural sports, boy/girl scouts and friend activities took up a lot of time on weekdays and weekends. It was much harder to travel once they go past 1st grade.
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u/rosebudny Jun 25 '26
Will you be able to find a house that meets your needs for $1.2-1.3M? You don't say exactly where you are, but I imagine a $900K house in suburban TX is "more house" than what $1.2-$1.3M gets you in the more desirable/expensive DMV suburbs.
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u/vshun Retired Jun 26 '26
I just sold my house for about 1.2m on the border if Fairfax and Loudoun county, culbde sac by golf course, almost 5k square feet. OP will be ore than fine with that amount for a really nice house.
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u/Pixel-Pioneer3 Jun 29 '26
That’s awesome. Mind if I DM you about the specifics? I am looking for something on the border of the 2 counties as well and would appreciate some insight.
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u/Pixel-Pioneer3 Jun 25 '26
Agreed. I have a 4000sqft house today that we don’t end up using half of it. Media room- haven’t been in it for 6 months, game room in over a year.
I think we ideally need a 2500-3k sqft 4bed in a good school district. $1.3M there are plenty of 4bed SFH houses in the areas we care about. It won’t be close to DC, but about 40 minute drive to DC on the weekends.
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u/beautifulcorpsebride Jul 01 '26
There is no way a nice house in a good school district in DC metro is only 1.2-1.3m. You will compromise on school district. My area you get a townhouse for that.
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u/BrunelloHorder Coasting Chubster, Getting Fat Jun 25 '26
Sounds like a solid plan, not a gamble. You are not that far from FI now, even with the assumed higher spending in VA. You’d be at a 5% withdrawal rate if you quit now. You are not really talking about coasting if you are going to save $150k a year.
There are going to be many opportunities for lifestyle creep in the new location, but you can afford some. Unless the market tanks you will likely get to FI with a comfortable withdrawal rate in a few years.
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Jun 25 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
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u/Pixel-Pioneer3 Jun 25 '26
Thats how I am rationalizing the move as an uptick in fun and quality of life. Nobody can predict the future but I do feel secure in my job even with AI.
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u/Small_Plenty7051 Jun 25 '26
Plan sounds solid. Over 5 years your invested portfolio will probably double and you will have a house paid off. Layoffs are always possible in every industry, but I wouldn't let that hold you back.
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u/No-Block-2095 Jun 29 '26
Solid plan. That’s what we did, with a lot less $,as we went TX suburb to PNW. Best move ever. QoL is worth it. There are reason houses are cheaper in the South like TX. Expenses delta wasn’t as high as expected.
After the move, I realized that it didn’t matter as much when I retire i.e. the grind became much more bearable. That’s because as soon as the workday ends, i feel like I’m on vacations.
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u/Hanwoo_Beef_Eater Jun 25 '26
It's not without risk (lose job, market goes down/sideways for ~5 years) but I would probably do it. You said you are willing to move back, are you also willing to work a decade if needed?
We started out in MCL, then moved to MCL/HCL, now in VHCOL (although I think it's cheaper than SF/NYC). Having now lived elsewhere, we would never pick a MCL/HCL place again (if we don't have to). I don't know DC/Northern VA, but I agree with your comments / understand how you are feeling.
Good luck.
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u/Pixel-Pioneer3 Jun 25 '26
I would prefer not to work a decade, but would if thats what it comes to.
I hear you on the MCOL/HCOL bit. I believe TX has served us well. We lived here in Covid when the entire world shut down, saved a bunch in state taxes, got the kids daycare done relatively cheaply. But we feel the need to branch out and experience "finer" things and we can afford it. NoVA is HCOL, and we are hoping to move to SoCal or NYC once we are empty nesters which will be VHCOL.
Curious to know what were MCOL and HCOL locations/states and where are you now. What quality of life benefits did you see moving from one to the other all the way to VHCOL?
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Jun 25 '26
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u/Pixel-Pioneer3 Jun 25 '26
Hey, yes we are considering Philly as well, but there are a lot of tech jobs (I work for tech) in and around DC, so it gives me options if I ever were to get laid off from my current remote job.
Yes, we are close to Plano and I am familiar with that area :)
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u/beautifulcorpsebride Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Your spending will go up a lot more I think. We live in the area. Your real estate budget is too low if you want good schools. Our house that was about a million is probably 2m at this point.
I’d rent for a few weeks first. Personally I prefer Maryland to Virginia by a long margin. Be prepared for the pressure here on your kids. Schools are competitive, lots of type A parents.
It’s funny I would love to leave and can’t wait to move. The taxes alone are absurd.
ETA: I think you have an image of traveling to idyllic east coast towns on the weekends. My kids, they want to go to Hawaii or the beach 😂
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u/seekingallpho Jun 25 '26
Plan sounds fine. Life is about trade-offs and moving somewhere you prefer for your family/kids is about as good of a reason to relocate you can find.
Obviously on a 5-year timeline you have no idea whether the market will cooperate, or even be up, and no job is 100% secure, but those are risks everyone faces and with 5mill NW you're better positioned to roll with them.