Latest news with #firstgenerationAmerican
Forbes
a day ago
- General
- Forbes
How Being The Son Of Immigrants Made Me A Better Entrepreneur
I am a first-generation American. My parents and sisters immigrated from Poland in the 1980s, leaving behind a country ruled by communists for a new life just outside of Chicago, Illinois. Today, many years later, life is a lot different from what it could have been. I'm an entrepreneur running my third successful venture, and if it wasn't for my parents' decision to relocate our growing family several thousand miles away, I wouldn't be able to do what I do. Frankly, the entire experience of being the son of immigrants has made me a better businessperson, and the why of it all is a story you may not have heard before. Building a Strong Work Ethic Moving to the States meant my father couldn't do the kind of work he had done before. So, instead, he worked any odd job that came up, including a stint as a metal fabricator. He would read a set of blueprints (he taught himself to do that, too), cut out all of the required pieces of metal, and then tack-weld it all up himself. This wasn't something that he was taught to do; my father was his own teacher, and adapted to whatever was presented to him in the moment out of necessity. After all, he needed to work to put food on the table, and he didn't have a college degree or formal training to fall back on. Just his razor-sharp intellect and the motivation to work hard. That was enough because it had to be. My first memories of my father usually involve some kind of tool either in his hand or by his side. In fact, I've been told that as a toddler, I once helped him put new siding on the house, hammering away. When I cut my finger, I calmly walked inside, asked for a bandage, and went back out to finish the job. That was the kind of influence my father's work ethic impressed upon me. Moving Forward Requires Hard Work As I got older I found myself working on larger projects with my dad, tackling all sorts of types of tasks. He'd often impart nuggets of wisdom on me as most fathers are wont to do, including one that I've never forgotten: 'You're not going to get anywhere without laboring for it.' He was right, of course. I would find this out myself as I moved into a job as a golf caddy when I was 12, a role that, through lots of hard work, would get me a college scholarship. Would I have gotten that position without spending my formative years working with my hands? Could my folks have paid for my college tuition, or would I have had to find my own way like my father? We'll never know, but if it wasn't for my dad and his dedication to showing me a path forward, I wouldn't be the entrepreneur that I am today. Community is Everything Like many immigrants, when they moved to America, my folks wanted to live somewhere they could find people who were like themselves. In our case, that meant Cicero, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, where four out of five residents were Polish immigrants. It wasn't perfect, and there was a fair amount of crime, but the community came together to help each other out. If a house needed a repair, everyone would come to their aid. During holiday celebrations, we were all together having one mammoth party. It meant that not only were we with other people who understood us, but we weren't alone. We were with friends, and that little community was invaluable to our development as a family. Without them, would we have survived? Would others have made it without our help? Who knows, but in the end, I learned that community is very important. It's How I Came to Be Being an entrepreneur is hard. You want to succeed but it seems like everyone in the world is against you at times, and there's no easy path forward. You have to be willing to put in the extra hours, plus the blood, sweat, and tears necessary to work harder and better than anyone else. But most people aren't willing to go that far. They just don't have the drive. I only do it because of my family's history. Without my parents making the decision they did over forty years ago, who knows where I might be. Thankfully, they brought me to a country where I can work hard and become a better person as a result. I couldn't be more grateful.
Yahoo
10-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Financial Literacy: 9 Key Terms Every First-Generation American Should Know
Building long-term financial success involves more than securing a good job. Even a high-paying career might not be enough to create real wealth unless you understand basic financial concepts. In addition to building a financial safety net, you'll need to grow your savings, practice lawful tax planning, and maximize your retirement accounts. Then, all the hard work you put in through your career will truly pay off. Learn More: Check Out: Here's a look at the key terms that every first-generation American should know when it comes to investing, taxes, insurance and retirement planning, including the foundational basics that underlie all of them. If you're looking to make informed financial decisions and build generational wealth, you should become familiar with each of these concepts. 1. Compound Interest Compound interest is simply 'interest paid on interest.' If you have $1,000 and earn a 10% return, you'll have $1,100. If you earn another 10% the following year, you'll have $1,210. In the first year, you earned $100, but in the second year, you earned $110 because you earned interest on your interest. Over time, the effects of compound interest can be dramatic. Let's say you start with a $10,000 investment and earn an annual return of 10% for 30 years. With simple interest, you'd earn $1,000 per year, for a total balance of $40,000 (your original $10,000 plus the $1,000 you earned each year for 30 years). But with compounding, that $10,000 becomes about $174,494 after 30 years — far more than simple interest and a vivid example of why starting early matters. Explore More: 2. Diversification Diversification refers to blending a mix of different types of investments in your portfolio so that you can reduce risk while preserving return. Owning different asset classes, such as stocks, bonds and real estate, can be a way to level out the ups and downs of your portfolio because these investments don't always move the same way at the same time. Within an all-stock portfolio, owning so-called 'defensive' stocks that hold up better during market downturns can reduce the downside risk of more aggressive growth stocks. 3. Net Worth Your net worth is simply your total assets minus your total liabilities. Assets include the value of your home, car, 401(k), savings and investment accounts and other possessions. Liabilities include your mortgage, auto loan, credit card balances and any other debts. 4. Emergency Funds An emergency fund equal to three to six months' worth of living expenses is an essential building block of a solid financial plan. Having this money in place will help keep you out of debt when you encounter a financial emergency, such as a medical bill not covered by insurance, an unexpected car expense or home repair and more. It can also lower your stress level, as you know you'll have money set aside for life's inevitable surprises. 5. Investments Investments are assets that are expected to generate income and/or capital appreciation over time. Investing is how you grow your money and fight the eroding effect of inflation. Here are some popular types of investments: Stocks: Shares that represent ownership in a company. Often used for long-term capital appreciation; some stocks also pay income in the form of dividends. Bonds: Loans to governments or corporations. In exchange for your principal, which is returned at the stated maturity date, you receive regular interest payments. : Pools of money from individual investors managed by professionals; each investor owns a share of the fund proportionate to their investment. Mutual funds can be an easy way to diversify. : Funds that trade on exchanges like stocks. ETFs can be passive (tracking an index) or active, and they often offer lower costs and intraday trading flexibility compared with individual mutual funds. : Items such as precious metals, commodities, real estate or collectibles that can provide diversification beyond a stock/bond mix. 6. Inflation Inflation means the prices of goods and services generally rise over time, which reduces the purchasing power of your money. If you have $100 in your pocket, you'll be able to buy more with that money today than you will 10 years from now. Investing — rather than letting large amounts of cash sit idle — is the usual way to try to stay ahead of inflation. 7. Taxes Taxes are another knife that can cut into your money. When it comes to investing, what matters is not what you earn but what you keep. That's why tax-aware planning is important: contributing to tax-advantaged accounts and holding investments for longer than one year can reduce your taxes legally. For example, long-term capital gains (on assets held more than one year) are taxed at lower rates than short-term gains, and some taxpayers pay a 0% long-term capital-gains rate if their taxable income is below certain thresholds. 8. Tax-Advantaged Retirement Plans Traditional IRAs and 401(k) plans often let you take a tax deduction on your contributions, lowering your current taxable income. Money in these accounts grows tax-deferred until withdrawal. As an added bonus, many companies offering 401(k) plans also provide matching contributions, allowing you to grow your balance even faster. Roth IRAs don't offer an upfront deduction, but qualified withdrawals are generally tax-free, meaning both contributions and earnings can come out tax-free if you meet the rules. That trade-off (pay tax now vs. later) is a key planning decision for many looking to build wealth. 9. Insurance Insurance transfers the risk of large, unexpected losses to an insurer in exchange for premiums you pay. Homeowners insurance protects against catastrophic property loss. Life insurance can replace income and protect beneficiaries if you die unexpectedly. Liability insurance shields you from lawsuits and judgments. These policies are tools to protect the assets you build through work and From GOBankingRates 5 Steps to Take if You Want To Create Generational Wealth I'm a Financial Advisor: My Clients Who Retire Early All Do These 3 Things 4 Things You Should Do if You Want To Retire Early Dave Ramsey: The 3 Worst Mistakes People Make When Trying To Build Wealth This article originally appeared on Financial Literacy: 9 Key Terms Every First-Generation American Should Know Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
