LABOR DAY: An Immigrant’s Perspective

When you emigrate to the States, especially as an adult, you’re thrown into the flow of a new country where you now have these different bills to pay. One thing on top of every immigrant’s mind is finding work.

At that stage, it’s often not about doing what you love, it’s simply about survival. How do you survive in this new land with newfound responsibilities?

Many immigrants stay with relatives and get jobs through them or through some connection who can get them an interview somewhere. As they say in Liberia, West Africa where I was born, “beggars can’t be choosers.” It means you take what you can get.

I never liked that statement, but it often rings true for many new immigrants. My first job in America was bagging groceries that my Aunt helped me get because she worked at the store.

My mother, who arrived later, took a job at Wal-Mart, not because she was passionate about it, but it’s what she could get being 50 something when she came to the States fleeing a war in Liberia. She was very thankful for that job!

Some immigrant communities have a high concentration in certain jobs like construction or driving cabs. For many of those immigrants that job path was almost predetermined.

Labor Day also makes me think about those Americans who were born and grew up here, yet find themselves struggling to make ends meet. According to CNBC, 78% of full time workers live paycheck to paycheck.

I also noticed that Labor Day in America is filled with sales, encouraging us to spend the money we’ve worked for. Is this a testament to our capitalist nation taking advantage of opportunities to create more revenue since we use every holiday to sell stuff?

Or maybe it’s necessary so a family can afford to buy a new mattress since it’s now on sale.

USA Today did a study on the price tag of ‘The American Dream’ for a family of four. It cost $130,000 a year. Only 1 in 8 households earn that much.

Before I came to America, I thought everyone made 6 figures a year. From what I saw on TV, they looked like they did. I saw their homes, cars, etc.

After I arrived here, I learned that many things people had were financed. That when people buy a home for example, it wasn’t the same as buying candy at the store. I saw that a lot of debt was used for liabilities by the average person. I saw that people were working just to maintain.

I learned about work, income, credit, debt & investing and how they’re all linked.

I learned that many Americans labored at jobs providing income to pay the bills (their monthly debt service) but not much beyond that.

I saw that many became trapped in certain jobs or industries and didn’t truly have the freedom they wanted.

When the 3 day weekend is over millions of Americans will return back to work. I encourage everyone to also labor for their own economic freedom.

As an immigrant, it is my humble opinion that America, despite its many flaws, is still the greatest nation on earth.

But I believe it can be greater still, especially for its laborers. For those who have dreams and the courage to pursue them.

For America is still the place where you can start from the bottom and make it to the top. It’s the place where you can come from another country yet still have the same opportunities as someone born here if you work hard and position yourself for success.

America isn’t perfect but for this immigrant, it’s the best shot I’ve got to create success for my family and for others.

So let’s continue to dream big, work big and succeed big!

Happy Labor Day!

Martin and Chelsea Matthews (Authors, Speakers, and Licensed Financial Professionals)

CLICK HERE to visit our website and get a free eBook copy of our special report “The American Dream Sticker Shock” to see how affording the American Dream has changed and what can be done about it.

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