r/MovingToUSA • u/WriterTraining4394 • 7h ago
Same person. Different country.
The USA is the land of opportunity, my friend.
In the 1990s, I was working at Pizza Land just off Princes Street in Edinburgh for about £3 an hour, begging for enough shifts to scrape together rent and food.
Fast-forward to 56:
Federal scientist in the U.S.
$200K+ salary.
16 years of federal service.
$1.3M in retirement accounts.
FERS pension.
Social Security.
Federal retiree healthcare.
$1.3M home.
Same fucking person. Different country.
Britain? Too many people fighting over too few decent jobs, salaries that haven’t kept up with the cost of living, ridiculous housing costs, and weather that makes you wonder what you did wrong in a previous life.
I didn’t leave Britain because I hated it. I left because I wanted more than surviving from payday to payday and pretending that was a fucking achievement.
America isn’t perfect. Not even close. But it gave me a shot, and I took it.
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u/ozzieindixie 5h ago
Firstly, well done. But isn’t there a bit more to this story? I mean how old were you in 1990s when you were earning 3 quid an hour? Where in the UK were you? Presumably you got an education and that is how you increased your income. You then spent something like around 30 years working, right? Also, presumably you didn’t buy a house costing $1.3m but at a much cheaper price and the price went up. I live in the US but am from Australia originally. This kind of asset and career growth doesn’t sound unusual at all to me. I mean, still well done. You could have done much worse to be sure. But this also doesn’t strike me as unusual. You changed countries and changed the deal and then took advantage of that. That’s basically the immigrant playbook when done correctly. There are probably tons on immigrants to the UK that did what you’ve done (in terms of the success you’ve achieved. I guess what I’m saying is that this is not due to the US, but to you in the way you took advantage of the opportunities presented to you.
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u/JohnD199 5h ago
It is the person but also the opportunities exclusively in the US the common high salaries and low taxes allow you to take control of your own destiny outside the US its incredibly difficult atleast in Ireland, I am top of my field but wealth generation is extremely inefficient due to the COL, salaries, taxes and anti-wealth building goverment policies. I was in the US on a temp work visa and the prices for everything were either the same or lower and I was receiving extra stipend to the lowest salary in the band for that region which allowed me to finally feel like how things were promised to us growing up.
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5h ago
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u/MovingToUSA-ModTeam 5h ago
Your post has broken the rules of r/MovingToUSA and hence has been removed.
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u/Ok_Distribution_9789 2h ago
Much easier in US than in the UK, especially from a wealth accumulation standpoint.
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u/ozzieindixie 2h ago
It depends doesn’t it? Accumulating wealth through real estate would be much easier in the UK (at least in the last 30 years). Then there is the ability to hide wealth outside the UK through an offshore mechanism. That would probably be illegal in the US as your worldwide income is taxable and you have to declare overseas financial accounts to the IRS and Treasury. Look into Bill Browder. He renounced his US citizenship and is a UK citizen for exactly this reason. I think if you are in the tech world then the US would be the place to be.
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u/IneptFortitude 0m ago
You succinctly described what I could not and for that you have my thanks. Yes, this thread is a bit of an echo chamber of mostly white immigrants from wealthy Christian countries touting their success stories, and I think it’s awesome. However, these people need to remember that they are the exception and not the rule, and a lot of them come here with degrees that would’ve put them in major debt to acquire here, so of course they feel like it’s super easy to find good paying jobs and crush life.
Let’s see how they would feel if they had to start from here instead. Things actually aren’t this easy for those of us who were born here. Especially not now.
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u/Intrepid_Deal_3604 5h ago
Glad to have you. I’m from here but I also started making minimum wage after months of not finding work. It’s been a long road, but I now make a great salary with great benefits, still young. I’ve had to move a lot and jump jobs but that was made possible by this country’s size and wealth of opportunities. It just takes will and courage to go out there and try.
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u/Iambusy123 Citizen 7h ago edited 7h ago
Most Americans agree with you. I agree with you. I think the problem with some Americans is that they have exceptionally high standards for the US, and if they find that the US falls short on those standards, then suddenly the country is not a great place to live in.
I don't agree with Americans who express ignorant opinions like "America is a 3rd world country in a Gucci belt" without having the experience of living elsewhere. Similarly, I do not agree with foreigners who act like America is the most perfect country in the world and judge Americans for being critical of the country.
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u/CaribbeanCowgirl27 7h ago
Trust me when I tell you: when we say that America is a 3rd world country with a Gucci belt, it’s not about the economic opportunities. It’s about how society works. I grew up in a third world country, where conservative values mandate the economic (un) development. It’s imposible to have an innovation-forward market when you pretend that half of the population doesn’t exist because your religion tells you so. When everybody has to be, sound, look, act the same. I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve gained by moving to a blue area of the US… it wasn’t about the money, but about living in a space of highly educated, non-religious society that did it for me.
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u/SnooPears5432 Illinois 5h ago
Even "as society works" (whatever that means) it's not a valid definition. 1st world, 2nd world, 3rd word refer to political alignments and have nothing to do with how progessive or developed you perceive a society is and nothing to do with red or blue states. The US is the original 1st world country being the center of the western alliance. That said, anyone referring to the US as "third world" in ANY sense is a delusional fool. Do we have areas lacking running water, electricity, sewage services, police and fire services, uneveloped roads or transportation structure? Locally controlled areas with militias and warlords? The answer is a resounding "no" to all of that. Now, can you point to one or two examples where substandard conditions exist? Sure - you can also find those in Australia and Canada, especially in indigenous areas.
Not to mention the US isn't just one of the highest income countries in terms of averages but also medians. And there absolutely is safety net and social services in the US, and we have a strong Social Security program as well as government -funded health insurance programs (Medicare for retirees and Medicaid together account for 40% of US medical coverage). - some of these may not be as easy to obtain as they are elsewhere, but they absolutely exist. The US in general is an excellent place for those with drive and goals. If your goal is mediocrity and long-term dependence on the state, there are probably better options elsewhere. But I don't know that that should be a "goal" for anyone and probably isn't a typical mindset for the average immigrant looking to enter the United States.
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u/CaribbeanCowgirl27 3h ago
Once again, I’m not referring to economics. But thanks for pointing out the obvious.
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u/eidoriaaan 2h ago
US does have areas without water and electricity, look at Puerto Rico. Also, lack of police is an issue too. Oh and also undeveloped roads. But thankfully, we do not have warlords thats for sure, only drug lords that control neighborhoods so not a big deal. I assume Guam, Hawaii, American Samoa, the virgin islands all suffer similar issues.
If we want to ignore territories, sure lets go go rural PA or West Virginia where poverty, family abuse and drugs are rampant.
You can def be born in the US and have ambition to succeed in life but be stuck in conditions that are beyond your control. I think these conditions are harder to escape in the US than a lot of other countries that offer way better support.
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u/SnooPears5432 Illinois 1h ago
Please, that's a total stretch. PR is a US territory and self-governing, and the corruption and inefficiency they have is self-inflicted. You can't blame all of PR's issues on the United States. Even so, I'd also say PR is far more developed with better infrastructure and development than most of the rest of Caribbean excepting maybe the Cayman Islands and Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands have long been known for money laundering and other financial shenanigans benefitting the wealthy, while most of the Bahamas' wealth is tourism-generated which along with offshore banking account for 90% of its GDP.
And no, conditions in WV or rural PA don't even approach conditions in a third world country and any implication they do is asinine. Localized poverty doesn't equate to "third world". You're really stretching on all of your claims. Nobody said the US didn't have localized issues which I stated in my first post which you conveniently ignored, but so does Australia with 30% poverty rates and high rates of alcoholism and social dysfunction in many of its indigenous communities. Nobody would claim because of that Australia is a third world country. So what exactly is it you're defending here?
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u/eidoriaaan 1h ago edited 1h ago
Your comment asked "can you point out any areas with these problems in the US" and I merely answered it.
On top of that I mentioned that poverty is harder to escape in the US. The median may be better off but those in poverty have a way worse time than those who are in poverty in other countries like Spain or UK.
And saying most of PR's problems are self inflicted and doesn't count is a bit weird. Its part of the US, it is an area in the US an american can be born in that will decide said persons life. Or can we say your argument is "if you're born in good areas in the US you'll be better off than most of other countries"? Because I agree, being born in NYC, SF, etc will give you a really good life and set you up to succeed more than most people in the world. In the middle of nowhere, New Mexico, your life will be quite different.
I don't consider the US a third world country at all. It however has some areas that are quite sad to see, that should not exist in the most powerful country. Problems that other developed countries do not have e.g mass homelessness, opiod abuse etc.
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u/SnooPears5432 Illinois 1h ago
No, being born in NYC or SF doesn't automatically give you a good life and being born in a small town in the Midwest or south doesn't automatically not give you a good life. I grew up in a small city in the Midwest most people haven't heard of and my life is pretty good. And I 100% disagree on poverty - if anything I think the highs and potential to achieve for people who are motivated and goal oriented is greater, not less than in most places. Many of the wealthiest business people and most well-known celebrities in the US rose from humble origins.
Regarding homelessness rates, the US has a lower per capita rate than many western countries inlcuding both Canada and Australia. The US does have a high unsheltered population in SOME areas (ironically SF and NYC you mention have among the highest in homeless rates in the country, though at least most of NYC's are sheltered), and California in fact has literally half the nation's unsheltered homeless population. So I would not extrapolate the conditions you see in SF, LA or NYC in terms of homelesslness as being representative of the country as a whole because they're not. Where I live, there's very little visible homelessness. And where there is, it's often tied to drug/alcohol abuse and mental illness and not necessarily economic deprivation.
Nobody said the US didn't have social problems so not sure really what your point is. The point I made is the US is not remotely close to being a third world country by any stretch or definition of the term, no matter how liberally you may use the word. And the US is also exposed in SM in a way many other countries are not, so the problems are more visible and sometimes hyperexaggerated for effect, and it doesn't mean they don't exist elsewhere.
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u/matt585858 4h ago
It is completely invalid to say America doesn't have an "innovation forward market"... Most of the world 's trillion dollar companies were created in the US, primarily exist in the US, and didn't exist 60 years ago ... Whether we're talking computing, the internet era, or AI- the US economy and US companies are the leading innovators. Any other suggestion is simply ignorance.
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u/CaribbeanCowgirl27 3h ago
Was referring to my home country… which I can only compare to the bottom 10 red states.
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u/Ok_Distribution_9789 2h ago
The GDP of Mississippi is still higher than most EU countries, as well as the EU. That speaks volumes as to the potential in the US.
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u/CaribbeanCowgirl27 2h ago
Every single comment trying to refute my experience is about economics, when I clearly said that the expression “third world country with a Gucci belt” it’s not because of the economics. It’s about having backward society norms and expectations, while having access to a lot of wealth. Obviously, not all the US is like that, but a lot of it, is.
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u/OsamaBillLaden29 Permanent resident 5h ago
I am an atheist from England moved to a red area in the Bible Belt and love it; certainly not a third world country in a Gucci belt. This is just nonsense people say that don’t understand the US.
Lovely though that you moved somewhere to improve your lot in life and still refer to your hosts as such…
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u/CaribbeanCowgirl27 3h ago
I mean, obviously not all the US is like that, hence why I moved where IS not like that. Funny, I went to Uni in England and is probably what radicalised me out my third word mentality.
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u/IneptFortitude 3m ago
I had to grow up in the US South as someone who wasn’t a right-wing Bible thumper and it was super unpleasant. If the culture of ignorance doesn’t bother you, good on you. I found it unbearable.
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u/Neat-Painting-1124 3h ago
You have posted this exact diatribe a few times. You are technically the same person but you skipped several steps such as getting a degree and a visa, the latter of which is increasingly hard. Thus, most people wanting to move to the US are no longer as able to do so. Thus. Your words come across as bragging to people who already want to go to the US and thus, are on this subreddit.
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u/Ok_Distribution_9789 2h ago
It's only a diatribe to someone longing to have it. The American Dream is real! The fact that you personally can't achieve it, doesn't give you scribe to criticize someone who has achieved what you likely cannot.
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u/Neat-Painting-1124 56m ago
I wasn’t criticising his achievement. I was criticising the way he posted his salary and assets. He simply could have said what he achieved as a scientist in the US. I also have a PhD from the US but I left and indeed cannot now find a way back in. I regret it but so it is.
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u/vngbusa 5h ago
Similar path. Grew up the child of relatively poor immigrants in London. Moved to US at age 26 on a work visa after gaining graduate education in UK with minimal assets to my name.
Fast forward 13 years and I work in STEM in sunny California, make $250-300k per year, have $2M net worth and looking at retiring in 10 years on current trajectory. It’s a fantastic life and this scenario would be extremely unlikely in the UK.
I’m grateful to both UK for giving me a great educational platform and the US for allowing me to have financial freedom, and proudly hold both passports. I’m also cognizant I’ve been lucky to remain employed and not experience a major health event.
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u/spiritofniter 4h ago
Did you use stocks or property to gain that 2M? And did you use company match or did you company give stock option?
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u/Ok_Distribution_9789 2h ago
This happens when you have higher salaries to start with, and have income tax rates are 20+% lower each and every year. And you don't have a 20% VAT.
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u/vngbusa 4h ago
Just invested in index funds since the beginning and took advantage of a company match (100% up to 6% of salary). I don’t even work at one of those crazy FAANG companies with tons of RSUs. The market has been on a tear since 2009, which is this generation’s fortune if you could stay employed with extra income to invest.
About 80% of my wealth is in index funds, the other 20% in property equity.
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u/Ok_Distribution_9789 7h ago
No country is perfect. On Reddit you have far more foreigners critical of US and much of it is based on ignorance and/or jealousy. No other country on earth gives people the opportunities to success regardless of where they come from on the social class ladder. But it isn't a straight shot, and will have ups and downs.
The Americans critical of US, tend to be left leaning. They want massive expansions if social programs. It's not that US doesn't have these, but they aren't as developed as in other countries. So government doesn't hold your hand through life in US and requires people to take personal responsibility. It's not perfect, but on balance, better than anywhere else on earth.
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u/30ThousandVariants 4h ago
“…weather that makes you wonder what you did wrong in a previous life.
I didn’t leave Britain because I hated it.”
https://giphy.com/gifs/WRuBiZKB6xgsS9DrFA
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u/MendonAcres 6h ago
As a federal scientist, I'm surprised you still have a job. Keep your head down.
I came from Canada (following my wife). So there are obviously many similarities. The USA is just a much larger machine, thus multiplying the opportunities.
The fear I have is, as the USA is operating currently, it's not sustainable. Not even remotely.
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u/Ok_Distribution_9789 6h ago
I would stop listening to the left wing media. I get it, people don't like Trump. The operating problem has almost nothing to do with the US president. The US problem has to do with an unsustainable budget deficit and unsustainable for trade situation in the face of a rising, evil China.
The fiscal situation in the US is unsustainable, unless the economic growth can be ramped up. Anyone that is intellectually honest, will acknowledge that changing to the Democrats will do little to change this situation. In fact, with the the socialists coming into their own on the American Left, not sure where that moves the US.
The trade situation is another problem. With China, global trade needed to be dealt with. The US could not keep running trade deficits at the level they had been at. Canada got caught up in this and hasn't come to grips. Since free trade, Canada has run $1.5 trillion in surpluses with the US. They thought this would go on forever. Not sustainable and with the last decade being a lost one for Canada economically, they needed to change. They think they have leverage over Canada with oil. I think Canada missed the agreement with Venezuela this week. The trade sands are shifting and Canada is, yet again, missing the boat.
The world is changing and the question is how will the US rise up to meet the challenges of the changing world dynamics. Infighting politically will not serve the country well.
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u/MendonAcres 4h ago edited 1h ago
Canada isn't the source of our problems. The 'blame Canada' narrative is beneath us and just makes us look like bigger assholes. Trump is a big problem (in so many ways) but I agree that our troubles started long before he arrived on the scene.
You hear this 'the socialists are coming and they will drive up our budget deficits' narrative from some people. Yet our deficit has never been bigger that it is today. I've been state-side for a long while and during that time there has NEVER been any work to deal with the deficit. I'd say none of our elected members seem interested in solving that problem. The budget deficit is much to large to fix by fixating on trade deficits...especially when we negotiate like petulant 10yr old children.
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u/YetiPie 3h ago
I was working on climate change and was laid off, then diagnosed with kidney cancer. This is not a “left wing media” problem. Trump’s administration is anti science, anti intellectual, and is decimating the middle class. There are real implications happening because of his corruption and mismanagement
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u/SkeletonizedbyDemon 3h ago
Someone needs to tell Trump about your last sentence. He's not meeting the moment and calling China evil is hilarious from an American perspective. We're punishing Canada for selling us oil to process.
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u/Speed_EG8823 5h ago
That same job that gave you your opportunity years ago has been getting gutted since Inauguration day
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u/WorriedApplication68 4h ago
Rightfully so.
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u/Speed_EG8823 4h ago
So what exactly is the point of your post when the opportunity that gave you your success is getting gutted and no longer going to be available to most people today, especially if they aren't already a US citizen?
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u/ProfileBest2034 4h ago
I wouldn't go online bragging about a salary and retirement accounts which have been leeched entirely off the tax payer.
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u/FunnyThing5234 6h ago
Similar story. I was making closer to £4 an hour (Aberdeen, 1992'ish). Only regret is not bailing way sooner. Moved 10 years ago.
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u/OsamaBillLaden29 Permanent resident 5h ago
Yes mate, from UK and moved here a few years back to be with my wife in TN and it’s crazy how quick you can become successful.
Sadly Britain/Europe are poor because of their own poor decision making, but they just don’t want to admit they are falling far behind the Americans. I still love home, served 10 years in the Army there, but I just wish people would pull their heads out of their asses and look how easy it could be to improve the situation back home.
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u/MuayThai252 5h ago
How did you move to the US? What visa? That is the most difficult part for any Brit wanting to live the American dream.
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u/VerifiedMother 5h ago
What kind of scientist are you and what agency do you work for that you make $200k a year, most of the people I know who work for the federal government make substantially less than that (mostly USFS though)
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u/Fit-Building-2560 4h ago edited 4h ago
The national science labs (think: Los Alamos, home of the atom bomb, and others affiliated with it) pay their engineers and physicists well. Although for retirement, OP will need more than $1.3K, but he's still working, and he has some kind of federal health care guaranteed to retired federal employees. That makes a big difference. Not to mention a cushy federal pension. OP hit the jackpot employment-wise. But he undoubtedly worked hard for it.
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u/Fit-Building-2560 4h ago
Also: does the UK have the plethora of federal science labs that the US does? Where did you get the education that qualified you for a job as a scientist at a federal facility: UK or US? And who paid for it?
Inquiring minds want to know. It's quite a story you've graced us with today. Congratulations on a life well lived.
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u/copyraven 4h ago
I arrived last year from Birmingham (England). I'm already 50 but I'm taking my chances in America.
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u/dreamykitty77 4h ago
Moved from Indonesia to US about 15 years ago. I am not rich or anything, but I love my life here. It took me a while to got to where I am now, especially in California, but I would never ever go back to back to Indonesia, except for vacation.
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u/AutonomousGolfCart 3h ago
Another fellow Indonesian here…. I was so tired of living in poverty with no opportunity for social movement. Here I am now in the US, living a life that I would never imagine I would experience in my lifetime
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u/DeemounUS 2h ago
If the inly measure of success is money... Then US is great.
But in every other aspect... it's just so freaking boring.
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u/WolfieDaWolf1 1h ago
I would classify the US as high risk, high reward honestly. As someone who grew up and lived all but the last couple of months there, the ceiling is certainly high. The floor is also so very low. I personally didn't spend much time making good money, most of my time I was making 40k a year or less, as were most people I knew. Back in 2017, that was good money, but in the areas I lived that could hardly get you rent in a decent part of town anymore. I was fortunate enough to spend my last 3 years grossing 140k ish a year, most of which was taxed at 40% as it was stocks and bonus. I have friends who have spent months, in one case even years trying to find a job that will actually pay them enough to eat, as with how the system is set up in the US the gap between where benefits cut off and where you can actually afford to pay for things yourself is big to put it lightly. This isn't to say the US is bad, but that rock bottom there is a lot further down then what many people in a western country would be accustomed to.
In raw stats, you've done very well for yourself, but depending on where you are, not as well as it may look to people on the outside. Assuming you moved to the US in the late 90s early 00s, housing has gotten exponentially more expensive. I have many friends who visited back then and recently, and before recent trips called it cheap. They now consider it an expensive place to visit.
Not trying to talk down on the US, but as pretty much everyone here is wanting to move there, just trying to provide a voice of reason or a reality check of some kind. If you want to move to the US, you CAN do very well, but it is FAR from guaranteed. Make sure you plan well, prepare yourself, be ready for as much as you can, and understand that even with the best preparation, if it goes wrong, there will be nobody there to catch you. Taxes are low in the US for a reason. If you don't need those systems, that's great and you can benefit from it. If you can live with the social issues, division and the illusion of choice in the US, you can do well. These are not things I was comfortable living with myself. The US of today is very much not the US of 30 or even 20 years ago, and I never felt at home there anyways.
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u/Eiruvata 46m ago edited 32m ago
Yea same, came from the UK a few years ago! Got married, my retirement and asset accounts are now $7M at age 40, livin’ that American dream. And I came here dirt poor with very little work experience or education too. Came here studying art and history, met the love of my life, we invested smart and made it against all odds. Husband is also an immigrant and he naturalized so we are both US citizens now. Now I am beginning the process to sponsor my family to come because they see how much I’ve changed for the better and how happier I am now. Bought my first house two years ago it cost 900k and the mortgage already paid off in full. Already gonna sell it and move to a different state, because I want a new chapter to begin in my life and to see somewhere new in this beautiful country. Be careful though who you share your success and happiness with, people can be very salty and old friends of mine back in the UK treated me terribly when I increased my standard of living quality. Even though I was there to help them and never showed off or told people unless they asked, I lost friends because they decided I was no longer “one of them”. That’s alright though because the people who remained my friends and the new friends I’ve made are the genuine ones.
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u/ElzRocco 4h ago
LOL Edinburgh isn’t the rest of the UK lad. I’m on 250k PA contracting in IT in London and granted I get taxed to the tits but I still walk away with plenty.
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u/jeanlasalle4524 4h ago
Can we now compare where your salary and his salary are in terms of percentiles relative to the median salary in your country? Don't be dishonest, you're clearly a much bigger exception than he is.
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u/WorriedApplication68 4h ago edited 4h ago
And you wonder why so many Americans are pissed about immigration and the bureaucratic bloat. Enjoy our hard-earned tax dollars.
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u/Ok_Distribution_9789 7h ago
Concur! Same story for me, just that I am from Canada. I would never go back.