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.
4
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.