Hit $1M net worth at 33 — from a one-bedroom childhood to financial independence

I grew up in a developing country, in a one-bedroom house with my parents. Money was always tight, but it taught me to squeeze value out of every dollar. Fast forward: I moved to the US at 23 with –$40k in loans, and after 10 years (7 of them actually working), I’ve just crossed $1M net worth at age 33.

Some of my proudest accomplishments along the way: I financed the construction of a new home for my family back home, support my parents financially, and even pay for their international vacations. SO far I've spent around $150-170k on my family. (and I'm not counting this money in the $1million net worth, since the house is theirs)

What made this possible:

• Working in tech was major leverage. The salaries helped, but the real game-changer was RSUs. I didn't receive beyond a 3-4% appreciated for the first 6 years on my RSUs btw, but because they never hit my bank account. I lived only on my cash salary, so the stock grants quietly stacked up and I sold some of them and re invested across a tech heavy portfolio.
• I never planned for FI. I knew the concept, sure, but I wasn’t optimizing spreadsheets or aiming for a number. It just happened by being mindful.
• I always chose modest apartments (rent is always the biggest expense, so gotto be mindful of that)—except for that one year in New York when lifestyle creep got me.
• I never kept a formal budget, but I always chased the best deal, whether groceries, flights, or big purchases.
• CAGR on my portfolio has been ~13% consistently, thanks to buy-and-hold discipline.

Where I’m at today:

• Net worth: just over $1M. ($1.07)
• Passive income: about $1200/month.
• Single, no house, no kids, no partner rn.
• Living expenses: ~$1400/month in Vietnam temporarily trying out being nomadic and working on myself.

Magic of geo arbitrage:

Here in Vietnam, $1400/month gives me a life that honestly feels luxurious compared to what I grew up with:

• Every meal out, often in Western cafés and restaurants, not hyper local street side places
• A modest but comfortable studio apartment.
• A scooter for zipping around, fuel included.
• A personal trainer 3 times a week.
• Two massages a week.

The messy reality behind the milestone:

• My portfolio allocation isn’t well thought out. I’ve got way too much sitting in cash because I was considering buying a house. I'm not anymore though, since I don't think it makes sense financially at all. Here is a rough split of my net worth (30% in cash in an HYSA, 21% in one big tech company which is risky I know so I will be rebalancing this part a lot. 3% is in crypto, 20% in retirement accounts which means they're not accessible for a while, rest in a portfolio which is mainly VOO + other tech heavy investments)
• I’m not in the US anymore, which means I’m not earning in dollars for the most part. That feels risky because it means I wont make as much as I have for the rest of my life if I dont consider returning to the US.
• I’m 33 — young enough that 40 more years of life could throw anything at me… hyper inflation, stock swings, some health risk.
• It’s too early for me to sell investments to cover expenses. I still see myself as a buy-and-hold guy.

Questions for the community:

Where do I go from here? My accounts make me complacent which I don't really like. But I also don't really want to stress at all with a 9-5. I have run some calculations but I don't know if I can out my trust in them since the time horizon to live off of the investments is quite high which brings a lot of uncertainty.

If I do not count my retirement accounts and plan for 26 years till i become 60 and retirement kicks in (I'm 34 now)

• 4% SWR (safe for 26 yrs) → $32k/yr (~$2.7k/mo)
• 5% SWR (still reasonable for 26 yrs) → $40k/yr (~$3.3k/mo)
• 3.5% SWR (extra safe) → $28k/yr (~$2.3k/mo)

Any insights? Also I would love to connect with people in similar situations and be in regular touch to get inspired/brainstorm etc so feel free to DM me.