RPF0362-Manhar_Patel
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00:00:29.800 | Welcome to Radical Personal Finance, the show dedicated to providing you with the knowledge,
00:00:35.700 | skills, insight, and encouragement you need to live a rich and meaningful life now,
00:00:40.800 | while building a plan for financial freedom in 10 years or less.
00:00:44.400 | Today, my guest is Manher Patel.
00:00:46.800 | Manher heard me talk on the show about how I admire immigrants in the United States,
00:00:51.600 | and I always am interested in their stories.
00:00:53.400 | He said, "Well, I'm an immigrant, and I've got an interesting story."
00:00:55.500 | So, after a little back and forth, I invited him on the show.
00:00:58.200 | So, Manher, welcome to Radical Personal Finance.
00:01:00.600 | Thank you, Joshua, for inviting me.
00:01:02.600 | I've been interested in this, and I think you are originally from India, right?
00:01:05.700 | Is that correct?
00:01:06.200 | Yes. Yes, correct.
00:01:07.500 | I'm interested in this because the person that I heard that statistic I've cited on the show before
00:01:13.900 | was from where I've said that an immigrant to the United States is four times more likely
00:01:19.600 | to become a millionaire than a natural-born citizen.
00:01:21.800 | And by the way, I have not independently verified that recently,
00:01:25.600 | so that could be slightly mistaken.
00:01:27.900 | But who I heard that from was an associate of Zig Ziglar years ago,
00:01:34.600 | and he used to do this work with Zig, and he was an immigrant from India.
00:01:39.100 | I forget his name.
00:01:40.800 | I think I want to say it was Krish something like that, something.
00:01:43.600 | But he had arrived from India with $9 in his pocket,
00:01:46.100 | and he told the story of how he had arrived from India with $9 in his pocket
00:01:50.900 | and gone from there and had done very well.
00:01:55.300 | And I'd love to see a review of even the Indian culture,
00:01:58.900 | and I'd love to see some of the statistics broken out,
00:02:00.700 | because the Indian culture seems to be, you guys seem to be incredibly productive at building wealth.
00:02:05.500 | So, welcome to the show.
00:02:07.000 | I'm going to pump you with questions today and learn all of your secrets as an Indian immigrant.
00:02:13.800 | So, let's start with a little bit of your story.
00:02:16.800 | Walk us through how you wound up in the United States.
00:02:24.900 | So, share with us.
00:02:25.700 | Yeah, go ahead.
00:02:26.700 | Sure.
00:02:27.300 | So, I was born and raised in India, and, you know, I finished my schooling in India,
00:02:32.900 | and after I completed my 12th grade in India, I was jokingly, you know, telling my dad,
00:02:37.800 | you know, I should go outside of India to study something, and I want to study medicine.
00:02:43.200 | So, it was very difficult to get admission in India,
00:02:45.800 | and the cheapest option was to go to Poland or Russia.
00:02:49.200 | So, I'm like, oh, Russia sounds good to me.
00:02:51.900 | So, I went there, new country.
00:02:53.800 | I didn't know language or anything.
00:02:56.000 | I, you know, I went there in 2005, and then I stayed there for six years in Russia
00:03:01.700 | and completed my med school in 2011.
00:03:04.500 | So, after finishing my med school, there were a lot of challenges back in Russia
00:03:09.600 | to cook our own food as I'm vegetarian, and also, you know, to speak Russian
00:03:14.500 | because you have to learn Russian there because you are living in Russia.
00:03:17.600 | So, that was another thing which was very crazy back in Russia.
00:03:23.100 | And then, after I finished my med school, I decided that I want to move to US
00:03:26.500 | because of better life and opportunities here in US.
00:03:29.500 | So, I started preparing for my board exam for US.
00:03:33.100 | So, after I gave my first board exam, I came to US.
00:03:37.700 | I had a visitor visa back from Russia where I got 10-year visitor visa.
00:03:41.800 | So, I came back to US to give my first exam I gave in India,
00:03:45.900 | then second exam I came to US to give because that's the exam you can only give in US.
00:03:50.600 | So, during that time, I was also looking for, you know, to find a spouse in US
00:03:56.700 | because I want to move to US.
00:03:58.100 | So, fortunately, I was able to find my wife whom I dated like for six months back in time,
00:04:05.400 | and then we decided to get married, and then eventually we got married in India in December 2012.
00:04:11.300 | How did you meet her?
00:04:12.800 | I met through matrimonial website. It's called shadi.com.
00:04:16.000 | It's specifically for Indian people.
00:04:18.400 | Okay. How do you spell shadi.com?
00:04:21.400 | Shadi. S-H-A-D-I. It's like match.com.
00:04:26.000 | What does it mean? Is that in Hindi? What does it mean?
00:04:29.200 | Yeah. Shadi means wedding in our language.
00:04:31.500 | Okay. Awesome.
00:04:33.700 | That's a great way to meet.
00:04:35.700 | It sounds like a perfect way to meet an Indian girl in the United States.
00:04:39.000 | So, keep going. I was just curious.
00:04:40.900 | Yeah. So, after that, you know, everything started, my immigration process and everything.
00:04:45.300 | So, after my wedding, I moved to US, and I completed my immigration process in US instead of in India
00:04:51.300 | because when somebody applies from US, it takes like one year to come to US,
00:04:55.500 | but I already had a visitor visa.
00:04:57.300 | So, I just came to US, and then my wife applied here, everything,
00:05:00.500 | and it was a very smooth process here. In six months, I got my green card,
00:05:04.200 | and by that time, it was time to apply for my residency,
00:05:07.300 | and it's not like applying like a general job.
00:05:10.500 | You know, you have to pay money for each hospital. It costs $25 after nine hospitals you apply.
00:05:15.500 | So, I applied like 400 hospitals, which cost me more than $7,000 just to apply for my residency,
00:05:21.300 | and I wasn't working, and my wife barely started working.
00:05:24.900 | So, and it was a huge disappointment because I didn't get any interviews for my residency,
00:05:30.100 | and I was like, "What am I going to do?"
00:05:31.900 | Then I started doing this externship at a physician office,
00:05:35.000 | and also, I started doing research at University of Illinois in psychiatry
00:05:39.000 | because that was something which interests me,
00:05:41.000 | and I was doing this free work for more than one and a half year,
00:05:44.000 | and still no way to get residency.
00:05:46.500 | So, again, I applied for residency next year, which was 2014.
00:05:50.500 | Now, again, I did the same thing. I wasted more than $7,000 to $8,000, but no luck,
00:05:55.100 | and I was tired of working free for physician or the university,
00:05:58.900 | so I decided to get a job, and nobody would give a job.
00:06:02.300 | There was funny thing. Whenever I apply even for pharmacy technician job,
00:06:05.500 | they say, "You're overqualified."
00:06:07.600 | So, I'm like...
00:06:09.200 | - How were you supporting yourself during this time?
00:06:12.700 | - No, my wife was supporting me. She was working. She's nurse.
00:06:15.900 | So, she was making pretty decent, and we used to live in like two-bedroom condo in Chicago,
00:06:20.200 | and in Chicago, you know, it's $1,000 for two-bedroom condo,
00:06:23.300 | so it's not bad as California where I live, where I pay two times more than that.
00:06:28.600 | - Keep going.
00:06:29.800 | - Yeah, so I found a job on internet, and I moved to California, and then my job.
00:06:35.000 | So, what happened was we left my wife's job for $30 there, what she was making there,
00:06:39.100 | and we came here for $19 job here.
00:06:41.700 | So, we moved for $19 job from Chicago to California, and our moving expense was $3,000 to $4,000 or whatever.
00:06:47.600 | I said, you know, "Let's move for better future."
00:06:49.800 | And then to transfer my wife's license from state of Illinois to state of California,
00:06:54.500 | it took them four months. I cannot believe that.
00:06:56.900 | My wife went to US school. She has already license in state of Illinois.
00:07:01.200 | Just to transfer the license, it took four months. She was just sitting home for four months.
00:07:06.600 | Yeah. So, there was crazy part in California, and then eventually she got her license,
00:07:11.100 | and then she started working too.
00:07:12.800 | So, then what happened in my work, like there was mostly all our doctors,
00:07:17.700 | but we didn't, you know, went to residency because all were looking for some other job opportunities.
00:07:22.600 | So, we had this specific exam for coding, which I do right now, coding and documentation review for the hospitals.
00:07:28.900 | So, as soon as you pass the exam, they raise you.
00:07:31.400 | So, my money went from $19 to $30 in less than six months. My salary went up that much.
00:07:37.500 | So, hold on just one moment to make sure that I understand.
00:07:40.500 | So, you couldn't gain access to a residency.
00:07:44.900 | So, you took the exam to be a medical coder, and then you were working on that on the side. Is that accurate?
00:07:51.900 | Yes, yes. That's accurate.
00:07:53.400 | And so, is this a work from home thing? I don't know much about medical coding.
00:07:58.200 | I've heard people talk about how it can be a great work from home opportunity.
00:08:02.000 | Tell me what is medical coding, and how does that work?
00:08:05.600 | So, medical coding is basically, you know, whenever you go to a physician, right, they treat you, right?
00:08:09.900 | For example, they treat you for hypertension or any disease,
00:08:12.600 | but you are paid based on what hospital submits to Medicare.
00:08:16.000 | So, for hypertension, there is a specific code, for example, 410 or 420, whatever.
00:08:20.900 | So, the hospital has to submit that code to Medicare or any insurance company to get the reimbursement.
00:08:26.300 | So, if they don't submit their codes, they don't get the money.
00:08:29.100 | So, what we do is we generate those codes based on the, you know, documentation of the physician.
00:08:34.400 | So, we generate like, in each coding sheet, we have like 20 to 50 codes, depending on what patient have.
00:08:40.600 | And based on that, we get reimbursed, hospital get reimbursed for those things.
00:08:44.600 | So, this allowed you to earn some income while you were still looking for a job as a physician to be able to support yourself.
00:08:52.100 | Yes.
00:08:52.700 | Great. All right, keep going.
00:08:54.800 | Yeah, so after that, you know, and my old work was like, you know, I wasn't enjoying there much after one and a half year of work.
00:09:01.500 | So, I decided to find another job.
00:09:03.400 | And eventually, I land in LA in one of the universities here with the same job.
00:09:08.000 | But of course, like the pay was two times more than my initial pay.
00:09:12.300 | So, I'm like, okay, I'm going to get this job, definitely.
00:09:14.700 | And so far, I joined the job this year, February, and it's going so far pretty good here.
00:09:19.900 | I like the university because of the benefits.
00:09:22.400 | And, you know, before I was in corporate setting, but right now I'm in hospital setting.
00:09:27.300 | So, it's much more enjoyable in hospital settings.
00:09:30.900 | And so, you're working as a physician now?
00:09:34.600 | No, no, no. I'm not working yet, but I'm working as a document specialist for the hospital.
00:09:38.800 | So, basically, what we do is we review the hospital charts, and we try to improve the documentation there.
00:09:44.400 | Got it. Excuse me, I misunderstood.
00:09:45.800 | Are you still on the path to be able to use your medical education and licensing?
00:09:53.400 | I don't have a license yet, but yeah, I'm definitely able to use my medical background
00:09:58.000 | because what we do is we review and we try to query physicians regarding the specificity of the diagnosis.
00:10:03.800 | When we query them, the end result is reimbursement increases in that for the hospital.
00:10:09.600 | So, yeah, it's really beneficial for the hospitals to hire us.
00:10:14.300 | Why do you think you haven't been able to get a job as a physician?
00:10:17.400 | Sorry, you were cutting off there, Joshua.
00:10:19.100 | No problem. Why do you think you haven't been able to get a job as a physician?
00:10:24.600 | See, it's highly competitive, and I will give you the statistic.
00:10:28.800 | Like last year, there were 26,000 open spots, right?
00:10:32.500 | And you can only apply once a year, which is in September, and you know next year in March.
00:10:37.500 | And there were 26,000 open spots, and there were more than 50,000 applicants.
00:10:41.800 | And of course, the first preference is U.S. graduates.
00:10:44.400 | So who went to school to U.S. medical school, they are the first preference.
00:10:47.600 | And then there are the FMGs, which who went to Caribbean for two years and two years in U.S.
00:10:52.600 | And third are us, who are international medical graduates.
00:10:55.500 | So definitely, you know, I am on the third number there.
00:10:58.900 | So that's why I think it's difficult for me to get in.
00:11:02.200 | Got it. Got it.
00:11:04.000 | So tell me about the finances of this way,
00:11:07.300 | because it sounds like a lot of knocking on doors that haven't opened.
00:11:10.900 | I mean, you were spent, based upon the numbers you were telling me,
00:11:13.400 | you're spending, you know, several thousand dollars, five or seven thousand dollars,
00:11:17.600 | trying to make all these applications.
00:11:20.700 | Did you have money when you moved here to the U.S.?
00:11:24.900 | I definitely didn't have money when I moved, but you know, my wife was supporting me because she started working, right?
00:11:30.800 | So she was supporting me in that way, and we were able to save that money
00:11:34.000 | because we know that every year in September, I have to apply for my residency.
00:11:37.500 | So for example, this year I have to apply, but of course I won't be applying that many hospitals.
00:11:41.700 | So I just need like two thousand dollars for this year, which I already saved up for my this year residency application.
00:11:47.800 | And over the last few years, have you been able to build savings,
00:11:51.700 | even though you are still struggling to get into the position that you want to be in?
00:11:57.800 | [phone ringing]
00:12:14.000 | Are you back?
00:12:16.800 | Yes, I'm just back.
00:12:17.700 | Great. So over the last few years, have you been able to save money
00:12:23.200 | while you've also been working towards your medical...
00:12:25.200 | Yes, can you hear me?
00:12:26.800 | Can you hear me now?
00:12:31.800 | Your voice is cutting off.
00:12:33.800 | Okay, let me just wait a moment here. Hold on a second.
00:12:42.800 | Alright, can you hear me now?
00:12:44.500 | Yes.
00:12:45.200 | Alright, let's try again.
00:12:47.200 | Over the last few years, have you been able to save money
00:12:50.000 | while you have been trying to get into a medical physician position?
00:12:56.000 | Or have you just basically been treading water?
00:12:59.500 | So here is the funny thing.
00:13:01.600 | I wasn't able to save anything until I moved to California in 2014.
00:13:05.500 | And not in 2014 even I didn't save anything.
00:13:08.300 | But in 2015, when I applied for my residency again,
00:13:12.000 | you know, I started reading about finance a lot, a lot.
00:13:15.100 | Like all the finance blog and, you know, listening to podcasts.
00:13:18.400 | So I was thinking like I should learn about tech stuff because it seems interesting and complex.
00:13:22.400 | And what I'm supposed to do after I come home from job? I work for eight hours a day.
00:13:26.700 | I have three weekends and I'm free after I come from home.
00:13:29.700 | I just go to gym for one hour, cook my food, and still I have three, four hours left in my day.
00:13:33.900 | So, okay, let me read like this finance thing.
00:13:37.100 | So once I started reading, I learned about 401k.
00:13:40.900 | So I started maxing out my 401k. I started in September 2015.
00:13:45.500 | So my goal is to put $692.32 each pay period for me and my spouse.
00:13:52.300 | So it comes around $3,000 a month.
00:13:54.300 | I mean, so $36,000 a year and if you divide by 26, sorry, 12 months, it should be $3,000 a month.
00:14:01.600 | So that's my goal for now.
00:14:04.000 | Congratulations, man. That's awesome. That'd be a great step.
00:14:07.100 | And you're working now towards early financial independence. Is that right?
00:14:10.900 | Yes, my goal is that.
00:14:13.100 | And when do you hope to be financially independent?
00:14:16.100 | So here is the thing. In five years, I want to at least, you know,
00:14:19.600 | accumulate like $500,000 so that if I wish I cannot work, my wife's job is clinical.
00:14:25.800 | So of course she loves her job and she wants to keep working.
00:14:28.400 | So that's fine. So right now my goal is to save anywhere between $5,000 to $6,000 a month,
00:14:33.500 | which I'm close to $4,000 a month, but which will only get me $348,000 in five years
00:14:39.300 | if I say compounding is 7% and I right now have $52,000 invested.
00:14:44.000 | So if I increase that to $6,000 a month with my principle of $52,000 based on 7% compounding,
00:14:51.100 | in five years I will be able to get $586,000 approximately.
00:14:55.400 | So I hope to, you know, increase my savings to $6,000 a month
00:14:58.900 | so I can get around, yeah, my magical number in five years.
00:15:03.500 | How long now have you been in the United States?
00:15:06.700 | Three and a half years.
00:15:08.600 | And you've been able to, you don't have any debt,
00:15:10.900 | you've been able to save $50,000 and you're now working hard towards five years
00:15:16.400 | with the goal of having half a million dollars.
00:15:20.500 | How much are your monthly living expenses?
00:15:23.400 | My expenses are actually pretty high because I live in California in SoCal
00:15:28.600 | and just my rent is $2,100.
00:15:31.200 | So my bare expenses are $3,500 a month.
00:15:35.300 | That's great.
00:15:37.600 | Do you think that people from India are more productive at becoming wealthy in the United States
00:15:44.900 | than either natural-born US citizens or from other ethnic groups?
00:15:52.100 | I think so because the thing is the people who come from India to US,
00:15:56.500 | they already have their mindset that they have to work hard to make money in US
00:16:00.300 | and they work like long hours.
00:16:01.700 | Like, you know, I have a couple of friends who have business right now
00:16:05.900 | and they did a minimum wage job for seven to eight years,
00:16:08.600 | but they did like two or three jobs and saved up money and bought the business in cash.
00:16:13.100 | So I know people like that too who did like crazy work
00:16:15.800 | and got business in US in seven to eight years by working two, three jobs.
00:16:19.800 | So people who come from India are very like,
00:16:22.500 | they are like, their mind is already set that they have to work hard
00:16:25.200 | because they are going to new country and they have to make money.
00:16:28.600 | So, yeah.
00:16:30.400 | It's been my experience and I can't prove this with data.
00:16:33.800 | It's just been my observations that people from India with the Indian culture
00:16:39.300 | tend to be drawn towards starting or running a business of some kind.
00:16:44.800 | I haven't found that many of them have wanted to participate in things like the 401k system,
00:16:49.700 | investing in large publicly traded companies.
00:16:52.400 | Do you think that's true?
00:16:54.400 | Yes, that's definitely true because I haven't met any Indian so far in my family
00:16:59.700 | or anywhere who believes in 401k and who has even a little bit knowledge about 401k.
00:17:03.900 | They just believe to have savings as a cash money and then buy some business down the line.
00:17:08.800 | That's what majority of people, Indian, believes.
00:17:12.300 | Why do you think that is?
00:17:13.900 | Because, I don't know, because it's like sometimes their family has the business
00:17:18.200 | or their friends' business, so they want to copy or replicate them.
00:17:21.800 | But they're like, "Okay, let me save this much money."
00:17:23.800 | Like, for example, "Okay, let me save $250,000 to buy like $1 million model or something,
00:17:29.400 | which will be 20% down payment.
00:17:31.400 | And based on that, I can buy a hotel or any business like Subway or Papa John's."
00:17:35.900 | They just want to keep saving and saving.
00:17:37.700 | And once they have enough money, they will jump into business.
00:17:41.900 | The stereotype, and I don't know if it's true or not, but the stereotype is that there are
00:17:47.200 | a few different types of businesses that seem to be dominated by people from India,
00:17:53.100 | Indian immigrants.
00:17:54.600 | A few of them would be like the 7-Elevens.
00:17:57.700 | And for me, locally, most of my Dunkin' Donuts seem to be run by Indian families.
00:18:03.200 | Also hotels, like you mentioned.
00:18:05.200 | Do you think, first, do you think the stereotypes are accurate?
00:18:09.200 | Are these industries dominated by Indians?
00:18:13.100 | Or do you think it's inaccurate?
00:18:16.200 | No, definitely true.
00:18:18.000 | Dunkin' Donuts and hotel business are mainly dominated by Indians.
00:18:21.200 | And because I used to live in Chicago before, so I know like majority of Dunkin' in Chicago
00:18:25.800 | are owned by Indians, majority of them.
00:18:28.500 | Why do you think that is?
00:18:30.500 | What is it about the Indian culture where Indian immigrants to the U.S. are drawn to
00:18:36.000 | businesses like Dunkin' Donuts or like running and buying and running hotels?
00:18:40.500 | Yeah, because they think one thing, okay, most of them when they came to U.S. like 20,
00:18:44.900 | 30 years back, they weren't that educated.
00:18:47.100 | So they are thinking, you know, let me work like very hard for now, five to six years,
00:18:51.400 | you know, save some money and buy business.
00:18:53.100 | And once they got one business, they see how much money they can make.
00:18:56.100 | So they keep buying more and more.
00:18:57.700 | Like I know, I know one person who has like more than five subway with him because he
00:19:01.400 | came from India.
00:19:02.400 | He's as old as me.
00:19:03.400 | He's 28 year old, but he has five subway because he came to U.S.
00:19:06.600 | He's like, I'm not going to study or do anything, you know.
00:19:09.100 | So he saved up for a couple of years, got a subway.
00:19:12.200 | And once you have one business, whenever there is another business nearby there who want
00:19:16.100 | to sell, like for example, Dunkin', they will offer to the Dunkin' guy or the person who
00:19:20.800 | owns the business nearby because it's easier for them to control in that way.
00:19:26.000 | Tell me about, are there any Indian customs surrounding money?
00:19:30.500 | For example, I'm thinking of things like lending within the Indian community or things like
00:19:35.400 | that.
00:19:36.400 | Are there any Indian customs surrounding money that you think would be useful or helpful
00:19:40.500 | to the audience of Radical Personal Finance to think about?
00:19:43.800 | Yeah, yeah.
00:19:44.800 | Indian do lend the money to each other based on the, you know, so based on the families
00:19:50.600 | they know each other.
00:19:51.600 | Like, for example, if somebody knows for somebody knows them for a long time, they will give
00:19:55.800 | cash money to them.
00:19:56.800 | OK, you need money to take $10,000, for example, but you have to repay me in one year.
00:20:01.200 | But I don't like the system at all because I'm I don't like the system.
00:20:05.200 | But yeah, there is this system which is integral to Indian community in U.S. or anywhere where
00:20:10.100 | there are Indians.
00:20:11.300 | Why don't you like the system?
00:20:13.300 | Because I had some bad experience like lending some money back in days in my school to my
00:20:18.140 | friend.
00:20:19.140 | It's very hassle, you know, and they don't repay you on their time and you've got to
00:20:22.420 | keep them asking and asking.
00:20:24.180 | So from that point, I decided, you know, I won't jump in this kind of things.
00:20:29.700 | Is there so the reason I'm interested in these in this topic is because a lot of times when
00:20:34.800 | you get into an ethnic subgroup, there are different systems of accountability.
00:20:39.820 | So as I've observed in some systems in the United States, your credit score in working
00:20:44.500 | through the credit reporting agencies is the primary way of establishing somebody's trustworthiness
00:20:49.840 | as a borrower.
00:20:50.840 | But when you get into an ethnic subgroup where you're getting a loan from somebody to someone
00:20:56.300 | else, there's not you don't have that same system.
00:21:01.500 | You know, your relative or your friend is not reporting you to the credit reporting
00:21:06.440 | agencies as being delinquent on your debt.
00:21:09.000 | So what are the mechanisms in when borrowing and when lending money?
00:21:12.940 | What are the mechanisms for accountability to make sure that you're being paid back?
00:21:17.220 | So basically, for example, if I want to like if you're if you if you ask money for from
00:21:22.480 | me and I don't need that well, so you have to find some person who knows me very well
00:21:27.060 | and that person can vouch for you.
00:21:29.100 | That's the only way they get the money.
00:21:32.980 | And then if you don't repay, then there's the public shaming, basically, your reputation
00:21:37.820 | within your community group is damaged.
00:21:39.860 | Is that yes, is that accurate?
00:21:41.780 | Yes, accurate.
00:21:42.780 | OK.
00:21:43.780 | What are the lessons would you like to share with my audience from looking at the United
00:21:49.100 | States and looking at your experience within the context of being an immigrant going on
00:21:54.320 | almost four years now?
00:21:55.980 | What are the lessons would you like to share with my audience to help them win with money?
00:22:00.500 | So number one is like, don't be scared to move because I moved to Chicago two times
00:22:04.540 | and I moved to California two times because of better job opportunity.
00:22:07.980 | And probably by next year, I'm going to again move out of California because it's ridiculous
00:22:11.520 | expensive to live here.
00:22:13.160 | So number one is don't be afraid to move and take a new opportunity or job because it always
00:22:18.260 | gives at least if it doesn't increase your money, it will increase your skills and reach
00:22:22.220 | down the line can build money for you and you will know a lot of people.
00:22:25.500 | That's the number one.
00:22:26.700 | Number two is like study something about finance.
00:22:29.340 | It's very easy to put money in 401k if you're if you're eligible and traditional IRA, of
00:22:34.300 | course, and then Roth IRA or whatever, or just finances.
00:22:38.000 | Study online, there is a lot of free material, you know, to get started with.
00:22:41.740 | And that's what I did.
00:22:42.740 | And I'm very happy this year.
00:22:43.980 | I start I mean, I started last year, September, but in this year, I already had 18,000 in
00:22:48.220 | my 401k.
00:22:49.220 | It's growing by 12% actually, to tell you the truth.
00:22:51.380 | So I'm like, pretty happy about that.
00:22:53.180 | You know, I never imagined that I would be able to save this much money and have this
00:22:56.380 | much growth in a short time.
00:22:58.500 | So of course, you know, read online, ask family and friends if you don't understand anything.
00:23:02.820 | And you know, sometimes things seem that it won't work out, won't work out, but it eventually
00:23:06.700 | works out in long term.
00:23:08.300 | So for example, me, I'm still trying from a physician, this will be my fourth year trying
00:23:13.420 | and if I don't match this year, again, I'm going to try and actually I'm not going to
00:23:16.820 | quit.
00:23:17.820 | I'm going to keep trying and trying because that is what I want eventually down the line.
00:23:21.500 | So that's what I can tell from my experience.
00:23:25.060 | Have you ever regretted moving from Russia to the United States?
00:23:29.580 | No.
00:23:30.580 | Just because it's easier to be a vegetarian in the United States than Russia or for other
00:23:35.180 | reasons?
00:23:36.180 | No, other reasons.
00:23:37.180 | I do have family and friends here, so it's pretty much convenient for me.
00:23:41.740 | And my dad who lives in India, he also wanted that I would settle in the US.
00:23:46.340 | That's what he wanted for me.
00:23:47.580 | So yeah.
00:23:48.580 | Final question.
00:23:50.400 | Do you interact with your financially?
00:23:54.240 | Do you interact financially with your family living still in India?
00:23:59.300 | Yeah, I interact with them, but they of course, they don't know about 401k and you know, IRA
00:24:04.540 | and stuff.
00:24:05.540 | That's not part of our conversation.
00:24:07.100 | But yeah, I interact with them in a way they understand me, you know, like my parents understand
00:24:12.260 | me.
00:24:13.260 | Hey, I'm saving this much.
00:24:14.260 | I'm hoping to save much.
00:24:15.260 | And just general numbers, but nothing very detailed because they don't have knowledge
00:24:18.580 | about finance in the US.
00:24:20.140 | But let me be more clear.
00:24:21.440 | What I meant by interact was, are you sending them money?
00:24:24.180 | Are they supporting you?
00:24:25.500 | Have you supported them?
00:24:26.500 | Oh no.
00:24:27.500 | Do you intend to bring them to the United States?
00:24:28.500 | How is your financial relationship between your family at home versus here?
00:24:32.540 | Okay.
00:24:33.540 | So normally, yeah, I don't ask money from my parents, but they, when they were, when,
00:24:37.940 | whenever they need, they ask from me and of course I send them.
00:24:40.860 | So whenever they need like, but it's not a big amount.
00:24:43.060 | It's like two to $3,000 at a time, once a year probably.
00:24:46.420 | So whenever they ask me that they want to build something there, you know, or do something
00:24:50.040 | in our farm, you know, build a fence or something, then I send them money.
00:24:53.780 | So it's not a big deal.
00:24:55.140 | Yeah.
00:24:56.140 | But yeah, in our culture and community, when parents ask you, you cannot deny them.
00:24:59.980 | That's the, that's the whole thing in our community, Indian culture.
00:25:03.300 | You cannot deny to your parents.
00:25:05.860 | Do you think that, uh, will you ever try to bring them to the United States or will they
00:25:10.420 | stay in India?
00:25:11.420 | No, no, definitely.
00:25:12.420 | Once I become a US citizen, which will be next year after I become a US citizen, I will
00:25:16.860 | definitely, you know, apply for them and they can come to us in, I think six, six, it takes
00:25:21.660 | six to 10 months for them to come from India to here, whole immigration process.
00:25:27.140 | It's it's, uh, it's so interesting.
00:25:30.060 | Almost every, uh, US immigrant for whom I've done financial planning has those line items
00:25:35.600 | on their budget that US Americans don't generally think about and it's support for family back
00:25:40.500 | home.
00:25:41.500 | And I really admire that.
00:25:42.500 | Uh, I really admire the, the support of parents, the support of extended family.
00:25:47.260 | I really admire, um, that immigrant mentality.
00:25:52.100 | I find it so lacking on the US American culture.
00:25:55.660 | But it also comes with a whole different range of considerations that you have to consider
00:26:00.540 | for financial planning of thinking about how do I prioritize my goals and how do I also
00:26:05.500 | care for my family and what are my responsibilities, uh, responsibilities there.
00:26:10.460 | Uh, do you think that, um, do you think that you'll be able to pass along some of your
00:26:15.780 | values to your children or are you worried about them looking just like all of the other,
00:26:21.060 | uh, American children around with regard to how they handle money?
00:26:25.460 | So, so for that, I had been thinking for quite a bit.
00:26:28.380 | I don't have children yet, but down the line, once I have, my goal is to take them India
00:26:33.020 | every year for their summer vacation.
00:26:35.140 | So by the time I hope I will be financially independent and I can take their whole summer
00:26:39.940 | vacation, then to India so they can, they can learn our culture and things in India
00:26:44.860 | so that then I can, you know, then I can tell them about finance and then I can teach about
00:26:48.780 | finance and things to, to them.
00:26:51.180 | But they have to go outside of US to learn those things.
00:26:53.900 | That's what I believe for now.
00:26:55.620 | But yeah, you never know.
00:26:57.340 | Well, man, this has been great.
00:26:59.980 | Anything else that you want to share before we wrap up here?
00:27:01.940 | Yeah, we haven't talked about travel hacking.
00:27:04.460 | I do a bunch of travel hacking.
00:27:06.380 | Tell us what you've learned.
00:27:08.220 | So my credit score is more than 750 for me and my spouse and I do apply like, okay, three
00:27:14.420 | credit cards for me every three months and three for my wife.
00:27:17.580 | So six cars every three months.
00:27:19.940 | So I have been traveling literally for like $22 wherever I want to go in US or even Hawaii.
00:27:25.740 | So because I use my points and miles.
00:27:27.980 | So yeah, that's the way I travel.
00:27:30.380 | How have you learned about these skills?
00:27:33.260 | So before I learned about finance, you know, I was just as I, as I told you, as I mentioned
00:27:37.420 | earlier, I started my job and I had a lot of free time.
00:27:39.820 | I mean, you just work eight over a day here, right?
00:27:42.580 | And then you come home and you have free time.
00:27:44.420 | So what are you supposed to do?
00:27:45.640 | So I started reading about this travel blogs and it says like, if you apply this card,
00:27:50.040 | you get 50,000 points, you know, and I'm pretty good at paying my bills on time.
00:27:54.000 | I have zero late payment so far in one and a half, two years.
00:27:58.300 | So I'm pretty good with that.
00:27:59.800 | So I'm like, okay, let me take the benefit of system.
00:28:02.140 | You know, if they allow here, then why not?
00:28:05.560 | That's awesome.
00:28:06.560 | And you're not, and you're not even a citizen of the United States yet, but you can still
00:28:09.720 | access the travel hacking system.
00:28:12.920 | That's awesome.
00:28:15.160 | Anything else that you want to share?
00:28:16.880 | No, that's so far I have, you know, achieved in US.
00:28:21.520 | So I'm excited for, I'm excited for your future and I hope that you'd be able to gain access
00:28:26.960 | to a residency program.
00:28:28.840 | And I'm sure that if you continue, if you continue forward, I'm sure that you'll find
00:28:32.240 | an opportunity and I congratulate you on all your progress, on all your progress thus far,
00:28:36.720 | taking advantage of the opportunities that you do have in front of you while working
00:28:40.600 | towards what you really want to have.
00:28:42.840 | And thank you for sharing your story.
00:28:45.040 | Thank you for sharing your story with my audience to inspire them and welcome to the United
00:28:48.760 | States.
00:28:49.760 | May your American dream be rich and fruitful for a very long time.
00:28:53.120 | Thank you, Jeff, so much.
00:28:55.680 | Thank you for listening to this episode of Radical Personal Finance.
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