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On Jan. 1, 1985, Sudhir Agrawal was in India and had just made the most fateful decision of his life - to return to the United States, get a college education and begin a new life.
He would return to Memphis, where years earlier he had helped his uncle run a health food store. Trouble was, even after working at the health food store for more than five years, he knew practically no one in America, and had practically no money.
But he did have a plan.
"I had to make $500 a month," he says. "I included $250 per month for education and college expenses, and I would live off the other $250. With the minimum wage then at $3.35, I figured I could work 40-45 hours a week and make the $125 per week I would need."
A few weeks after he arrived in Memphis, he had his first job washing dishes at a pizza restaurant.
"My first check was for $6.23; I'll never forget it. I put $5 in a savings account and used the rest to live on," he says, laughing.
Today Agrawal is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Financial Planner. Though he is affiliated with American...