29 here
Entered the workforce right after 2007, in my 16, after moving to Singapore from small town Russia as an exchange student. Financial fortunes of my patents went nowhere, and I had to keep myself afloat for pretty much 2.5 years.
Made not so bad money selling low end electronics to the third world on Alibaba, and such.
Then, my parents made me dump all my money on the best things since sliced bread: "Business Education" in Canada. So I will "never ever be in need, and be making money like those big men from America"
Wasted 3 years of my life on that, it was useless.
And in 2014, they made me buy an apartment in my hometown under an immense pressure, and "or else" threats for me "not having a chance getting a wife, without one"
A month later, the Russian roubles folds, property prices collapse. And I just parted with $78k USD, having just a few months of savings left, while my job in Canada was burning.
Somehow, I recovered. 5 months later I got $29k back to Canada. Life was good again, I got my first Canadian girlfriend.
Then at the end of 2015, when I just began making big plans for my life again, my troubles began to mount again... It was found out that my last employer in Canada was for some reason unable to secure LMIA after applying for it for 3 times in a row.
I tried every option to extend my stay in the country, but the government was hellbent on reducing the amount of work permit holders, closing every legal workaround for extension. I spent tons of moneys on immigration lawyers, without avail.
I decided to cut my loss short, and leave in 2016.
Having to leave Canada after 6 years, leaving a lot of money there, and almost getting a family, was a bitter, bitter loss. I was enraged for month.
After leaving 10 years abroad, I was completely unable to fit in Russian society of the day, and got robbed just weeks after arriving.
After doing few remote gigs, and throwing tons of money left and right to sweeten my grief, I got to think of going to China, a country whose manufacturing Industry I owe most of the money I earned in my career.
Been working in China since 2016
Ironically, the most normal part of my life began in the least normal country of them all.
My last relationship was a beautiful 29 years old self made entrepreneur, and an owner of a chemical factory. I dated her for a while, but had to leave for a series of extended assignments abroad. After returning just 10 month later, I found her already engaged to somebody more enterprising than me :(
Again, fortunes cut short just few centimetres away from the finish line. This bittersweet life.
Now, when China is descending into mass madness again, I am risking to loose everything again.