ABOUT THIS EPISODE
For five years, the idea of writing a book for immigrants sat at the back of Simone's mind, nudging. She didn't write it. Nothing was broken enough to force the question. She tells you that because she knows what five years can hold when nothing looks wrong. Staying stuck rarely arrives as a crisis. It arrives as a normal month, repeated sixty times.
This week, Simone talks about what it costs to wait. Not to scare you, just to wake you up. After weeks of talking about "the number," she puts one on the table: $500 a month sent home, handed to a cousin, or covered for a sibling, with no plan behind it and no agreement on what it's for. That's $6,000 a year. In five years, $30,000. She isn't saying you shouldn't have sent it. Some of it was love, and some of it was exactly what someone needed. She is saying that when the number has never been written down, you can't tell which was which. And that's only the part that shows up on the statement. The other cost doesn't have a column: the conversation rehearsed in the car and the shower and never had, the account you keep meaning to open, the version of you waiting for a calmer season to begin.
She also tells you about "Dana," a composite of several women she has sat across from. Dana sends money every month the way her mother did, without ever discussing it. Five years in, she has been promoted twice and is more tired than the day she started. Nothing has gone wrong. That is the whole difficulty: no single moment announces itself as the one to act on. If you're doing that math in your head right now, this isn't a verdict. You did what love and loyalty asked of you with the information you had. A wake-up isn't shame. Shame says you should have known. A wake-up says now you do.
This episode is for anyone quietly running the numbers on what they've sent home without ever writing them down, and for anyone who keeps telling themselves they'll deal with it "after the holidays" or "after things settle down."
This Saturday: The Giving Plan Live Already established, and the financial piece resonated? Join The Giving Plan Live, a free working session where you build your real number and write the first script for the hardest conversation, live, with Simone. Saturday, October 10, 10:00 to 11:15am ET. Live only, with seats capped at 25. Register here: https://thebridgeconcepts.org/masterclass-registration.html
About Simone W. Johnson-Smith Simone is the founder of Thrive Abroad and The Bridge Concepts, LLC, a Jamaican-born American intercultural strategist, coach, and former U.S. diplomat. She is the International Impact Book Award-winning author of Decoding America & Coming Home to Yourself: The Immigrant Experience, available in print on Amazon, and as an audiobook (ElevenLabs-narrated) on Spotify, Barnes & Noble, Rakuten Kobo, and other major retailers via InAudio. She is also host of this podcast, reaching listeners in over 100 countries.
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This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. For guidance specific to your immigration status, consult a licensed immigration attorney. For guidance specific to your financial situation, consult a licensed financial professional.
