Live like a king doing what? You moved there from the U.S., right? Which country are you in, Thailand?
Start out there and say that. The U.S. pays more, and the ceiling is MUCH higher with far more opportunities.
To each their own though. Live where you want to live.
I live in Chicago now, I really disagree with the idea that the US is so great. I think it's only so great for a very small minority of people who now can live comfortably.
According to the comfortable living index, to have a family of 4 in Illinois "living comfortably" you need an income of $240k today. That means both the husband and wife working 50+ hour high demand jobs basically just to be middle class today.
You can throw a dart on the map in SE Asia, Latin America, some places in Europe, some places in the Middle East where you can live like a king on $50k a year.
Your argument about "start out there" seems silly in a time where everyone can work remotely. Especially with AI eliminating so many office jobs and having some digital nomad doing it instead.
This post was edited by MildSambal on Feb 18 2026 09:09pm