Sid Baron - Achieving Success in America. If An 18 Year Old Penniless Immigrant Could Dream Big, You Can Too

Achieving Success in America
If an 18 Year Old Immigrant Could Dream Big, You Can Too!

Copyright 2014 by Sid Baron

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Exxel Publishing Co.

323 Telegraph Rd.

Bellingham, WA 98226

Tel.: 360-671-2275

Toll free: 1-877-939-1999

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the author and publisher.

Quotes from conversations included within the text represent the recollections of the author and are within the scope of what was discussed even though they may not be exactly as spoken, word-for-word.

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ISBN 978-0-9897391-0-8

eISBN 978-0-9897391-1-5

Printed in the U.S.A.

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At this stage of my life Ive already lived beyond the current life expectancy for men in the U.S. Had I been unhappy and not enjoyed the journey of my life with my dear wife and best friend Margaret I might never have started writing. Margaret always understood the many times I didnt hear when she was talking to me because I was thinking about writing.

For more than 60 years Margaret has been a part of the journey and fabric of my life.

As her husband, the father of our six children, the provider, she has always energized me to be the best I could be in every area of my responsibilities. We share a passion for helping others. We rejoice when our generosity and the blessings of our lives touch the lives of our loved ones, family members, friends and even strangers. We are now in the sunset of our lives and when the golden cords that bond us to our mortal lives will break, it will not be our achievements, wealth or accomplishments that will matter. It will be the care and clarity with which we have loved each other that will speak of Gods amazing grace in giving us the gift of each others lives. Thank you Margaret.

Sid Baron

When the so-called Great Recession started in late 2007, the lives of most Americans were affected. As someone in his early 80s who has seen the effects of the Great Depression, lived in wartime Holland during World War II and immigrated to the United States in the late 1940s with nothing but the bare necessities, I have been blessed to have built several successful businesses while raising a large family.

The reason I wrote this book is to help those who are willing to work hard so that they, too, can live the American dream. Within this book are the principles I have dedicated myself to living. It is my hope that they will help you, the reader, to likewise enjoy a life filled with success and meaning.

Often when I meet young people they will tell me stories of struggling to make ends meet while living through our current difficult times. The story of one young man stands out. Over coffee he remarked: Mr. Baron, you are a wealthy man who has enjoyed great success in your business and personal life. But no matter how hard I try, I cant seem to get ahead. Do you have any suggestions that can help me achieve success?

I thought long and hard about what that young man was asking. My heart went out to him because he had seemingly lost all hope. At the same time I also knew if he followed the path Id taken he, too, would find success. Even though our current times may seem difficult, the world has lived through worse.

When I was born in 1930, the world was in the midst of a depression never before seen. In the United States, unemployment peaked at over 25 percent while in the Netherlands, where I spent my first eighteen years, a similar percentage of people were without jobs.

Then in 1940, just as Holland was beginning to recover, my homeland was attacked by the Nazis during the Battle of the Netherlands and remained occupied until 1945. After the wartime years, Holland found itself living with the ruins of war and faced with massive housing shortages, lack of food and no prospects for work. It was during those years, after the war, that my family decided to immigrate to the United States.

Though the United States was not attacked on its mainland during World War II, in large part it funded the war and sacrificed many of its sons and daughters. By the end of the war the national debt rose to 120 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), which is even a higher percentage than the roughly 100 percent it is at today.

When our family arrived in the United States the rate of inflation was over 10 percent, triple the percentage of inflation today.

Since the founding of the United States with the Declaration of Independence in 1776, there have been forty-six confirmed recessions. That equates to one recession every five years. In my lifetime I have lived through fourteen of them. My first was as a child in the Netherlands during the Great Depression of the 1930s and throughout World War II, and later during adulthood after my family immigrated to America. Though the recent so-called Great Recession of 2007-2009 was certainly horrible for those caught up in the subprime mortgage crisis and subsequent unemployment, there have been other recessions that were also devastating. Two of the worst were the recessions of 1973-1975 when oil prices quadrupled and unemployment shot up to 9 percent and the recession of 1981-1982 starting with the Iranian Revolution and resulting in stagflationhigh interest rates coupled with a stagnant economy, inflation and high unemployment. The point is that recessions are a natural occurrence and that we need to be prepared.

Though recessions happen, the good news is that they are always followed by a time of economic expansion. Therefore, navigating the seesaw nature of worldwide economics requires individuals to always keep their personal finances in balance.