The recent surge in search interest for “Newark airport” can be attributed to several significant incidents that have occurred recently. One key event was the emergency landing of a flight at Newark Airport, which led to passengers being evacuated. Such emergencies typically attract immediate media coverage and public attention, prompting individuals to seek out more information about the situation.
Additionally, there was a JetBlue flight that had to return to Newark Airport due to engine failure, which resulted in a full ground stop being issued at the airport. Engine failures in commercial aviation are critical events, and this incident may have raised concerns among travelers and those with connections to the airport. As a result, it likely led to an increase in searches from people looking for updates or information regarding flight operations at Newark.
Both incidents not only affected passengers on the affected flights but also had broader implications for airport traffic and safety. The combination of emergency situations and operational disruptions can understandably generate heightened interest among travelers and the general public, prompting them to seek the latest news and updates related to Newark Airport.
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W
I can relate a lot. I’m in a similar age group but you’re so far ahead of me and have done quite well. DH and I came here as employees of a large WITCH and stayed in the same job ( constant whirlwind of projects between the two of us and very modest pay) for the sake of location stability. The only benefit was that both of our kids were born here and medical costs didn’t bankrupt us in spite of some early birth challenges. I would say we earned about 50% of our potential in those days . Then I quit the job and we R2I-ed with little kids and stayed there for few years for family support ( which was hilarious in hindsight , nobody supported – we ourselves ended up having to run ourselves ragged visiting and meeting and resolving so many various issues) . DH was getting disillusioned with Indian IT rat race and began applying for US PhDs. Next year , we returned back to US and started a new grad-student-below-poverty-line life . Slowly chipped at savings , then I started grad school too . At this time , our monthly expenses were higher than income due to childcare etc etc. Then I got a decent job and we slowly started building up savings. Then husband got his dream job and career. By this time , we are in our late 30s and have just started life , like people in mid 20s do . For almost one and a half decades we were just running, running , running. I can’t even quantify the opportunity cost – because it depresses me. My only comfort is that our kids are getting all the best opportunities they can make use of and they won’t have to chase their tails like us. We do have decent , steady jobs with solid skills to fallback on now so hopefully we will reach decent retirement numbers and have a little left over to support the kids if needed.
P
Thank you for sharing all that so honestly. What you described isnt falling behind, it’s surviving and protecting your family through some really hard seasons. Running for years while raising kids, managing moves, careers, childcare and visa pressure is no small thing. Kudos to you and your husband. that’s not easy at all. The opportunity cost hurts to think about, I get that, but the stability and foundation you built for your kids matters more than any spreadsheet gap. You are not late, you’re just coming out of survival mode. Now that you both have steady footing, compounding can finally start working for you instead of against you. The main reason I posted my story was exactly this, to encourage people not to give up when these doubts creep in. Most of us have similar stories. Talking about them helps more than we think. Keep going.
O
Feels like a normal NRI in US story… Have you accepted the fact that your kids will settle in USA forever and only visit you if ever move back. Is it worth the extra 1M you might have saved? What are your regrets
P
Thats a fair question. Honestly, I don’t know where my kids will settle long term. We have stopped trying to plan out that part of their lives. If they build a life here, great. If they go back, also great. As for the extra 1M, I don’t really think about it as lost. That money bought stability, optionality, and a lot of sleep at night during uncertain years. Looking back, some decisions were expensive. But at the time, they reduced real risk for our family. I am curious how you think about that tradeoff, just math vs peace of mind?
P
Thanks for reading this. I am really curious what your version of this looks like. What is the decision you made because it felt responsible at the time… but quietly cost you money, time, or peace? Could be staying too long in a stable job. Buying **safe** property. Delaying investing. Helping family even when it stretched you. We all have one. If you are comfortable sharing, I would love to hear it.
C
Thank you for sharing this honest and unfiltered story. It hurts to read how fear (disguised as caution) can silently cost you 735K. My most expensive “safe” decision was staying too long in a stable job with no growth, instead of taking risks sooner. It set me back for years. But like you, the thing that saved everything was not giving up and continuing to invest. Huge respect for the 3.5M and the family you protected. 💪
P
Thank you sharing that. Staying too long in a stable job is such a common one, it felt responsibility in the moment. If you look back then you realize time was the real cost.. you are right, sometimes just not giving up and continuing to invest quietly is what saves everything. What finally pushed you to move on, was it one clear moment or just a gradual realization?
K
You asked safest decision – I have two. Finding one and only one – honest, intelligent guy to invest my money with. Once financially secure, saying “F U” to everything else than human relationships and preserving, nurturing those like emergency fund / retirement accounts (ie. no withdrawals. Just accruals) like you did. Hope this helps you in future as well. Very happy to read how you turned it all around.
P
Ah that first one is straight out of Naval Ravikant’s playbook…. finding one honest, intelligent person to manage money and just sticking with them. Hard to argue with that approach. I also like the second point, once you are secure, protecting relationships and letting investments compound quietly without touching them takes discipline. Really appreciate you sharing that perspective.
F
You did spectacularly well given the harsh reality of the cards you were given. Don’t blame yourself and don’t forget the lessons from the mistakes you made. Your mistakes were essential to teach you invaluable lessons and acted as solid bedrock on which you built your success. Given your current wealth you stated, you are already in top 2% of wealth in USA, the richest country on earth! In India, you are already in top 0.1%!! You will continue to do well, but please don’t blame yourself so harshly, enjoy life, smell the roses and live blissfully.
P
Really appreciate that. honestly, I don’t blame myself or anyone else for that matter. I made the best decisions I could with what I knew at the time. Some of them were expensive, but they also protected my family when it mattered. I see it as part of the journey, not something to beat myself up over. Appreciate the kind words.
F
Simple, clean and honest post from you. All the best for you future. The most safe and expensive decision is not investing enough in equity. My portfolio is cash/fixed income heavy. But that bought stability and confidence. Since a base was formed, we’re investing into equity aggressively. Sleeping peacefully knowing family is financially secure is more important than anything else – Morgan housel.
P
Thank you, really appreciate that.
B
The best thing you did is thinking long term and not disturbing the compounding. Compounding is like tree growing. After 20 years, you see the fruit.
P
Totally agree.
C
Oh man, I totally get that feeling. I made a bunch of the same mistakes back in the day. I used to have around 12 BTC and was constantly stressing about when to sell. Every time it hit a new all-time high, I always worried I would miss the perfect moment and lose my gains. Then I did something really dumb. I sold off a my BTC and poured it into Luna, UST, and a few meme coins. UST was offering almost 20% staking interest at the time, and I let greed get the better of me. I thought, with 20% interest, I can double my investment in less than 6 months. But, one night, it all crashed. Just like that, I lost everything. I still remember that night so clearly. I felt completely broken. I wanted to scream, cry, do anything to let it out. But I kept it together because I didn’t want to scare my wife. Honestly, I didn’t even have the courage to face her at first. I thought all my dreams of “making it big early” were gone. Everything wiped out by my own greed and poor choices. But she was amazing. Instead of blaming me, she stood by me, comforted me, and helped me find the strength to move forward. I eventually got through the grief, though I still have nights where I can’t sleep thinking about how those bad decisions cost me youth years. These days, we are again slowly rebuilding our savings. We are nowhere near where you are yet, but we are in a pretty decent place. One step at a time.
P
Man… Luna/UST crash in May 2022 did hurt lot of good people. Thank you for sharing that so openly. 20% yield trap was super seductive. don’t blame you for thinking that way. honestly, most important line in your whole comment is this: your wife stood by you. That kind of support is worth more than any bull run in my opinion. You are rebuilding. and learned the lesson the hard way. Thats not failure. one step at a time is exactly how wealth is built the second time around. All the very best.
T
Thanks for closing the loop
A
Great write up. Just one thing, how did you get to $3.5 million? I understand investing but you must have some in demand skills and working for maybe a FAANG type company. It is not possible to accumulate so much wealth in this country. Were you working in SAP or something of that sort.
P
Good question. Honestly, nothing fancy. No FAANG. No startup exit. Just steady W2 income from both of us over many years. We started maxing our 401k once we got serious. Took the employer match. Had some RSUs that helped a bit. Bought a house at the right time. Refinanced when rates dropped. Never pulled money out during crashes. If you look at it, It looks big as one total number. But it’s really just 20 years of compounding and some real estate appreciation. More boring than brilliant.
A
Aah. I missed the dual income part, so there are two people earning and not just one paycheck. I am assuming your wife is also in IT. I think you did great, you got your green card, did not get divorced, kept working and now your among the richest people on the planet.
P
Yes, dual income definitely helped. But honestly, more than the income, I am just grateful we are still together after all the ups and downs. Those were stressful years, visa uncertainty, financial mistakes, long nights. My wife is the steady one. She is the reason we stayed disciplined and kept moving forward. A lot of this story is really her story too.
A
Wow…..That would help a lot. It will also help with Visa , as you could be a dependent on her if you lose work. You have to give your partner credit as well in your journey. Your financial mistakes are not really terrible. Everyone has some of those.
H
Your story has a good moral even without this made up paper opportunity loses. Best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago. Second best is today. And you can’t lose something you don’t have.
P
Fair point. I understand opportunity loss .. mentioned in the post can feel like paper money. For me it was more about the mindset than the number. The tree quote is spot on though. All we can do is plant from where we are today.
H
Lot of what and how we do things over the years is based on what knew at that point and our tolerance to risk. I used to have this coulda woulda shoulda type regrets that would haunt me for a while until I read psychology of money. It helped me to appreciate the way my path turned out to be. Without a negative tone to my past. You have done really well while keeping everything together. Good luck to you and wishing you more wins too
P
Well said. I agree 100%, lot of what we do is based on what we knew at that moment and our risk tolerance at that moment. Funny you mentionied.. Psychology of Money, even my older one read it, and I follow his podcasts too. It really helps reframe things and take the regret out of it. Appreciate your thoughtful comment and the good wishes.
W
This is raw. Love it. The off the books balance sheet that no one sees is where on compresses life into one’s years.
B
Regret consumes us. We can feel it for a minute but we need to move on. All it matters is you’ve provided better opportunities for your kids than you had.
A
I can relate a lot to this story. Firstly, congrats to being diligent and consistent. It has paid off. You deserve the rest and peace. You’ve earned it and Congrats. Second, I am in very similar (not same) boat. 39 Male, 2.1 Mil family Net worth, 1.2 Mil personal net worth. Did nothing special. VT, VOO index and chill. i was unable to climb the ladder as fast as others did. But stayed consistent to investing. Didn’t really send any money back home, but made sure I saved before I spent. Am almost 40 now. by the time I am 60 yrs old, my net worth would at 8% be at around 8 mil USD. however, I also have 20 yrs of working life remaining. So i feel peace that my kids won’t have to struggle the way i did. I may not survive til 60, but who know, maybe i do, and maybe I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor. There is a subtle happiness in knowing I can FIRE. And so can you. All the best.
P
Really appreciate this, and congrats to you too. That kind of steady, boring consistency is what actually works in the long run. When I was thinking about whether to post my story, I kept telling myself I am not the only one who is taken the long road with a few mistakes along the way. There are many people quietly doing the same thing, just not talking about it. I wanted to share it so anyone in that messy middle stage knows they are not alone and also to show that making a few costly mistakes doesnt disqualify you from still building something meaningful. You can mess up, regroup and still get there. peace you mentioned about knowing you can FIRE that feeling is powerful. you can’t make that up. What helped you stay consistent when you felt others were climbing faster than you?
A
“What helped you stay consistent when you felt others were climbing faster than you?” Everyone around me were sending money back home. They loved the fact that they were converting 1 USD to 70, 80 or even 90 INR. It made them feel rich. They got land , and apartments. I never understood why. INR has been consistently losing value over the last 15 yrs or more. When I came to US, it was around 1 USD = 35 INR. Any gains people make by investing in India, lose to the $ gaining strength. I knew that so I never went with the crowd. Also, since India has been heavily investing in infrastructure, that leads to more borrowing, mean more printing mean more INR dilution. If we need to attract foreign investment, we need cheap currency. that’s how bangalore attracts jobs, we are cheap to work with. One main factor was, I always grew middleclass, never had aspirations to drive a BMW or Merc or Audi. Never dreamed of bigger flashy house. That mentality helped me save more $$ and invest. I was never worried about others, just my own race and how I am doing every yr. That’s it. Gave me peace and happiness. All the best to you OP.
P
I like that mindset. Appreciate you sharing that. Thanks for the kind words. All the very best to you too.
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P
Interesting point. I agree with you that knowledge reduces risk, but i also believe emotions still override logic more often than we admit. I have read enough finance articles and listened to enough podcasts to know I shouldn’t panic sell, but I still did during crypto because fear took over me. It wasn’t lack of information, it was just my behavior. Missing opportunities hurts, I get that, but chasing everything blindly hurts too. For most of us, the real gap isnt learning, it is managing our own reactions. Thanks for the comment.
O
You are seeing this the wrong way and there is a lot of hindsight bias at play here. BTC went up and so you feel bad. But we all make decisions based on the information at hand, plus, decisions around money/ investments are largely emotional. Again, this mindset is built over a lifetime. I invest only in S&P index and have told my friends to do the same. Few of them think I am an idiot to be so risk averse and others think I am gambling by even associating with stock markets. I changed my thought process over the years and nowadays I think there’s no right or wrong here. You should take only as much risk so that you can sleep peacefully at night. For some it’s term deposits and others it’s crypto.
P
Fair point amd I agree looking back bias is real and most money decisions are emotional more than logical. At that time, I acted based on what I knew and what I could control. I like your view, risk is personal and the right level is the one that lets you sleep peacefully. For some its index funds for some its something else. Good Luck.
C
Sold Google stock at 150 to a flat back home. Google now touched 350 a month back and my flat might have appreciated 10% at max. I knew Google was undervalued but I wanted to buy an flat and wanted to diversify. Still I wont consider that as a loss as diversification was a calculated decision I took.
S
“Your kids learning to worry about money before they ever learn what abundance feels like.” I wonder if this is good or bad. Some parents claim that kids worrying about money is not healthy since it may cause trauma from excess frugality, too early. Others claim the opposite, stating that it instills pragmatism early on and ensures fiscal maturity in later life. I belong to the latter camp. Wonder what’s your take on this.
P
You asked a really important question. I don’t know the answer. From what I have read, research in child psychology shows it is not money awareness that causes harm, its the anxiety without context. Kids who grow up around constant financial stress can internalize scarcity. But kids who are taught about money in a calm, structured way tend to develop better self control and financial habits later in life. Studies around delayed gratification and financial socialization show that open conversations, without fear messaging, actually build confidence. So for me the difference is this…. worrying is not healthy. Understanding is healthy. I don’t want my kids to feel scarcity. I want them to understand tradeoffs and choices we made and still making. In my opinion, that’s very different from carrying financial fear. I am curious how you think parents can teach prudence without passing down anxiety?
S
I think you are right about anxiety vs clarity. As parents the key perhaps, is to understand when to focus on fiscal clarity. It depends on the child’s maturity. Some children mature faster. If one tries to instill fiscal maturity on a child who isn’t ready yet then it will transform into anxiety because they’l be doing it mostly to please the parent.
P
That is a very good point. Every child is different. What feels like clarity for one child can feel like pressure for another. Timing matters. If a child is not ready and is only trying to please the parent, it can turn into anxiety. Maybe the goal is not to make them mature fast, but to build awareness slowly at their own pace. Thanks for sharing that.
N
Everyone makes financial mistakes, and these are yours. Honestly, there’s nothing unusual about your story. A lot of NRIs have invested money in plots/flats in India, and they would have done much better investing in VTSAX/FSKAX, assuming they wanted to sell and repatriate the money back. Also, not making the money in crypto by not holding it is the same as losing money. We all have such stories and I definitely don’t call them losses. It’s an unhealthy way of framing the situation. But, you did really well in other areas, so you should be looking at it as glass half full (actually better than being half full).
P
All very fair points. I agree that not holding crypto isn’t the same as a realized loss. The framing matters. I mentioned it more to show how decisions compound over time, not to label it as literal money lost. Same with the India real estate example. It works for many NRIs depending on timing, goals, and where they plan to live. I am really not anti real estate at all. I just think people ignore currency and opportunity cost often. I wrote a separate post that explains the USD vs INR compounding math in more detail for anyone interested: [https://www.reddit.com/r/rupeestories/comments/1qrzwfs/the\_dollar\_milkshake\_is\_drinking\_your\_rupee/](https://www.reddit.com/r/rupeestories/comments/1qrzwfs/the_dollar_milkshake_is_drinking_your_rupee/)Not saying one path is right or wrong. Just sharing the numbers so people can make informed choices based on their own situation.
S
I can deeply relate to your post. I am in my mid forties. As an immigrant from a middle class family, fear has been my constant companion. Fear of failure. Fear of instability. Fear of going back to a land where I may not be respected enough because I’m not from an IIT or IIM etc. Looking back, I think I did pretty ok and all that fear wasn’t warranted at all. Look the world can flip on you at any time, but I’m done being fearful of it. I’m lived more than half my life already, can’t live the other half the same way.
P
I understand this very well. Fear has been there for many of us who came here from middle class backgrounds. It pushed us to work hard and stay careful. What you said about not living the next half the same way makes sense. At some point we have to shift from just surviving to actually living. Wishing you a calmer and more confident next phase.
P
Thanks for being transparent and sharing the numbers. Those are solid numbers. I read few days back that average 50 yo has less than $200k to their name. So, you are way ahead . Those numbers shows how much sacrifice you have put. If it makes you feel better, I have done similar mistake of sending money to India and buying properties without any goal. It is really surprising how things change so rapidly in only 10-15 years. I was not into Crypto or NFTs but I / my wife had invested in TESLA and NVDA. We pulled the trigger too soon especially on NVDA. If I don’t count 529 , UGMA, and primary residence – Tax free – $130 or 5% ($2.55 mn) Tax deferred – $1.5 mn (58%) After tax – about $1 mn (37%) If it is planned properly (DIY or with help of tax planner) , you will pay very low tax. You can retire today and start withdrawing $80k a year to live like a king. Congratulations once again and keep inspiring us. One last question: What’s your next move? Pull the plug from corporate world or keep working?
F
Thanks OP for a great write up. A few follow-up questions: 1. What’s pension in US? I know it is not 401k. I know just a couple of companies like INTC offer a pension fund, so wanted some clarification. 2. CRE? 3. I won’t count 529 worth as part of my net worth as it is intended to be spend on children’s education, but that’s ok if you want to count it. 4. The numbers that you have shared – are those family net worth (you +wife) or just yours?
P
All great questions! 1. Yes exactly – pension is an employer sponsored retirement plan. Some companies in US still offer this beyond regular 401k. It’s becoming rare but it exists! 2. CRE = Commercial Real Estate. Platforms like Crowdstreet, Equity Multiple, Fundrise and Arrived make it accessible for regular as well as accredited investors now . 3. Agree – 529/UTMA are not part of my net worth. Just included them to show the full picture of where we stand in 2026. 4. Family numbers. Though my wife has her own rule … my money is my money and your money is my money too 😂
O
Wow
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