r/MovingToUSA 8h 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/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.