Where is the American Dream kive and well?

[Redneck in training]

IMO, that's due, at least in part, to the value they place on education.



Steve

True. When our kids were in HS they would come home and day say I hate Asians. We asked why would you hate them. They told us the Asians set the standard of achievement high and that puts pressure on the rest of students. We told them: You are lucky to have Asians in your class. No more whining.

 

[300UGUY]

Speak for yourself. I've made out like a bandit. You probably were moaning and groaning instead of working...

Yup! Today is the good old days of the future. I've done well no matter who was in office. Unless you are a appointed official, it shouldn't matter much.

 

[300UGUY]

My parents immigrated here from Canada in 1962. My Dad became a US citizen right away, but my mom remained a Canadian citizen until the late 80 when she realized that if my dad passed away, her benefits from his pension would be cut in half. Since my mom was a Canadian citizen when I was born, I'm eligible to duel citizenship. One of my brothers did this and he prefers to travel on his Canadian passport.

I have a friend who is working in Michigan, but paying Canadian taxes. He is planning to retire to Canada in a few years, and he says that the Canadian SS is higher, and the healthcare is better. He has family in Toronto, the wife is from Detroit, they plan to retire somewhere in between in a couple of years.

 

[Wagtail]

When you add it all up it is not a bad state. School pre and post secondary is excellent, heath care is accessible, roads not bad, fairly stable state. Compared to Connecticut IMO anyway. Issue is when you get lower taxes schools and the like suffer, so you have to look at how the states spend there money for what you are getting. Now without young kids i would look at things differently, However now that I am older and have to use heath care, i would look at things differently yet again. So, as for looking for a place to live have to look at where you are at in life and where you are going to move too. Example looking ahead i built our house when i was 40 and i installed backing in the shower for handicapped bars, made all the door 36", if you live in the sticks and have a 1,000 foot drive, how you going to plow it when something happens to you? A lot ot of the American dream, getting there anyway has to do with foresight and/or good planning.

Yep! When I went out to buy my Retirement Property I was 39. I knew that I needed at least 5 acres for the horses I wanted to have but I also knew, or had the foresight, that the house would need to suit me at a more advanced age. So I set my 'age' at 75 = what do I need?

Other than the land amount, it needed to be relatively flat... and accessible. [There were some places that were beautiful, but you needed a GPS to find it! Not good for an ambulance] Plus there had to be a nice sized town fairly close by with, at least, a Base Hospital.

The house itself had to have the main/master bedroom on the ground floor as stairs could become a problem in my old(er) age. [Note: Aussie homes do not normally have a basement.] Heh, and a couple of years after buying my place I busted my right ACL. It's never 'come right' and stairs/inclines are an embuggerance.

The property I found fit every point of my plan. I bought and rented it out until it came time for me to retire. I also made a few improvements/additions to the house whilst I was still employed and could afford it.

If 'The Dream' isn't where you are now, go to where it is now... even if it takes you awhile to get there. And that takes a plan.

 

[Redneck in training]

Here is a story of friend of mine who went to post graduate program at USA university and never left.
He graduated from IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) and wanted to attend school in the USA. The school required 20000 cash to get admitted. So he borrowed little money from friends, parents, grandparents uncles etc and put together 20000 USD. After he sent bank statement to school and was admitted he withdrew all the money and returned them to all people he borrowed it from. I asked how he could survive with no money. Easy he answered. You don't party, you study hard, you become graduated assistant, you teach and get paid by the university. Two years later when he graduated with Masters degree he had about 20000 in the bank and nice used car. He got well paying job with US company that got him work visa and later also green card. Five years later he became US citizen and today has pretty high management position with one of the major oil companies.

 

[houstonscott]

Where the heck do you dig up these false facts? Do you have ANY valid links? 2% was still a good number. In 1929, there were 279,678 immigrants recorded. Due to the depression and WWII immigration slumped, but after the war jumped back to a quarter million or more per year. http://www.simile-widgets.org/timeplot/examples/immigration/immigration.txt Numbers of immigrants from the link. And that's only LEGAL immigrants.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924

Here you go...All but stopped.

HS

 

[Redneck in training]

Asians have cultural advantage. They help each other, pool money together and support the smartest to achieve. I work mostly for oil and gas and many engineers in refineries, gas plants etc are Asians. Wondering why there are disproportional number of Asian engineers one told me: We often speak funny, we look different. Nobody would hire a lawyer who speak funny and doesn't look like a white guy. But if you are engineer nobody cares how you look or speak as long as you can do the job.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Asians have cultural advantage. They help each other, pool money together and support the smartest to achieve. I work mostly for oil and gas and many engineers in refineries, gas plants etc are Asians. Wondering why there are disproportional number of Asian engineers one told me: We often speak funny, we look different. Nobody would hire a lawyer who speak funny and doesn't look like a white guy. But if you are engineer nobody cares how you look or speak as long as you can do the job.

Sooner or later, the world will have to admit that success belongs to those with the guts to set themselves a goal and pursue it with a vengeance. It's hard to get there if you have no personal pride and the government is setting your table and wiping your derriere.

 

[jeff9366]

I'm in Power Generation and have worked all over the North East. I've seen the companies I work for see soaring profits meanwhile the rank and file keep loosing thier piece of the pie.

BE an OWNER.

Through the stock market/mutual funds everyone can be a fractional owner of companies generating 75% of US GDP. Stock investing is another thing to learn, diversified mutual funds are almost no brainers. There is nothing superior to equities OVER THE LONG TERM.



Before I am asked, LONG TERM is twenty years.

 

[ultrarunner]

Equities is something I know little about... no one in my family has dabbled and that is for both sides going back the crash of 1929...

I admire those that can make a go of it... guess I just don't have the temperament...