gordan wrote:I have no future since I have no skills. I'm relying on potential alternatives that will come into play IF things go as planned. If not then I will commit hara-kiri since there will be no alternative in "America".
Would you be interested in acquiring the skills necessary to climb the socio-economic ladder?
To cite one example,
I don't know what State or City you live in, so I can only cite my own area (your city/state may differ). Here in CA it'd cost you less than $1,000 to $1,200 to obtain a real estate sales person's license. This includes telecourse with books, state license exam, realtor association fees, background check and finger printing fees, etc. The cost of entering this profession is relatively low, but so are the pay for the first year, working either part time or as a jr. associate at your local realtor's office.
However, it's also one profession where the harder you work, the more $ you'd make. You'd also make many friends and business contacts with brokers, lenders, agents, escrow, etc. Through experience, you'd learn which properties are the most profitable, and you have access to MLS listing ahead of non-agents. Again, the barrier of entry is low and to pass the exam, you only need 70% (a "C").
If you're good with your hands, you can buy fixer-uppers, get a contractor's license (about $600 for class here), and flip properties. Some of the biggest tax exemptions are in real estate. For investment propeties you have tax deferral through 1031 exchange. For personal residence you get tax exemption of 250k for singles and 500k for couples when you sell your house. You could possibly do it every 2 years (consult your tax adviser).
If none of that looks appealing to you, I do have a former coworker who got laid off with me and was completely fed up with society as a whole, plus he really hated Mexicans and went ballistic when his daughter dated a Mexican in school. So he sold his house, packed up and moved to Wyoming. If this lifestyle appeals to you, the "frontier" lifestyle is still possible for those who wish to find it:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/
However, should you choose the real estate path, you'd need to get over the Mexican thing, because illegal or 1st generation Mexican immigrants actually make some of the best cash-paying tenants. The 2nd+ generation ones can be trouble, and some black tenants would simply not pay you rent until you evict them. So speaking as a landlord, I'm pleased when I hear Mariachi music. The properties in Mexican neighborhoods are also chepaer and more affordable.
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To some level I do try to understand your frustations. I'm an immigrant from Taiwan and, years ago I had lengthy conversations with white friends who decided to "drop out" of the system. They told me that America is a land of immigrants surpassing the earlier inhabitants. It doesn't matter if it's Indians, Spanish, Anglo-Saxons, whatever. The new immigrant from poorer country is "hungry" and will do whatever it takes to succeed, and those already residing here with sense of entitlement may be marginalized until they dissapear. Just as these friends of mine were marginalized by the new economic reality that they didn't adjust to, the same may occur to my own future decendents. Consequently this is also one area where Anglo-Saxons are superior to Asians, they have the foresight of wealth not lasting 3 generations, so the family trust fund was invented to keep their decendents releveant regardless of their skill and capability.
