United States

Money, money, money makes the country go round. In the United States it is solely about the money, unless you have a ton of it or none of it. People regularly discuss how to make money, how to invest their money, where to find money. Oh the lovely smell greenbacks have! The housing market is over. Tech stocks are coming back. Do you have a Roth IRA? My wife loves my new credit card scented cologne.

Minimum wage in the United States varies state to state but is around $5.50 an hour. Only students, elderly or immigrants take these jobs as this rate is well below a living wage. Paperwork is required for just about every type of work, meaning a social security card and picture ID for citizens, a green card or H1 work visa for visitors.

There are, of course, jobs that employ foreigners. A popular destination for many Brazilians, English, and Argentines are the ski resorts in Colorado. You can be a vendor of ice cream and foods in cities like Boston in the summer without paperwork. The Mexicans do most of the landscaping and labor and if you can get around competing with them these types of jobs can be done ‘under the table.’ If you are really inventive and fast on your feet you can get a job as a tour guide of some sort (especially if you have language skills.)

Business being what it is if you have computer skills such as web design you can make dollars hand over fist as a consultant or freelancer.

The United States truly is the land of opportunity when it comes to having a shot at earning a great standard of living. Innovation, ideas and hard work are admired and you don’t have to be born in America to be part of the business world. Just be careful what you wish for.

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