Just a few comments, not directed at anyone in particular, but I hope that
@vashibashi finds them useful. In no particular order… 1) Be sure to appreciate the difference between “salary” and “income.” I have seen several instances in this thread of the two terms being interchanged, and even used incorrectly. A salary is a fixed annual amount of money that you are basically guaranteed to receive if you show up and do your job as agreed upon. An income is the total of all the money that you have coming in from all revenue streams, day job, private practice, consulting, rental property, other passive income, whatever. What some people have described as “salary” is actually total income from multiple sources. For example, if you have a day job at an R1 academic medical center, and then see patients in the evening and every other Saturday, all of that is your total income, not salary. This is not a mere semantic issue. In neuropsychology, there is an oft-cited (and often useful) periodic survey that is always referred to as the “salary survey.” It is not. It is a self-reported income survey. This beings me to my next point. 2) Anyone can report any level of income that they please in a forum such as SDN. No one will check. I also think that it is those individuals that truly have exceptional salaries (“exceptional” = “exception;” i.e., not the mean or mode, or what any newbie will actually earn just out of training) are more likely to post in a forum like this. This is also called bragging. Yes, yes, “it ain’t braggin’ if you did it,” but just recognize that these folks did not step out of internship and waltz into $200-$300K on Day One. Which brings me to my next point… 3) The reliably higher earning areas in psychology require additional training and credentialing beyond the minimum. For neuropsychology, particularly forensic neuropsychology, a two-year REAL postdoc will be mandatory, generally followed by board certification. Sure, there are people making great scratch without these FOR NOW, but ten years from now the playing field will be different, as in more competitive. For Rx psychology, after completing all of the required clinical psychology training, you will have to earn a post-PhD/PsyD masters in clinical psychopharm (2 yrs, I believe?), and pass the additional national exam, and be licensed (and then physically practice) in New Mexico or Louisiana (at present). A lot of folks also have an excellent income from psychoeducational evals. These are great, as they are cash-only (unless one is engaging in insurance fraud, but that’s for another post), but it is very hard to break into as a newbie. You also really need to know what you are doing. If you don’t, it will show. 4) Some of the most fiscally irresponsible people that I have known have been surgeons, and they have wickedly high incomes. Since that is anecdotal, I will just leave it there. 5) Don't forget about benefits. An institutional position will likely have full benefits. Private ventures might not. Sure, there are group practices that can purchase discounted plancs, but even a large, thriving group practice is unlikely to have the purchasing power of a major medical center with thousands of employees. Also, some benefits cannot be purchased by a private practice at any price (e.g., free tuition for dependents of psychologists with faculty appointments at R1 medical centers) 6) One additional pet peeve and I will shut up: Please do not confuse “R1" and “R01." An “R1” is a Carnegie Level 1 Research University or Medical Center. An “R01” is a type of federal grant. They are not even remotely interchangeable. 7) A final comment to vashibashi: You have been given great feedback in this thread. Please seriously consider ALL of it, and verify on your own. Please do not simply jump with happiness over the few posts that promise “riches.” Please carefully read and investigate (outside of SDN) all of the responses. And then investigate more. Best wishes!
