I wanted to live in a western country and command a higher salary. US was a no-go because of obvious visa issues, so went to the closest place which was Canada. I've been employed here for 5 years now, and definitely earned and saved a lot more than I used to back in India. But, as the years went by, I the downsides of living here started taking a toll like the brutal weather and lack of interesting opportunities. I continued traveling to India to visit family and was updated with the tech there. I now realize the job market in India has grown significantly and given the cost of living, you could effectively save the same amount at a good senior-level job position in Bangalore, Hyderabad etc. I have friends there who save more than I do in Toronto on a 200k CAD salary, with equivalent quality of life.
Sure, I could apply for citizenship, then go to the US on a TN but that's not going to make things easy either. For financial independence, what matters most to me are two things: absolute amount of money I can save/invest TODAY; and my physical health so that once I retire early I'm still in good health to do the things I want to. I could work in Silicon Valley, but if I lived a good healthy (mental and physical) life the amount of money saved will drop. I'd have to live like a miser given the CoL, something I'm not willing to do. I can live frugal but not like a miser. I must also mention that I'm married now and planning kids in the next year or two. The cost of childcare will significantly affect my CoL if continued in Canada. This may not apply to you now, but could in the future. One more point: most of our vacation days are spent in traveling to India visiting family and we haven't actually had a vacation in 4 years.
I feel the tech scene in India is really booming and lots of interesting startups are coming up in Bangalore, Pune. Companies like Amazon are also expanding operations and hiring massively in Hyderabad while paying well.
I have already done the calculations and given my current offer in Hyderabad, it'll take me about 6-7 years to retire and 10-12 years if done in Canada.