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The immigrant discount

The immigrant discount As a management consultant, I once worked on a landmark study that became significant for the firm. I managed to turn around the study when it was running well behind schedule. I ended up playing a key role in a road show to raise funding to launch a financial services company in Eastern Europe. I met billionaires, government officials, and CEOs of major companies. In that study, we figured out that there was a segment of the population that was profitable to serve since they submitted fewer insurance claims. Our goal was to build an entire business around them. This study was so successful that I became good friends with the billionaire owner of the business and his wife. This study made my career. I even wrote up the work as an article that the firm sent to all our clients. When I moved to the USA and Canada, that successful study was painfully discounted in the eyes of recruiters and my employers. Since it was an African company exploring opportunities in Eastern Europe, people in Canada and the USA automatically assumed the study was not prestigious and they had nothing to learn from the insights. That is ironic, considering that…

The immigrant discount As a management consultant, I once worked on a landmark study that became significant for the firm. I managed to turn around the study when it was running well behind schedule. I ended up playing a key role in a road show to raise funding to launch a financial services company in Eastern Europe. I met billionaires, government officials, and CEOs of major companies. In that study, we figured out that there was a segment of the population that was profitable to serve since they submitted fewer insurance claims. Our goal was to build an entire business around them.…

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Investment Planning for Immigrants

Investment Planning for Immigrants My friends often talk about their investment strategies. They have 401(k) and Roth IRAs, health savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and investment properties. I live in a very nice area, and my friends are well-educated business leaders who had successful parents who taught them well. They are wealthy people. Their parents often encouraged them to set up their investment accounts in their twenties, and they benefited from compounding growth over decades. Many have education savings and investment accounts to pay for their children’s education. Some have just one child. Yet, they often seem incredibly stressed about finances, investing, and retirement. They often tell me I am lucky not to have kids because it’s too expensive and tiring. As an immigrant, my financial obligations are far larger than that of my friends. And I do not have support. I have to do my investing and retirement planning to ensure I can support myself and my extended family. I am not just planning for my retirement. I am planning everyone's lives and their retirements as well. I am the backstop. Yet, I do not have anyone to bail me out if I even need support. What makes it hard is the limited influence one has…

Investment Planning for Immigrants My friends often talk about their investment strategies. They have 401(k) and Roth IRAs, health savings accounts, brokerage accounts, and investment properties. I live in a very nice area, and my friends are well-educated business leaders who had successful parents who taught them well. They are wealthy people. Their parents often encouraged them to set up their investment accounts in their twenties, and they benefited from compounding growth over decades. Many have education savings and investment accounts to pay for their children’s education. Some have just one child. Yet, they often seem incredibly stressed about finances, investing, and retirement. They often…

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Are Professional Immigrants Great Leaders?

As someone who immigrated 3 times in my life, I am part of a group that I call professional immigrants. Meaning, I am really good at navigating the steps needed to pick up my life and move to another country where I don't know anyone, and build a professional career. I can also call myself a professional immigrant because I am considered to be highly skilled and highly educated. I worked at top consulting companies in the world, where I received accelerated promotions. I was a corporate finance director at a top-3 Canadian bank where I managed a portfolio of over 1 billion dollars and received an accelerated promotion. I run a very successful business that influences strategy thinking and management consulting around the world. What makes professional immigrants exceptional leaders We are often highly trained and highly motivated, and highly educated professionals who leave behind everything, to take huge risks to have a better life, bigger opportunities, and earn more for ourselves and our families. We make the journey alone. We are not kids following our parents who protect us. We have no protection. We were not born in the countries we end up calling our homes. We often…

As someone who immigrated 3 times in my life, I am part of a group that I call professional immigrants. Meaning, I am really good at navigating the steps needed to pick up my life and move to another country where I don't know anyone, and build a professional career. I can also call myself a professional immigrant because I am considered to be highly skilled and highly educated. I worked at top consulting companies in the world, where I received accelerated promotions. I was a corporate finance director at a top-3 Canadian bank where I managed a portfolio of…

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