Land
of opportunity
As an immigrant who has integrated well into 21st
century America, many friends ask me about living here, usually as part of
their own quest or aspiration to immigrate to the USA. To help future friends
and colleagues get the right info, rather than relying on them asking the right
questions (and me, remembering all the details) every time, I’ve decided to put
it all down in writing. Here goes…
Where to live
When moving to the US, pretty much everyone sets their eye
on either New York or Los Angeles. Other prime targets are Boston, San
Francisco, Florida, Washington DC and Las Vegas. These are the most populous
and well-known cities in the country, and therefore sound to many like “the”
place to be. One thing to remember is that the high demand leads to a major
competition for resources. Residents compete for every job, every parking spot,
every house, every lane on the street, etc. Businesses compete for every
customer and every dollar. The result is a dog-eat-dog society and the
proverbial “rat race”. This is even worse for new immigrants, who have to deal
with learning a new culture, geography and language. Truth be told that while
costs are higher in the more popular cities, wages are higher too. However, in
the big cities, the delta between the costs and income is smaller, leading to
an overall lower quality of life.
In other words, I strongly recommend against taking up
residence in those cities and focus your attention on the lesser known and less
populous regions. Texas, for example, is a great target to consider. It has
plenty of work, open spaces, decent prices, and the only downside is the heat
(which can actually be an attraction for Israeli and Indian immigrants, who
might be used to the heat). Another great option is North Carolina, which also
offers plenty of opportunities but without so much competition. Other than
those two, the US has over 40 other excellent states with thousands of cities
that, despite not being ‘the big apple’, still offer every possible modern
convenience. Even if you have to wait a couple of years for Justin Bieber to sing
in your city, isn’t getting a nicer house and spending less time in traffic
worth it? I think so, and this is why I picked Seattle.
Housing in America
America is a big country, and so generally speaking, land is
abundant and cheap for most of the country. The exceptions to this are the
high-demand cities New York and San Francisco. Like anywhere else, residence is
cheaper the farther you go from the city center, but still, the primary form of
residence in the US is in houses (as opposed to apartments). Apartments do
exist, but most Americans live in houses, many of which are over 200 square
meters (2150 square feet). The costs vary in different regions, but the general
average is that in major cities and their suburbs, you can rent a small
apartment for around $1000 a month, and a sizeable house for around $2500. As
you go farther away and into the “middle” (states like Montana, Wyoming, Utah
etc), prices drop significantly, and a similar house would cost only around
$1500. Then again, in good old San Francisco, you can expect to pay upwards of
$6,000 for the same exact thing. Another common form of residence is the
“town-house”, which is a small-footprint house that goes upwards. This format
allows sizeable houses to be built in areas that are in high demand, like major
cities. The cost is typically a little less than a regular house, and these
places typically have a tiny yard, or no yard at all.
The residence rental market is highly developed in America,
with millions of families who live as renters throughout their entire life. To
cater to this market, house owners use management companies to manage their
property. These companies collect the process the rent and taxes, maintains the
property, and basically isolate the owner from the tenants…for a fee that’s
around 10% of the monthly rent. Also, there are many real estate companies who
build housing complexes that they rent out individually. Such companies have an
office for the complex-manager and his team, who do all the management and
maintenance. All this leads to a very streamlined experience for the renter,
which makes it easy and convenient to live as renter for many years.
For those who prefer to buy a residence, things are
trickier. Unless you have the cash in hand, getting a mortgage in the US
requires a “credit rating”, which new immigrants don’t have (it takes time to
build…more about that later), as well as a down payment of at least 10%
(preferably 20%) of the house’s cost. Another challenge with buying a house in
the US is that when getting a mortgage, the mortgage company will examine your
finances very thoroughly (to protect themselves from fraudulent buyers who
can’t really afford what they are buying). This can come back to bite you, as
you will have to explain in detail not only your income, but also the money you
have for the down-payment. If you got that as a gift from your parents
overseas, you’ll need to get some tedious paperwork to prove that.
Being a home owner carries the advantage that you can get a
tax-refund on the interest you might pay for your mortgage, but the
disadvantage of having to pay homeowners tax (usually around 0.1% of the
houses’ cost per month), homeowners insurance (typically around $1000 a year),
and of course, whatever maintenance expenses show-up along the way. Another
thing to keep in mind about houses is that maintaining one is a lot different
than maintaining an apartment, and there’s no single and simple way to learn
how-to. For example, how to deal with a woodpecker that has decided to hammer
the wall on the other side of your bed, or what to do if your gutters get
clogged up (they do every year or so) or how to continue living when you have a
power outage for 6 days (not uncommon in many parts of the country). My advice
for any new immigrant is to NOT rush into buying a house. Instead, I recommend
living at least a year in a rental apartment or house, which will give you a
chance to learn more about how this country works, as well as traffic patterns
which might steer your house selection and may not be obvious at first.
Earning and working in America.
Salaries are usually listed yearly in America, and
before-tax, so it’s not always easy to understand what kind of money you’ll be
ending up with. Also, many places pay salaries twice a month instead of once
(this can affect your cash-flow, positively or negatively). The taxes you pay
on your income vary by state, county and city, so some areas have very low
rates (as in, just Federal income tax) like Washington and Alaska while others
have much higher rates, like California and Oregon. In addition, most state
have a ‘sales’ tax (comparable to the V.A.T that many countries have), which
can be up to 9.45%. This is still low compared to countries like Israel, which
charge almost 20%, but then again, some states like Alaska and Oregon has none
at all.
As you probably know, America requires all citizens to file
an annual tax report. This means that citizens can elect to not pay income tax
during the year, and just pay the total sum annually. This also means that a
significant number of residents get a tax refund after they file, and many
others have to pay additional sums at that time. The American IRS also requires
everyone to report about assets held outside the US, so immigrants who have
houses or large bank accounts overseas are required to report, and sometimes
pay taxes on that money.
The world-famous American “capitalism” has made the US great
in many ways, but it also means that the law is frequently on the side of the
business, and not the employee. If you come from a European or otherwise
socialist country, the realities of this might seem harsh. For example, in many
states, you can get fired from your job for ANY reason…or for no reason at all,
and most states you’re not entitled to a notification period or for severance
pay. Likewise, an employer has very little requirements related to employee
benefits (for example, an employer doesn’t have to give you paid time off, or
even sick-days). Then again, if you open up your own business and hire employees,
the same laws will protect you as an employer, and help you screw your
employees and make more money. Hopefully, you will choose not to exploit them
too much. The US is world-famous for have better work-life balance than many
countries, though it pails compares to some European and south-American
countries. Things are actually pretty bad for people in the retail industry.
While corporate employees often get as much as 7 weeks of paid vacation and a
40 hour work-week, retailers often work 10+ hours days and 7-day workweeks,
with little options other than be patient until they move up the ranks or get
some other corporate desk-job. From watching TV, you might get the impression
that Americans are very laced-up, square and strict in the workplace, but that’s
not always true. There are many friendships established at work, and it’s not
unusual for someone to mutter a “fuck” or “shit” at work, even in meetings or
presentations. Still, there are many places with harsher conduct code or
policies where you would have to call others “Sir” and “Ma’am” and wear a
suit-and-tie all the time.
Life expenses
In America, materials are cheap, and man-power is expensive.
This means that the stuff you buy is affordable (TVs, computers, food and other
stuff), but getting work done by human beings is very expensive. For example, a
plumber or carpenter often charges upwards of $100 per hour. If you come from a
country where getting an interior car-wash is simple and common, you’d be
surprised to find it can costs hundreds of dollars in the US. This is also why
medical services and education cost huge amounts of money here.
If you’re curious about routine expenses and costs, here are
some general examples. Keep in mind that they vary from area to area (for
example, heating is hardly needed in California, but is a major thing in
Alaska, obviously).
- Internet. Typically $50-90, depending on speed and service type (DSL, Cable, Dish, fiber etc)
- Cellphone. Typically $30-50 per line, depending on smaller to larger providers
- Home phone. Typically $30 a month. Can be cheaper if bundled with internet and cable TV.
- Alarm system. Typically $20 per month
- Trash. Typically $30 per month
- Electricity. Typically $80-100 a month, depending on season and regional climate.
- Gas. Not used anywhere. Can reach $300 in harsh winters if used for heating
- Water. Between $70 to $160. Higher end is for those with yards or gardens that need watering.
- Sewer. Usually separate than water, around $65 per month
- Cable TV. Starts around $20 and can reach over $100 for a wide range of channels. Can be cheaper if bundled with internet and phone.
- Gardening. Depends on your area, usually around $80-100 a month. Can reach hundreds for large homes.
- House cleaning. Typically 70-90$ per visit.
- Baby Sitting. Typically $12 per hour.
Other regular costs are day-care for young kids and
private-school for older kids (many prefer that, as its higher quality
education than public schools). This is typically $1300-1800 per month, which
can be very hard if you have more than one kid. Public schools (free) are from
age 6, and in some places, from age 5. Many parents who want child care as
early as a few months old have to figure out a way to pay for it.
A major expense to most families is health insurance. News
article sometime makes it seem like health in America is terrible, but the
reality is that for most people, it’s actually very good. The health industry
is huge and very rich, so for those who do have health insurance, things are
usually very good. There are certain people who can’t get health insurance for
various reasons, but those are a small minority. Health insurance pays for
almost everything, even bariatric surgery and psychotherapy, and although there
are situations where the insurance may refuse to cover something, this is also
a fairly rare situation for most people. One thing to keep in mind is that the
best health insurance is given to employees by their employer (some even give
it for free) and those who are unemployed or self-employed may be in a tougher
spot. Typically health insurance starts off at around $200 per month per
person, and high-end plans can cost upwards of $600 per person. For low income
families with many kids, even the low-end insurances can be a major burden, of
course. Most people pay around $350 per person. All insurance plans have a
deductible, just like a Car insurance has, and this means that healthcare does
cost money above the monthly costs. Usually, the out-of-pocket is capped so
that you don’t end up with huge debt, but the caps are typically a few
thousands per year for a family. This means that if several medical events
happen all at once, you might find yourself paying a lot.
Food is relatively cheap in America, especially with chains
like Costco, Sam’s club and Cash-and-carry, which sell stuff in large boxes,
suitable for long-term purchasing or large households. “outside” food,
especially fast food is so cheap that it’s often even cheaper than cooking your
own food (for the cost of veggies for a large soup, you can typically buy 5-7
meals at McDonalds, for example). Costo operates a prepared-food counter in
each branch which sells food at incredible prices (for example, $10 gets you a
huge pizza that can easily feed 6 people).
Culture
In some circles, Americans have a reputation for being
unfriendly and cold, but that’s not very true. Some of them are, but that
depends mostly on where they are rather than some ingrained cultural thing or
genetic makeup of the population. If you choose to live in an area where there’s
less competition for resources (as mentioned earlier, as farther from the
high-demand cities of NY, LA etc), you would find that people are friendly, outgoing,
caring and fun. Another reputation is that Americans’ are ‘square’, but that’s
also not the case, and a lot of them are fun-loving and open. Another major
factor in is how open YOU are to assimilating in your new environments. Being
an immigrant is tough and scary to many, and a lot of people deal with it by
retreating to what they know. Many immigrants socialize almost exclusively with
their own race/culture, and spend most of their energy and time on replicating
the environment they are used to (TV, movies, literature, food and other
commodities of their home country). Many don’t bother learning English properly,
not to mention refining their accent or exploring American culture, and all this
often leads to poor assimilation and an increasing feeling of loneliness. My
advice is to go against your instincts and do the opposite. Keep your food and
a handful of close friends, but try to meet and develop relationship with the
locals (not necessarily people from work) and explore the local culture as much
as you can, from reading the news in English (not your native language) to
getting used to watching TV and movies without subtitles.
Marriage and family
Immigration is often a huge blow to marriage. At first,
everything is exciting and new, and people are overwhelmed by the abundance of
material luxury. However, this rarely lasts more than a few months. Many
immigrant families have only one working parent, with the other typically
unable to work due to Visa limitations and/or language and culture barriers.
The non-working parent often becomes a stay at home mom or dad, and that’s also
fun at first. You get to spend time with the kids, rest more and build a nice
home. However, usually within a year, this gets old and tensions start to
build. Home-life becomes boring and repetitive, and the stay-at-homer often
starts to feel lonely and depressed (the other parent being successful and
happy at work only makes things worse), and oftentimes develops strong
nostalgia for home (where everything was so ‘great’…). With that, the home
parent starts to develop a desire to go back to the home country, which is
rarely met positively by the working parent. This kind of situation often leads
to a break up, or to artificial (and usually false) means of bolstering the
marriage such as moving to different residence, or having more kids. Needless
to say that this rarely works out. One way to prevent that is to make sure that
both parents work, even if the work is only volunteer-based or part time
(sometimes developing an art-form is a good substitute). Good emotional
intelligence and open communications is also key to preventing tension and
false pretense build-up.
Similar issues can develop with kids. Kids above the age of
6 typically have active social life, and aren’t happy about starting fresh.
Often times, parents deal with that by presenting the move as temporary, which
often puts the kids in a problematic place. They don’t want to bond to their
environment, and instead, spend their time and energy waiting for the move back
(sometimes pushing and nagging their parents to go already). This can also be
detrimental to the success of the relocation, as well as to the marriage. My
advice is to set clear and correct expectations, and don’t define the move as
temporary unless you have a very specific return plan (many immigrants have a
rough idea on the length of their stay, but later on find it very hard to
actually start the move-back process, and end up staying much longer, and even
forever).
Conclusion
This is pretty much it. I could probably write much more on
the topic (and someday, I might expand this), but this is the basic stuff that
should be kept in mind. Some of it is positive, and some not so much, but if I
wasn’t clear – if you make the right choices, living in the US is a LOT of fun,
and has a quality of life much higher than most countries in the world (even
those who are higher on various ‘quality’ charts that papers like to print). If
you do right by your family and actively work to take a full part of the
country and the culture, you too can live like a king!
